Category Archives: Take 5

Take 5: Top Books on Energy

Got scientists and engineers on your holiday shopping list? Take five and check out our top gift ideas. NAP books and merchandise make thoughtful gifts for thinking people.

	America’s Energy Future: Technology and Transformation Energy touches our lives in countless ways and its costs are felt when we fill up at the gas pump, pay our home heating bills,…
	Assessment of Fuel Economy Technologies for Light-Duty Vehicles Various combinations of commercially available technologies could greatly reduce fuel consumption in passenger cars, sport-utility vehicles, minivans, and other light-duty vehicles without compromising vehicle performance or safety. Assessment of…
	Hidden Costs of Energy: Unpriced Consequences of Energy Production and Use Despite the many benefits of energy, most of which are reflected in energy market prices, the production, distribution, and use of energy causes negative effects. Many of these negative effects are not reflected in energy market prices. When market failures like…
	Transitions to Alternative Transportation Technologies–Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicles The nation has compelling reasons to reduce its consumption of oil and emissions of carbon dioxide. Plug-in hybrid electric…
	Real Prospects for Energy Efficiency in the United States America’s economy and lifestyles have been shaped by the low prices and availability of energy. In the last decade, however, the…

Take 5: Top Books for Engineers

Got scientists and engineers on your holiday shopping list? Take five and check out our top gift ideas. NAP books and merchandise make thoughtful gifts for thinking people.

	Technology for a Quieter America Exposure to noise at home, at work, while traveling, and during leisure activities is a fact of life for all Americans. At times noise can be loud enough to damage hearing, and at lower levels it can disrupt normal living, affect sleep patterns, affect our…
	Changing the Conversation: Messages for Improving Public Understanding of Engineering Can the United States continue to lead the world in innovation? The answer may hinge in part on how well the public understands engineering, a key component of the ‘innovation engine’. A related concern is how to encourage young people–particularly girls and…
	Rising Above the Gathering Storm, Revisited: Rapidly Approaching Category 5: Condensed Version In 2005 the National Academiesreleased Rising Above the Gathering Storm, a book focused on the ability of all Americans to compete for quality jobs in the evolving global economy. Rising Above the…
	Engineering in K-12 Education: Understanding the Status and Improving the Prospects Engineering education in K-12 classrooms is a small but growing phenomenon that may have implications for engineering and also for the other STEM subjects–science, technology, and mathematics. Specifically, engineering education may improve student learning…
	Systems Engineering to Improve Traumatic Brain Injury Care in the Military Health System: Workshop Summary This book makes a strong case for taking advantage of the best of two disciplines–health care and operational systems engineering (a combination of science and mathematics to describe, analyze, plan, design, and integrate systems with complex interactions.

Take 5: Top Gifts for K-12 Educators

Got educators on your holiday shopping list? Take five and check out our top gift ideas. NAP books and merchandise make thoughtful gifts for thinking people.

	Successful K-12 STEM Education: Identifying Effective Approaches in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics Science, mathematics, engineering, and technology (STEM) are fundamental aspects of everyone’s lives as citizens, consumers, parents, and workers. Providing all students with access to high-quality education in STEM is important to their futures and that of…
	Surrounded by Science: Learning Science in Informal Environments Practitioners in informal science settings–museums, after-school programs, science and technology centers, media enterprises, libraries, aquariums, zoos, and botanical gardens–are interested in finding out what learning looks like, how to measure it, and…
	Ready, Set, SCIENCE!: Putting Research to Work in K-8 Science Classrooms What types of instructional experiences help K-8 students learn science with understanding? What do science educators, teachers, teacher leaders, science specialists, professional development staff, curriculum designers, and school administrators need to know…
	Learning Science Through Computer Games and Simulations At a time when scientific and technological competence is vital to the nation’s future, the weak performance of U.S. students in science reflects the uneven quality of current science education. Although young children come to school with innate…
	Incentives and Test-Based Accountability in Education In recent years there have been increasing efforts to use accountability systems based on large-scale tests of students as a mechanism for improving student achievement. The federal No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) is a prominent example of such an effort, but…

Take 5: Top Books on Environmental Science

Got scientists and engineers on your holiday shopping list? Take five and check out our top gift ideas. NAP books and merchandise make thoughtful gifts for thinking people.

