Wednesday, December 5, 2018

Haley Reading Group: reflections


[The Best American Science and Nature Writing (2015)]

This semester, we read and commented on:

• Elizabeth Kolbert’s “The Big Kill” (163 – 178)
• Amy Maxmen’s “Digging Through the World’s Oldest Graveyard” (179 – 190)
• Rebecca Boyle’s “The Health Effects of a World Without Darkness" (43 – 54)
• Kim Todd’s “Curious” (273 – 281)
• Sarah Schweitzer’s “Chasing Bayla” (225 – 243)
• Barry Yeoman’s “From Billions to None” (297 – 305)

What article most intrigued you? Why or how so?

33 comments:

Unknown said...

The article that intrigued me the most was Sarah Schweitzer's "Chasing Bayla". I did not know a lot about whales, let alone right whales. The right whales made it hard to survive in their environment because the right whales would effortless make the hunters not have to do much work to catch them. This action by the right whales made it easier for the hunters to kill the right whales quickly and in less time. I learned a lot of right whales by reading the article, and it made me understand that right whales not only died, but made a positive impact on the world around them that benefited businesses, stores, and homes for the humans.

Brian G.

Isaiah J. said...

“The Health Effects of a World Without Darkness" intrigued me the most. I had never thought about the effects of artificial light. It was also interesting because it related to a paper I was working on about sleep.

Anonymous said...

The article that I found most intriguing was Amy Maxmen's "Digging Through the World's Oldest Graveyard". I enjoyed hearing about how passionate the researchers were. It is heartwarming to me to see people who follow their dreams, even when it is uncomfortable. It reminds me that happiness does not always come from the road well traveled.

Marina T.

Thomas Siganga said...

The Big Kill caught my attention as it reminded me of the want of a nation to go back to the old days through the actions of conservatives. It just reminded me of the problems within human's lives themselves. Just like the environment in New Zealand, many people hang on to memories of the past and keep on trying to bring it back. If people could just move on and find their own way, the world would be so much of a better place.

Thomas Siganga

Alexis S. said...

The article that I found to be the most interesting was Rebecca Boyle's "The Health Effects of a World Without Darkness". I liked learning about the different effects that light pollution has on the Earth and the people living on Earth. I also enjoyed reading about the ways that we can help decrease light pollution in order to help animals, our sleep, and the environment.

Alexis S.

David D said...

The article that entrusted me most was Varry Yeoman’s “From billions to none”. Reading how a species so abundant could go completely extinct mostly due to mass over hunting makes me think heavily about animal populations today. We strive to save species that are now endangered but one recurring issue is, “what happened to make them extinct in the first place.” Why don’t we implement the strategies used to protect endangered species, to also protect species that are stable or abundant and prevent the same outcome for those? The extinction of a species is sad for both natural and scientific reasons and Yeoman’s article, to me, shedded light on that.

-David D.

Anonymous said...

I was most intrigued by "The Health Effects of a World Without Darkness" because if the irony that I happened to be reading it at night time and because of it's direct relation to my own health. Since reading that story I have caught myself turning down the brightness on my computer in the night time and even opening up the shades in my dorm in the morning to let more light in.

Jason A.

LaTrina Brown said...

The article that most intrigued me was "Chasing Bayla". I liked that article the most because I learned things about whales that I never knew. A lot of individuals spend their lives dedicated to whales and their well-being which touched my heart.

Caulder J Brantley said...

The article we read semester that was most intriguing to me was Elizabeth Kolbert’s “The Big Kill”.I chose this article because it posed a moral dillema that most people don't consider.I liked how the author propsed the idea of "to perserve one species would you be willing to kill another." because nowadays conservation is such a hot topic but i dont think people really recognize what really goes into conservation.

Caulder Brantley

Linda H. said...

The article that I liked the best was Rebecca Boyle’s “The Health Effects of a World Without Darkness" because it included a lot of information that was useful to my personal life. This article made me put more thought into my nighttime routine, and made me think of strategies I could take to reduce light pollution.

