by T. Gail Pritchard, PhD, The University of Arizona

My earliest memory of robots is from movies–Gort from The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951) terrified me and Robby from Forbidden Planet (1956) fascinated me. Later, there was Hal from 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) and three of my favorites Huey, Dewey, and Louie from Silent Running (1972); and of course, from recent times, Optimus Prime of the Transformers. From television, I met Robot from Lost in Space (1965-68) and various other robots and cyborgs in The Twilight Zone (1961-62), The Six Million Dollar Man (1974-78) and The Bionic Woman (1976-1978). In my reading, I encountered robots Robbie (Asimov) and Norby (Asimov and Asimov) and Eager (Fox), cyborg Cinder (Meyer), and characters whose DNA had been tweaked Continue reading →

By T. Gail Pritchard, Ph.D., University of Arizona College of Medicine

In this last blog for the month, I want to share some books that deal with other kinds of epidemics, notably: bullying, obesity, substance abuse and suicide. These books are not pretty in nature, they do not necessarily have “happy” endings, and they are often connected to each other. They offer a glimpse into contemporary behaviors occurring in epidemic proportions among our youth. Continue reading →

by T. Gail Pritchard, PhD, College of Medicine, University of Arizona

This week, the books presented cover the “what if?” scenario: What if a naturally occurring virus swept through the world killing most of its inhabitants? What if scientists engineered a virus and it got out of control? What if a virus killed all the adults? What if one country unleashed a deadly virus on another? What if an alien virus appeared? All of these scenarios have been the subject of young adult novels. Here are a few to add to your reading list: Continue reading →

by T. Gail Pritchard, PhD, College of Medicine, University of Arizona

This week, the focus will be on specific pandemic, epidemic, and outbreak historical events captured in picture books and chapter books. Frischknect, Lepper, and Cyrklaff (2008) note, “infectious diseases have played a substantial part in shaping the history of humanity” (p. 995) and “it is often an issue of wrong information” (p. 996). Further, they state, “The dramatic effects of lacking information can be seen in many historical contexts, e.g. the spread of the Plague in medieval Europe, the accidental import of smallpox and measles into the Americas, the deliberate release of infectious agents, or the recent spread of HIV in much of Africa” (Frischknecht, p. 997). Continue reading →

by T. Gail Pritchard, PhD, College of Medicine, University of Arizona

http://columnfivemedia.com/work-items/good-infographic-outbreak-%E2%80%94-deadliest-pandemics-in-history/

This past summer, I took a course in global health. Not surprisingly, a great deal of the course focused in infectious diseases in developing nations. As part of our readings, lectures, and discussions, the origins of many of these diseases, the pathways to treatment and/or cure, and the impact on world history was featured. Of course as we covered various infectious diseases from cholera to HIV/AIDS, from malaria to polio, and from small pox to yellow fever, I made connections with children’s and young adult books I have read, Continue reading →