[geeks] TV/book rant was:Chrighton

[wa2egp at att.net]

> Harking back to the Chrighton and Moore discussions, it's science FICTION,
> not a documentary. 

No kidding.

> I understand that a lot of people think it's real, but it's not and it
> was never portrayed as anything but. In the pilot the first ones on the
> scene are cops and when the CSI's arrive, Brass says to someone else
> "here comes the nerd squad". 
> 
> It actually presented a new, but flawed concept in police work, the independent
> subcontractor (the lab) who was paid by the solved case. It never worked
> out in the real world and as the show went on the CSI's became police officers.
> 
> I would no more use it for a serious scientific education than watching House
> for medical advice. Or watching Star Trek for millitary, engineering or
> science education.

The forensic science teacher uses CSI DVDs to teach forensics as in "find the mistakes" and it seems to work.  I also use movies to get certain points across.  I find that my students are now noticing "mistakes" more than they used to.
 
> There was a book published in the 1980's on using Sci-Fi for science education,
> my wife was the research assistant/editor. If you have a copy you can find
> her credited in the "thanks" page. :-)
> 
> I think there was a second edition, I don't remember if she was involved
> or not, and a new one is in the works by the main author.

Which one?  I've seen numerous books that used specific Scifi movies or TV shows to teach what is and what is not science.  Good science fiction is based on science (as opposed to science fantasy). 

Bob