Anonymous said...

The article that most intrigued me the most was " The Health Effects of a World without Darkness" because I gained alot of information that I didn't know. I didn't know how much light could affect us humans.

- Kennedy M.

Alexis H. said...

Alexis H.

Kim Todd’s article “Curious” was most intriguing. It talked about the human nature of wanting to know everything and that really opened my eyes. It taught me why people tend to do things they should not and why people tend to be interested into knowing new things regardless of the outcome. I was able to reflect back to all the times I did something I should not have done. Although the article talked mostly of researchers wanting to figure out toads it was talking about human wanting to figure things out overall. Even thinking back to how civilization and fire came about.

Jovahna Williams said...

The article I found the most interesting was Elizabeth Kolbert's "The Big Kill". It was really interesting to read about how New Zealand views their native species animals. It was also interesting to read how some people of New Zealand will go to such lengths as to kill "...anything with fur and beady little eyes..." (Kolbert 164). To compare how America protects different species of animals as compared to New Zealand was very interesting.
Jovahna W.

Caleb Abernathy said...

The article that intrigued me most was "The Health Effects of a World Without Darkness." I thought it was extremely interesting to learn about the affects are different types of light. The fact that certain types of light do cause certain types of pollution, but yet it is extremely hard to get away from using those types of lights due to the way the world has progressed. As for now, there are only things that we can do to mitigate the light, rather than rid of it entirely.

Anonymous said...

The article that intrigued me most was Sarah Schweitzer’s “Chasing Bayla.” I am still thinking about Bayla and other right whales. I hadn't even heard of a right whale before. I hadn't even thought about how fishing ropes did damage, so much damage, and caused whales like Bayla so much pain. I liked learning about the right whales. Reading about the grim details of their lives was sad, but it woke me to the fact that humans have driven down the right whale population to just 450 from the thousands that once swam free.
~Lillien W.

Justin J said...

Rebecca Boyle's "The Health Effects of a World Without Darkness" intrigued me the most because she explained the causes and impacts of light pollution. I am from Chicago, a city filled with lights and you cannot see a lot of stars due to the light pollution there. I also read about China trying to create artificial moons in urban areas to reduce light pollution.

-Justin J

Gabrielle H. said...

Rebecca Boyle’s “The Health Effects of a World Without Darkness" intrigued me the most. I say this because I've made myself more aware of the effects of the artificial light around me. Every night I unplug my decorative lights and I haven't slept watching a Youtube or Netflix videos in my bed ever since I've read this article. I enjoyed implementing this healthier exposure to light in my life and knowing I could inform others about this subject for them to do the same.

Phoenix Johnson said...

My favorite reading was Rebecca Boyle’s “The Health Effects of a World Without Darkness". This is because I am a factual person and I love animals. This story consists of numerical facts stating humans affect animals way of life. Our city lights affect bats hunting, sleeping, and living. I was amazed on how humans needing light harms another forms way of life. It made me think of how we can change to help the environment, helping the environment .

Anonymous said...

My favorite reading throughout this semester was "Digging Through the World's Oldest Graveyard". I loved this reading because it was interesting to find out if, there were older signs of human life or other forms of humans before we became homo-sapiens. The thought that this could true and that their is lot of evidence to back it up, it just makes it even more interesting to look into and all.

Unknown said...

The article I found the most interesting was Boyle's The Health Effects of a World Without Darkness". I found it interesting because of our reliance on artificial light has caused us to have artificial safety toward it while also interfering with the ability half the production of melatonin among other affects that harm both human and animal. It's also quite odd to realize we use up so much fake light that it can be viewed from Outer Space.

Andrew H.

Anonymous said...

My favorite was Boyles's article. It is interesting how we need artificial light so much and the effect it has around us. And of course the fact that the light blocks us from seeing stars at night. A lot of what we create makes pollution in some way and this seems like the most harmless on ewe do not think about.
Breann Walton

Anonymous said...

