Review:

This past Thursday night at the Ol' Science Buzz Cafe Robert Porter addressed the topic, "Bigfoot and Friends: the Role of Anecdote in Science". Porter took the position that we are a story-telling species and we get our propensity for communication honestly, from our primate dna. He cited recent research indicating the widespread primate behavior of hand gestures, which seems to many scientists to be the forerunner of the verbal communication of which we are so justifiably famous and proud.

He pointed out the many devices we humans have employed to pass along our culture to our fellow humans, from rhymes to building structures to Facebook. However, he further takes the position that science itself is a form of story-telling, and the finesse of science is in part intended to separate the wheat of reliable data from the chaff of gossip. He gave examples of anecdote eventually incorporated into the body of scientific knowledge as well as supposed scientific knowledge, which turned out to be only gossip.

After the break, Julian Blair demonstrated how tricky it is to verify an anecdotal folk-cure for inflammation in the form of gin-soaked raisins. The crowd generally agreed that science can be a royal pain in the nether regions and that gossip is much more fun and easier to come by.

Science Buzz Cafe # 18 with Robert Porter, Ph. D., October 18th, 2007

Science Buzz Cafe # 18 with Robert Porter, Ph. D. and Julian Blair, October 18th, 2007

Preview:

This week Robert Porter will give a talk titled, "Bigfoot and Friends, the Role of Anecdote in Science". This presentation represents a bit of a departure from the usual cafes. Everyone seems to have an anecdote about events not generally accepted as scientific gospel but which have a real punch for the person telling the story. Anecdote has a checkered history in science, sometimes being accepted into the history books after much snide disregard initially. On the other hand, there is another checkerboard of scientific "fact" eventually realized to be bogus, perpetrated through incompetence or charlatanism.

Therefore, this evening will make room for more discussion than usual. In addition, Porter will share the floor with several guest speakers who have been asked to speak for 5 minutes about some aspect of this general topic. A caveat: if any of these speakers offers you anything to drink, just decline.

Review:

On Thursday October 11, 2007, Terry Wright was his usual entertaining, illuminating and scintillating self and the wine samples certainly did not hurt. This was a return engagement for Professor Wright, who likes to be called Bwana Wright after his recent return from Africa.

His talk this time was about "Terroir" ism in the vineyards. Terry explained some of the complexities of the French term terroir, in short how the myriad of interlocking influences of weather, geology, soil chemistry and drainage produce much of the difference in vin ordinaire and that really good stuff that goes for, well, more than does the Charles Shaw many of us drink. World traveler that he is, he was still able to focus on the various terroirs of Sonoma County with geological maps showing the various wine growing regions of the county with geological diagrams to match.

Dr. Wright decided to forgo the usual persiflage of the Q and A portion of these talk and instead offer side-by-side tastings of Pinot Noirs from three distinct regions of Sonoma County. I always admired a politician who could buy votes with a little grease for the palm and now I hold Terry in high regard for influencing my voting pattern with Pinot Noir.

Science Buzz Cafe # 17 with Terry Wright, Ph. D., as he lavishes the crowd with his
liquid intelligence., October 11th, 2007

Dr. Robert E. Porter, aka 'Scientist in Residence', introduces the presenter for the evening.
Where is that Giraffe going? October 11th, 2007

Terry Wright, PH. D. stands alone and is second to none as Avatar of Sonoma Geology.
October 11th, 2007

Preview:

Terry will guide us through the multitude of factors involved in Terroir, the link between the geological environment of Sonoma County and its world-class wines. Aspects of mineral types, chemistry, soil physics, and climate of our environment are all related to wine quality. A Terroir tasting of selected local wines illustrates this connection. Bring your favorite burgundy tasting glass, there will be some glasses provided.

Renowned speaker Brock Dolman gave a talk about "Thinking like a Watershed" that was very well received, indeed. It seems that this is a subject dear to everyone’s heart, spleen, liver and all the rest. He showed maps of how Sonoma County has formed itself geologically into regions that determine how the rain falls and where it goes. He had much to say about how so much of our rain and pumped water is wasted and the disasters that await us if we continue to ignore some very simple precepts. These have been very successfully and simply instituted in other states that we like to imagine are "behind us" in matters ecological. Only a tiny portion of water on this planet is unpolluted drinking water and they ain't making it any more. Global warming, or "climate change" as our administration likes to say, is going to be THE hot topic as water scarcity makes oil seem uninteresting. Especially interesting to many of us who thought we were hip to the workings of the environment were how much the health of our land depends on nutrients brought inland from the sea in the bodies of fish. Now that we have killed off these fish, their absence will haunt us. These complex, subtle and intertwined matters are not immediately grasped by minds of elected or appointed officials who have other things on their plates, like reelection and reappointment. Think water, folks; Truthful water. I think Dolman wants us to vote water, as well.

Brock Dolman at SBC, October 4th, 2007

Brock Dolman & Earl at SBC, October 4th, 2007

Brock Dolman & Andre at SBC, October 4th, 2007

Water Institute
www.oaecwater.org

Brock Dolman

Preview:

BROCK DOLMAN is the Director of OAEC’s WATER Institute and the director of OAEC's Permaculture Program. Living up to his specialized generalist nature, and rekindling the dwindling art of the peripatetic natural historian, his experience ranges from the study of wildlife biology, native California botany and watershed ecology, to the practice of habitat restoration, education about regenerative human settlement design, ethno-ecology, and ecological literacy activism towards societal transformation.