Interesting Reading - "Risk" by Dan Gardner

A few of you have been asking about things to do/read/see to support university applications or as extension.

I have been reading the book "Risk" by Dan Gardner today and highly recomment it. It goes beyond the material covered in the book but is a fascinating account, combining pyschological and sociological research, of how we perceive risk and how this shapes our perception of the world. There are some links directly to our course - for example, Chapter 6 "The Herd Senses Danger", has some interesting examples relating to science as a belief system (A2 unit). Did you know that male scientists are less likely to see nuclear power as risky than female scientists? The sociological and cultural reasons for this are explored and clearly explained.

Well worth reading.

Mr C

For when we do education

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-25243274

Interesting, both in terms of feminism and the nature of childhood in some ways.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-25138455

Birth rate in the twentieth century

Don't know if this will help you guys but i just found this article on births in the twentieth century.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-16853368

Extra links for Migration trends

http://migrationobservatory.ox.ac.uk/briefings/impact-migration-uk-population-growth

and

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/immigration/9713954/Interactive-graphic-how-UK-migration-has-changed-1964-2011.html

You may or may not find these useful!

Are we returning to a Victorian ('adult') childhood? BBC news article.

The following article was on the BBC news this week, about sexual behaviour and assault amongst children and links to some of Postman's ideas.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-25090896

Russell Brand and Jeremy Paxman

Now, ever since I watched this when it aired on T.V, I haven't stopped discussing it with my parents, so I thought getting some ideas from you lot would be really interesting.
So if you scroll down to the bottom of the article, it is the actual clip if you haven't seen it already.
I think this links with Marxism and I just wanted to know your reactions to this:
Do you agree? Why?
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2507888/Jeremy-Paxman-Russell-Brand-right-40-alienated-politicians-vote.html