Oneida Public Library is sponsoring a grant-funded, monthly reading and discussion program for adults called Pushing the Limits from January through April 2017. The series aims to introduce cutting-edge science and environmental themes to non-scientific adults in an entertaining manner through the reading of four popular works of fiction.
Jennifer Herzog, assistant professor of biology at Herkimer County Community College, will guide the four-part reading and discussion series and introduce in each session a hands-on activity to illustrate a scientific point.
The theme of survival in the face of climate change gets dramatic treatment in Clive and Dirk Cussler’s “Arctic Drift,” the book under discussion the evening of January 18. On February 15, Jean Auel’s “The Land of Painted Caves” will be the subject of a discussion on the sources of knowledge and the imprint of genetics. To illustrate the human need to connect with a larger world, both present and past, participants on March 22 will discuss Erik Larson’s Thunderstruck, his take on the notorious murderer Cripin and the inventor Guglielmo Marconi. Lastly, novelist T. C. Boyle’s “When the Killing’s Done,” is the basis for discussing mankind’s limits in nature on April 12.
Pushing the Limits discussion groups will meet Wednesdays at 6:00 p.m. on Jan. 18, Feb. 15, March 22 and April 12. A limited number of copies of the books will be available at no charge to those who sign up for the discussion program at the library’s circulation desk.
The program, an initiative funded by the National Science Foundation, is part of the Rural Gateways Grants program as administered by the Califa Library Group.
The program is free and open to all adults. For more information, stop by the Oneida Library, 220 Broad St., or call (315) 363-3050.