	Sustainability and the U.S. EPA Sustainability is based on a simple and long-recognized factual premise: Everything that humans require for their survival and well-being depends, directly or indirectly, on the natural environment. The environment provides the air we breathe, the water we…
	Science and Decisions: Advancing Risk Assessment Risk assessment has become a dominant public policy tool for making choices, based on limited resources, to protect public health and the environment. It has been instrumental to the mission of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) as well as other…
	Improving Health in the United States: The Role of Health Impact Assessment Factoring health and related costs into decision making is essential to confronting the nation’s health problems and enhancing public well-being. Some policies and programs historically not recognized as relating to health are believed or known to have…
	Toward Sustainable Agricultural Systems in the 21st Century In the last 20 years, there has been a remarkable emergence of innovations and technological advances that are generating promising changes and opportunities for sustainable agriculture, yet at the same time the agricultural sector worldwide faces numerous…
	Pathways to Urban Sustainability: Research and Development on Urban Systems More than half of the world’s people now live in cities. In the United States, the figure is 80 percent. It is worthwhile to consider how this trend of increased urbanization, if inevitable, could be made more sustainable. One fundamental shortcoming of urban…

Take 5: Top Books on Life Sciences

Got scientists and engineers on your holiday shopping list? Take five and check out our top gift ideas. NAP books and merchandise make thoughtful gifts for thinking people.

	Guide for the Care and Use of Laboratory Animals: Eighth Edition A respected resource for decades, the Guide for the Care and Use of Laboratory Animals has been updated by a committee of experts, taking into consideration input from the scientific and laboratory animal communities and the public at large. The…
	Review of the Scientific Approaches Used During the FBI’s Investigation of the 2001 Anthrax Letters Less than a month after the September 11, 2001 attacks, letters containing spores of anthrax bacteria (Bacillus anthracis, or B. anthracis) were sent through the U.S. mail. Between October 4 and November 20, 2001, 22 individuals developed anthrax; 5 of the…
	Science, Evolution, and Creationism How did life evolve on Earth? The answer to this question can help us understand our past and prepare for our future. Although evolution provides credible and reliable answers, polls show that many people turn away from science, seeking other explanations with…
	A New Biology for the 21st Century Now more than ever, biology has the potential to contribute practical solutions to many of the major challenges confronting the United States and the world. A New Biology for the 21st Century recommends that a “New Biology” approach–one that depends…
	Strengthening Forensic Science in the United States: A Path Forward Scores of talented and dedicated people serve the forensic science community, performing vitally important work. However, they are often constrained by lack of adequate resources, sound policies, and national support. It is clear that change and advancements,…

Take 5: Top Books on Higher Education

Got educators on your holiday shopping list? Take five and check out our top gift ideas. NAP books and merchandise make thoughtful gifts for thinking people.

	Expanding Underrepresented Minority Participation: America’s Science and Technology Talent at the Crossroads In order for the United States to maintain the global leadership and competitiveness in science and technology that are critical to achieving national goals, we must invest in research, encourage innovation, and grow a strong and talented science and…
	Gender Differences at Critical Transitions in the Careers of Science, Engineering, and Mathematics Faculty Gender Differences at Critical Transitions in the Careers of Science, Engineering, and Mathematics Facultypresents new and surprising findings about career differences between female and male full-time, tenure-track, and tenured faculty in science,…
	On Being a Scientist: A Guide to Responsible Conduct in Research: Third Edition The scientific research enterprise is built on a foundation of trust. Scientists trust that the results reported by others are valid. Society trusts that the results of research reflect an honest attempt by scientists to describe the world accurately and…
	Managing University Intellectual Property in the Public Interest Thirty years ago federal policy underwent a major change through the Bayh-Dole Act of 1980, which fostered greater uniformity in the way research agencies treat inventions arising from the work they sponsor. Before the Act, if government agencies funded…
	Ensuring the Integrity, Accessibility, and Stewardship of Research Data in the Digital Age As digital technologies are expanding the power and reach of research, they are also raising complex issues. These include complications in ensuring the validity of research data; standards that do not keep pace with the high rate of innovation; restrictions…

Take 5: Top Books on Climate Change

Got scientists and engineers on your holiday shopping list? Take five and check out our top gift ideas. NAP books and merchandise make thoughtful gifts for thinking people.

	America’s Climate Choices Climate change is occurring. It is very likely caused by the emission of greenhouse gases from human activities, and poses significant risks for a range of human and natural systems. And these emissions continue to increase, which will result in further…
	Climate Stabilization Targets: Emissions, Concentrations, and Impacts over Decades to Millennia Emissions of carbon dioxide from the burning of fossil fuels have ushered in a new epoch where human activities will largely determine the evolution of Earth’s climate. Because carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is long lived, it can effectively lock the Earth…
	Ocean Acidification: A National Strategy to Meet the Challenges of a Changing Ocean The ocean has absorbed a significant portion of all human-made carbon dioxide emissions. This benefits human society by moderating the rate of climate change, but also causes unprecedented changes to ocean chemistry. Carbon dioxide taken up by the ocean…
	Understanding Earth’s Deep Past: Lessons for Our Climate Future There is little dispute within the scientific community that humans are changing Earth’s climate on a decadal to century time-scale. By the end of this century, without a reduction in emissions, atmospheric CO2 is projected to increase to levels that Earth…
	Understanding Climate’s Influence on Human Evolution The hominin fossil record documents a history of critical evolutionary events that have ultimately shaped and defined what it means to be human, including the origins of bipedalism; the emergence of our genus Homo; the first use of stone tools; increases in…

Take 5: Top Books for Computer Scientists

Got scientists and engineers on your holiday shopping list? Take five and check out our top gift ideas. NAP books and merchandise make thoughtful gifts for thinking people.

