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[[image:Sbc2009.jpg|right|thumb|The image is a portion of the fractal Mandelbrot set, created by  [http://www.flickr.com/people/-marlith-/ Kevin Wong] ([http://www.flickr.com/photos/-marlith-/2437198527/ source]); [http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/deed.en Creative Commons License], used with permission. You may use this image in your own blog to publicize the 2009 Science-Book Challenge.]] The Science-Book Challenge is easy: read three science books in 2009 and then share your thoughts about the books with others. And recruit!

Reading about science--by which we mean to include engineering, mathematics, and technology, too--is fun '''and''' rewarding. We encourage others to read about science, and help potential readers find books that they will enjoy and profit from reading, by publishing our [[:Category:Book Notes|Book Notes]], which are written by Ars Hermeneutica employees, volunteers, friends, and science-book challengers.

We're looking for science-book readers to help us help other science-book readers by sharing their own opinions about the science books they've read.

===The 2009 Science-Book Challenge===

# Read at least three nonfiction books in 2009 related somehow to the theme "Nature's Wonders". Your books should have something to do with science, scientists, how science operates, or science's relationship with its surrounding culture.  Your books might be popularizations of science, they might be histories, they might be biographies, they might be anthologies; they can be recent titles or older books. We take a very broad view of what makes for interesting and informative science reading.
# After you've read a book, write a short note about it, giving your opinion of the book. What goes in the note? The things you would tell a friend if you wanted to convince your friend to read it--or avoid it. Naturally, you can read some of the existing [[:Category:Book Notes|Book Notes]] for ideas. You might like to read our [[Book-note ratings]] for ideas about how to evaluate your books.
# Don't worry if you find that you've read a book someone else has also read; we welcome multiple notes on one title.
# Get your book note to us and we'll post it with the other notes in our Book Note section. Use the [[Special:BooknoteForm | book-note form]] or the [[Special:CommentForm | comment form]] to get in touch with us.
# Tell other people about the Science-Book Challenge: [http://ArsHermeneutica.org/besieged/Science-Book_Challenge_2009 http://ArsHermeneutica.org/besieged/Science-Book_Challenge_2009].

Stuck for ideas about what books to read? [[Special:CommentForm | Write to us]] and we'll help you identify some books that will match your interests.

If you'd like to sign up and make your participation in the Science-Book Challenge public, send us your name and a link to your blog, if you have one, using our [[Special:CommentForm | comment form]]. 

Please help us tell others, too! Use your own blog to spread the word; use our Science-Book Challenge 2009 graphic to make it pretty.

Happy reading!

===The Science-Book Challengers===

Everyone should feel free to accept the challenge any time before the end of 2009. Decide on your book list at the beginning or be more spontaneous and choose titles as you go. Let us know that you're taking the challenge and we'll put your name here with other challengers, along with updates about your notes as you contribute them. You can use the handy [[Special:CommentForm | comment form]] to reach us. You might find it interesting to look at last year's list of challengers in the [[Science-Book Challenge 2008]].

Here are the people we are aware of who have accepted the Science-Book Challenge 2009. 

