“The Concept of the Paradise Garden” John Brookes
This essay was mostly centered on the Quran, the Holy Book of Islam. It talked about the relationship between nature and religion, and it used to Quran as an example because in Islam they believe that Paradise is literally a garden and it is described in detail. The essay raises questions of ethic, because the garden could either be a good thing or a bad thing.
“How Should Chemists Think?” Roald Hoffmann
The subject of this essay was that we can either use nature or man made things for inspiration and there are good and bad things about each. It also points out that chemistry can be an art in itself and that sometimes the two things mix together.
“Mutant Bacteria and the Failure of Antibiotics” Merete Reitveld
This essay was a persuasive piece centered on the fact that as more and more antibiotics are used there is a larger possibility that bacteria can mutate and avoid the antibiotic. This is dangerous because new diseases will start creating themselves and we will not have the ability to protect ourselves from them.
My Discussion Question:
Are people hypochondriacs?
I would want to ask this question because after reading the Reitveld essay I realized that this might not happen if people were not constantly on so many medications. This is a somewhat new problem because long ago, the germs found in soil protected people from sickness. Now, with the excessive use of hand sanitizer and disinfectant, we might be losing those natural antibiotics that we needed. Maybe if people just healed naturally instead of rushing to the doctor, the problem of the over use of antibiotics wouldn’t exist.
