Literary Safari

I know that writing in my journal after a difficult, traumatic, painful, confusing, or frightening experience always makes me feel better. I emerge from my time of writing slightly more at ease with life’s uncertainties and though I’m not naive enough to think all is well, I do experience a certain sensation of feeling lighter, as if a bit of the load has been lifted.

Researchers have been studying the impact of writing on health for several decades.  James Pennebaker, from the department of psychology at the University of Texas, has written several journal articles and books showing how basic cognitive and linguistic processes during writing predict better health through longterm improvements in moods and even, healthier blood work. [Check out one of his papers here.] Part of his conclusion was that the ideal writing time was 15 minutes of so.

Now, a new study “Effects of (Very) Brief Writing on Health” from the Universiy of Missouri shows that a minimal amount of two minutes a day of writing can attain similar results.

Participants wrote about either a personal trauma, a positive life experience, or a control topic for 2 minutes each day for 2 days. Emotion word usage in the essays was examined and physical health complaints were measured 4–6 weeks after the last writing session. Trauma and positive experience essays
contained more emotional content than the control essays and such content was of a similar percentage to that demonstrated by past research. Both the trauma and the positive experience conditions reported fewer health complaints at follow-up than the control condition.

The study concluded that “it might be enough to take (literally) just a couple minutes to reflect on important life experiences to garner the health benefits of writing.”

Two minutes. It takes two minutes sometimes to check my email on my iPhone, to load a webpage, to wait for the elevator, to pay for a gallon of milk at the corner store, to cross a busy street … Next time I say that I don’t have time to write in my journal, I hope I’ll remember that!

This post comes your way courtesy of the good folks at VSL Science.

Cool kid alert: Teen entrepreneur Anshul Samar, age 14. This fiesty entrepreneurial spirit will be one of the key speakers at tomorrow’s Second Annual Teens in Tech Conference, sponsored by Sun, Microsoft, HP, and others.

Anshul is the founder and CEO of Alchemist Empire, Inc. He has created a fantasy role-playing chemistry board game, Elementeo: “Our aim is to combine fun, excitement, education, and chemistry, all in one grand concoction! We don’t want to create a fantasy wizard world or create a boring education textbook world, but combine the two where fun and learning come together without clashing!” [more]

MSN recently featured Anshul in “Whiz Kids: 10 Overachievers Under 21” (thanks to newstab posters garbanzobean and anmdavadi). How did he get started? In in his own words:

Entrepreneurship is cool, and so is chemistry! Both have lots of actions, reactions, explosions, experimentation, and most importantly, the joy and excitement of creating something new! Creating a company has been on my mind for a long time, but it was only in the 5th grade when the idea of a chemistry based card game struck me. I must have created and thrown away dozens of prototypes to get just the right concoction of education and fun. … Elementeo is a game where you create compounds, combat elements, and conquer chemistry… A game of battle, chemical reactions, and powerful scientists… And a game that kids, teenagers, college students, teachers, scientists, parents, and grandparents can all play and have fun.

The excitement Anshul has poured into his maiden entrepreneurial voyage (the game will be released this month!) is evident at his company’s homepage which is very much written in his voice … and in this video from Mark Coker of VentureBeat, taken at the 2007 TieCon conference in Silicon Valley.

Here’s to his motto of “Create, Combat, Conquer!”

[originally published at Sepia Mutiny]

Update: Read my Q & A with author Lucy Hawking here.  You can also catch her on the Tavis Smiley show tonight. Visit PBS for local showtimes.

Who says you can’t explain theoretical physics to kids? Certainly not Stephen and Lucy Hawking, the authors of the children’s adventure novel George’s Secret Key to the Universe, which hit bookstores this week.

The Story

George has a big problem. What he really wants—above all things—is a computer. But, his parents won’t have it. They are vegetarian, environmentalist, gardening, granola-crunching types (his mother bakes muffins with Brussel Sprouts and turnips) who disapprove of “modern inventions.”