	The Future of Computing Performance: Game Over or Next Level? The end of dramatic exponential growth in single-processor performance marks the end of the dominance of the single microprocessor in computing. The era of sequential computing must give way to a new era in which parallelism is at the forefront. Although…
	Biometric Recognition: Challenges and Opportunities Biometric recognition–the automated recognition of individuals based on their behavioral and biological characteristic–is promoted as a way to help identify terrorists, provide better control of access to physical facilities and financial accounts, and…
	Toward a Safer and More Secure Cyberspace Given the growing importance of cyberspace to nearly all aspects of national life, a secure cyberspace is vitally important to the nation, but cyberspace is far from secure today. The United States faces the real risk that adversaries will exploit…
	Technology, Policy, Law, and Ethics Regarding U.S. Acquisition and Use of Cyberattack Capabilities The United States is increasingly dependent on information and information technology for both civilian and military purposes, as are many other nations. Although there is a substantial literature on the potential impact of a cyberattack on the societal…
	Proceedings of a Workshop on Deterring Cyberattacks: Informing Strategies and Developing Options for U.S. Policy In a world of increasing dependence on information technology, the prevention of cyberattacks on a nation’s important computer and communications systems and networks is a problem that looms large. Given the demonstrated limitations of passive cybersecurity…

Take 5: Top Books on Health and Medicine

Got health professionals on your holiday shopping list? Take five and check out our top gift ideas. NAP books and merchandise make thoughtful gifts for thinking people.

	Relieving Pain in America: A Blueprint for Transforming Prevention, Care, Education, and ResearchChronic pain affects at least 116 million American adults–more than the total affected by heart disease, cancer, and diabetes combined. It costs the nation up to $635 billion each year in medical treatment and lost productivity. Pain is a uniquely individual…
	The Health of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender People: Building a Foundation for Better UnderstandingAt a time when lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender individuals–often referred to under the umbrella acronym LGBT–are becoming more visible in society and more socially acknowledged, clinicians and researchers are faced with incomplete information about..
	The Future of Nursing: Leading Change, Advancing HealthThe Future of Nursing explores how nurses’ roles, responsibilities, and education should change significantly to meet the increased demand for care that will be created by health care reform and to advance improvements in America’s increasingly…
	For the Public’s Health: The Role of Measurement in Action and AccountabilityDespite having the costliest medical care delivery system in the world, Americans are not particularly healthy. Recent international comparisons show that life expectancy in the U.S. ranks 49th among all nations, and infant mortality rates are higher in the…
	Accounting for Health and Health Care: Approaches to Measuring the Sources and Costs of Their ImprovementIt has become trite to observe that increases in health care costs have become unsustainable. How best for policy to address these increases, however, depends in part on the degree to which they represent increases in the real quantity of medical services as..

Take 5: Top Books on Food and Nutrition

Got food and nutrition fans on your holiday shopping list? Take five and check out our top gift ideas. NAP books and merchandise make thoughtful gifts for thinking people.

	Early Childhood Obesity Prevention Policies Childhood obesity is a serious health problem that has adverse and long-lasting consequences for individuals, families, and communities. The magnitude of the problem has increased dramatically during the last three decades and, despite some indications of a…
	Dietary Reference Intakes for Calcium and Vitamin D Calcium and vitamin D are essential nutrients for the human body. Establishing the levels of these nutrients that are needed by the North American population is based on the understanding of the health outcomes that calcium and vitamin D affect. It is also…
	Child and Adult Care Food Program: Aligning Dietary Guidance for All The Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP) is a federally-funded program designed to provide healthy meals and snacks to children and adults while receiving day care at participating family day care homes, traditional child care centers, afterschool…
	Weight Gain During Pregnancy: Reexamining the Guidelines As women of childbearing age have become heavier, the trade-off between maternal and child health created by variation in gestational weight gain has become more difficult to reconcile. Weight Gain During Pregnancy responds to the need for a…
	Strategies to Reduce Sodium Intake in the United States Reducing the intake of sodium is an important public health goal for Americans. Since the 1970s, an array of public health interventions and national dietary guidelines has sought to reduce sodium intake. However, the U.S. population still consumes more…