The article I found the most interesting was "The health effects of a world without darkness." This article was the most interesting for me because as a student most of my life is spent in front of a screen and I don't often think about the consequences of it and the effects it has. Another reason I found this interesting was because in the town I am from even if its 1am or 3am you can see the towns light from miles away, so even when you are out in the country where its suppose to be dark it is not. It interesting to think about how dark it would be if all that artificial light was not there and what effect it would have on the human sleep cycle.


Alexis R.

Anonymous said...

The passage the intrigued me the most was "From Billions to None" because it is so sickening how species can go extinct in a matter of years because of mass hunting. I think there should be stricter rules against hunting because these are beautiful species on Earth and it is going to be sad day when we have no more beautiful creatures because we've killed and slaughtered them all.

-Jasmine D.

Fontez M. said...

The article that intrigued me the most is "The Big Kill". I liked reading about New Zealand's different animals. I also thought it was interesting that there were 12 ft birds roaming around New Zealand around 200 years ago.

Anonymous said...

I have to say that I enjoyed reading every single articles we have read this semester. The one that intrigued me the most was. I have once again realized how much us human are greedy and ready to sacrifice everything we find on earth for the sake of money. It made me realize how much the future of planet earth and its species are in our hands and we should protect it as much as we can. The most beautiful and rarest animals are in extinction because we do not care enough about them and we need to change that.

Geonel M.

Anonymous said...

Kami Douglas
The article that intrigued me the most was "Chasing Bayla", by Sarah Schweitzer. This article was interesting to me because it made me realize how inhumane humans can be. Putting our own selfishness first, we took the lives of a large amount of right whales.
The manner in which the whales were caught was saddening to me as well. It was quite painful. However, while the article was quite sad, I learned a lot about a species I had known nothing about.

Anonymous said...

The article that intrigues me the most was “Chasing Bayla” because I did not know much about whales. This article told the story about a mother whale and her kid. It talked about how she raised her baby and it also talked about how the people tracked the whales. I think this article provided a lot of knowledge about right whales and the environment that they live in.

Cecelia S

Anonymous said...

The article I found most intriguing was Elizabeth Kolbert's "The Big Kill" as I discovered that New Zealand bombed their own land in order to get rid of a certain species. I was very shocked that New Zealand's government decided to play God and eliminate the species they do not want. It was astonishing to learn that New Zealand is the "exterminator" of the world.
-Samantha A.

Anonymous said...

The article that was most intriguing to me was the “Health Effects Of A World Without Darkness”, this article was most interesting because of the information that was in thr article. It was really eye opening to see the effects that light has on our body.

-Gianna T.

Anonymous said...

The article that intrigued me the most was,“The Health Effects of a World Without Darkness," because it reminded me so much about how much my mom is always telling that being on my phone too much was bad for me. I always thought that she was just being dramatic but with this article it opened my eyes to what she was really saying. The research that was presented actually made sense to me and I realized how artificial light actually effected me.

Jasmine S.

Anonymous said...

The most interesting post was Rebecca Boyle's "A world without darkness" It's hard to think that something that helped mobilize and fast forward advancements in the world has caused so much damage to so many different ecosystems. It has affected people by disrupting natural sleep schedules, it has affected birds by throwing off their directional abilities, it has affected the earth with light pollution and many other things such as the energy needed to generate such lights. It has changed the course of all life and will continue to change, as it has allowed us many freedoms but as also imbalanced the world around us. Mara B.

Cheniya A. said...

The article that intrigued me most was, "Digging Through the World's Oldest Graveyard," by Maxmen. It really spoke to me that these people, however uncomfortable or looked down on, continued to work on what was important and was a passion for them. I think this is a lesson everyone can carry.

Rachael Gray said...

The article that was most intriguing to me was “The Health Effects of a World Without Darkness.” I like and remember this article the most because it has to do with my health. I just never knew that artificial lights were so bad for us, and it is concerning. I have even bought some red-based lights. I am really happy I read this article.
-Rachael R. Gray