When he wanders into the overgrown and off limits “Next Door” backyard with his pig Freddie, George discovers Annie, a precarious girl dressed like a ballerina, her scientist father Eric, and their supercomputer Cosmos.

Cosmos is, as George discovers the “most powerful computer in the world,” capable of breaking the barriers between earth and space … and of allowing George and his new friends to travel into and unravel the mysteries of the universe! But first, George must take the oath of the Order of Scientific Inquiry for the Good of Humanity:

“I swear to use my scientific knowledge for the good of Humanity. I promise never to harm any person in search of enlightenment. I shall be courageous and careful in my quest for greater knowledge about the mysteries that surround us. I shall not use scientific knowledge for my own personal gain or give it to those who seek to destroy the wonderful planet on which we live. If I break my oath, may the beauty and wonder of the Universe forever remain hidden from me.”

Having taken this oath, George begins the incredible journey of discovering the infinite secrets of the universe—stars, comets, the planets, matter, the solar system, and so much more.

If you think I’m giving away the “happily ever after ending,” you’re mistaken. Very soon, George is given the grave task of protecting Cosmos from his school bullies and an evil scientist (who happens to be his science teacher, Dr. Reeper) who wants to use the knowledge of the universe for his own benefit. His mission will only be accomplished if he succeeds in rescuing Eric from a black hole.

My Take

Adults and children alike will appreciate the lucid explanations of complex physics concepts provided to us in this children’s book by Stephen Hawking and his daughter Lucy.

Stephen Hawking is the bestselling author of A Brief History of Time (and its companion simplified version A Briefer History of Time) which has been said to “marry a child’s wonder to a genius’s intellect.” Lucy Hawking is an adult novelist and journalist. George’s Secret Key to the Universe is their first collaboration, and what fun it is!

Alongside a tale of scientific adventure, the Hawkings provide readers with scientific diagrams, charts, and full-color photos of real images from space, with help from Christophe Galfard, a former student of Stephen Hawking. The line illustrations by Garry Parsons also add a lighthearted feel to the book—the representation of George was charmingly reminescent of The Little Prince—and they certainly complement the voice of the novel – innocent, curious, and playful.

The novel also includes Hawking’s latest ideas on black holes. You see, for 30 years, Stephen Hawking believed that once a mass falls into a black hole, it was unrecoverable. However, in 2004, he cracked the black hole paradox and announced that he had been mistaken. “Black holes aren’t eternal prisons after all.”

Personally, I was most delighted by simplified explanation of Black Holes in George’s Secret Key. They are presented within the story as a series of scientist Eric’s notes, complete with handwritten doodles and age-appropriate language for Annie and George.

Connections

In the 1994 bestseller Sophie’s World, Norwegian author Jostein Gaarder gifted us with a fascinating primer on philosopher in novel form. He took us into the world of Sophie, a 15 year old who learned about the wisdom of thinkers from the pre-Socrates to St. Augustine through a series of letters from a mysterious correspondent. All the while, she was trying to solve a mystery. The device of wrapping intellectual lessons within a fictional narrative worked. It snapped up readers who might otherwise not pick up a “serious” work about high ideas—and allowed philosophy to seep into pop culture and the hands of the masses.

Lucy and Stephen Hawking’s George’s Secret Key to the Universe does the same thing—it packs lessons about the science of physics into an exciting children’s adventure, complete with likable (though sometimes stereotypical) characters. The end result: an informative and entertaining read for kids and adults alike.

I tell you: I certainly would have enjoyed reading a book like this when I was a kid. If I were a science fan, then this would have been a real treat. If I were a science foe (which I sort of was), then this would be a wonderful way to release me from my black hole of fear.

Either way, as an adult, this is certainly one book I enjoyed reading. If I were a parent, I’d read along with my kids. And, if I were a science teacher, I’d seriously consider employing the book in a middle or high school science curriculum.

The 411
George’s Secret Key to the Universe
By Stephen Hawking and Lucy Hawking
Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing
$17.99
ISBN: 1416954627
For ages 8 and up
Hits bookstores this week (Oct.23, 2007)