Monthly Archives: May 2010

A Collection Of Books On The Science Of Climate Change

As part of its most comprehensive study of climate change to date, the National Research Council today issued three reports emphasizing why the U.S. should act now to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and develop a national strategy to adapt to the inevitable impacts of climate change. The reports are part of a congressionally requested suite of five studies known as America’s Climate Choices.

In addition to these titles, we’ve picked related climate change titles—all of them available to read for free online.

Advancing the Science of Climate Change

Limiting the Magnitude of Climate Change

Adapting to the Impacts of Climate Change

Related Books On Climate Change

Surface Temperature Reconstructions for the Last 2,000 Years

Informing Decisions in a Changing Climate

Global Climate Change and Extreme Weather Events: Understanding the Contributions to Infectious Disease Emergence: Workshop Summary

Potential Impacts of Climate Change on U.S. Transportation: Special Report 290

Antarctica: A Keystone in a Changing World

Ensuring the Integrity, Accessibility, and Stewardship of Research Data in the Digital Age

Understanding And Responding To Climate Change

New Books Covering Health And Medicine, NASA, and Industry And Labor

There were four books new to the NAP site this week, including Evaluation of Biomarkers and Surrogate Endpoints in Chronic Disease, a publication by the Institute of Medicine.

Featured Publication

Evaluation of Biomarkers and Surrogate Endpoints in Chronic Disease (prepublication)

Many people naturally assume that the claims made for foods and nutritional supplements have the same degree of scientific grounding as those for medication, but that is not always the case. The IOM recommends that the FDA adopt a consistent scientific framework for biomarker evaluation in order to achieve a rigorous and transparent process.

All New Publications This Week

Capabilities for the Future: An Assessment of NASA Laboratories for Basic Research (final)

A Database for a Changing Economy: Review of the Occupational Information Network (O*NET) (final)

Evaluation of the Health and Safety Risks of the New USAMRIID High Containment Facilities at Fort Detrick, Maryland (final)

The science of oil spills and oil spill dispersants

While you’ve no doubt been reading plenty of news about the massive oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, we’d like to offer you a different kind of reading: five books we’ve picked from the NAP collection that deal with the science of oil spills and oil spill dispersal. All of these books are available to read for free in their entirety online.

Oil Spill Dispersants: Efficacy and Effects

Using Oil Spill Dispersants on the Sea

Oil in the Sea III: Inputs, Fates, and Effects

The Oil Spill Recovery Institute: Past, Present, and Future Directions

Cumulative Environmental Effects of Oil and Gas Activities on Alaska’s North Slope

Four New Books With Free PDFs: Body Armor, Health Care and more…

There are four new publications on the NAP.edu site this week, all four of which have free PDFs to download.

As a quick reminder, we run down the list of new publications here at Notes From NAP every Monday, and we periodically highlight books related to current events and spotlight changes and features of our website. You can subscribe to all posts on Notes From NAP via the RSS feed or delivered by email.

Featured Publication

CNS Clinical Trials: Suicidality and Data Collection: Workshop Summary (prepublication)

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) now requires that all clinical trials for drugs that affect the central nervous system–including psychiatric drugs–are assessed for whether that drug might cause suicidal ideation or behavior. The IOM’s Forum on Neuroscience and Nervous System Disorders hosted a meeting on June 26, 2009, to discuss the FDA’s new policy and how to analyze best whether suicidal thoughts predict actual suicidal behavior in the near future.

All New Publications

Review of the Department of Defense Enhanced Particulate Matter Surveillance Program Report (prepublication)

Testing of Body Armor Materials for Use by the U.S. Army–Phase II: Letter Report (final)

Value in Health Care: Accounting for Cost, Quality, Safety, Outcomes, and Innovation (final)

7 New Books In Education, Hydrology, Climate Change & Hybrid Vehicles

Our featured publication of the new books this week is in the topic of education and has already found a good deal of popularity thanks to this article in Education Week. There’s six more books (five with free PDFs) new to nap.edu this week, dealing with subjects such as water and hydrology, testing, and conflict and security issues.

Featured Publication

Preparing Teachers: Building Evidence for Sound Policy (prepublication)

Teachers make a difference. The success of any plan for improving educational outcomes depends on the teachers who carry it out and thus on the abilities of those attracted to the field and their preparation. Yet there are many questions about how teachers are being prepared and how they ought to be prepared. Yet, teacher preparation is often treated as an afterthought in discussions of improving the public education system.

Preparing Teachers addresses the issue of teacher preparation with specific attention to reading, mathematics, and science. The book evaluates the characteristics of the candidates who enter teacher preparation programs, the sorts of instruction and experiences teacher candidates receive in preparation programs, and the extent that the required instruction and experiences are consistent with converging scientific evidence. Preparing Teachers also identifies a need for a data collection model to provide valid and reliable information about the content knowledge, pedagogical competence, and effectiveness of graduates from the various kinds of teacher preparation programs.

Federal and state policy makers need reliable, outcomes-based information to make sound decisions, and teacher educators need to know how best to contribute to the development of effective teachers. Clearer understanding of the content and character of effective teacher preparation is critical to improving it and to ensuring that the same critiques and questions are not being repeated 10 years from now.

All New Publications

Best Practices for State Assessment Systems Part I: Summary of a Workshop (prepublication)

Language Diversity, School Learning, and Closing Achievement Gaps: A Workshop Summary (prepublication)

Review of the WATERS Network Science Plan (prepublication)

The Use of Title 42 Authority at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency: A Letter Report (prepublication)

National Security Implications of Climate Change for U.S. Naval Forces: Letter Report (final)

Transitions to Alternative Transportation Technologies–Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicles (final)