{| border="0" cellpadding="10" cellspacing="0" align="center"
|-
! valign="top" align="left"   | Challenger 
! valign="top" align="left"   | Link
! valign="top" align="left"   | Titles & Links to Book Notes
|-bgcolor="#f9f9f9"
| valign="top" align="left"   | Melanie K.  
| valign="top" align="left"   | [http://indextrious.blogspot.com/ The Indextrious Reader]
| valign="top" align="left"   | spontaneous
|-bgcolor="#ffffff"
| valign="top" align="left"   | Jenny S.  
| valign="top" align="left"   | n/a
| valign="top" align="left"   | spontaneous
|-bgcolor="#f9f9f9"
| valign="top" align="left"   | Callista  
| valign="top" align="left"   | [http://smsbookreviews.blogspot.com SMS Book Reviews]
| valign="top" align="left"   | spontaneous
|-bgcolor="#ffffff"
| valign="top" align="left"   | Lynda  
| valign="top" align="left"   | [http://lyndasbookblog.blogspot.com/ Lynda's Book Blog]
| valign="top" align="left"   | tentatively:<br>Mick O'Hare, ''Do Polar Bears Get Lonely? : And 101 Other Intriguing Science Questions''<br>Bill Bryson, ''A Short History of Nearly Everything''<br>Len Fisher, ''How to Dunk a Doughnut : The Science Of Everyday Life''
|-bgcolor="#f9f9f9"
| valign="top" align="left"   | Violette Severin  
| valign="top" align="left"   | [http://themysterybookshelf.blogspot.com/ The Mystery Bookshelf]
| valign="top" align="left"   | spontaneous
|-bgcolor="#ffffff"
| valign="top" align="left"   | Lisa Clayton  
| valign="top" align="left"   | n/a
| valign="top" align="left"   | spontaneous
|-bgcolor="#f9f9f9"
| valign="top" align="left"   | Lindy  
| valign="top" align="left"   | n/a
| valign="top" align="left"   | spontaneous
|-bgcolor="#ffffff"
| valign="top" align="left"   | Jody  
| valign="top" align="left"   | [http://yearofreaders.blogspot.com The Year of Readers]
| valign="top" align="left"   | spontaneous
|-bgcolor="#f9f9f9"
| valign="top" align="left"   | Eva  
| valign="top" align="left"   | [http://astripedarmchair.wordpress.com A Striped Armchair]
| valign="top" align="left"   | spontaneous
|-bgcolor="#ffffff"
| valign="top" align="left"   | Brandi  
| valign="top" align="left"   | [http://thereadingchallenges.wordpress.com/2008/12/15/science-book-challenge-2009/ The Reading Challenges Blog]
| valign="top" align="left"   | spontaneous
|-bgcolor="#f9f9f9"
| valign="top" align="left"   | Melanie
| valign="top" align="left"   | [http://tigermel.blogspot.com/ Cynical Optimism]
| valign="top" align="left"   | spontaneous
|-bgcolor="#ffffff"
| valign="top" align="left"   | Care  
| valign="top" align="left"   | [http://bkclubcare.wordpress.com/ Care’s Online Book Club]
| valign="top" align="left"   | spontaneous
|-bgcolor="#f9f9f9"
| valign="top" align="left"   | Kristi  
| valign="top" align="left"   | [http://booksandneedlepoint.blogspot.com/2008/12/science-book-challenge.html Books and Needlepoint]
| valign="top" align="left"   | spontaneous
|-bgcolor="#f9f9f9"
| valign="top" align="left"   | Pussreboots  
| valign="top" align="left"   | [http://www.pussreboots.pair.com/blog/2008/12.html#science Puss Reboots]
| valign="top" align="left"   |    1. ''Dr. Joe and What You Didn't Know'' by Dr. Joe Schwarcz<br>2. ''Hawaiian Insects and their Kin'' by F. G. Howarth and W. P. Mull<br>3. ''Krakatoa: The Day the World Exploded'' by Simon Winchester<br>4. ''Mars, the Red Planet'' by Isaac Asimov<br>5. ''Roadside Geology'' of Hawaii by Richard W. Hazlett and Donald W. Hyndman<br>6. ''The Blind Watchmaker'' by Richard Dawkins<br>   7. ''The Borderlands of Science: Where Sense Meets Nonsense'' by Michael Shermerer<br>8. ''The Voyage of the Beagle'' by Charles Darwin
|-bgcolor="#f9f9f9"
| valign="top" align="left"   | &nbsp;  
| valign="top" align="left"   | &nbsp;
| valign="top" align="left"   | &nbsp;
|-bgcolor="#ffffff"
| valign="top" align="left"   | RRT  
| valign="top" align="left"   | n/a
| valign="top" align="left"   | spontaneous
|-bgcolor="#f9f9f9"
| valign="top" align="left"   | SJB  
| valign="top" align="left"   | n/a
| valign="top" align="left"   | spontaneous
|-bgcolor="#ffffff"
| valign="top" align="left"   | JNS
| valign="top" align="left"   | [http://bearcastle.com/blog Bearcastle Blog]
| valign="top" align="left"   | spontaneous