Cafe Sci Recommends a New Science Book Club at Carnegie Library:
Black Holes, Beakers, and Books
and take a look at: Chip Walter's All Things Human Web site:
http://www.allthingshuman.net/

Our Next Meeting!
Thursday, February 25, 2010 at 7 pm

Carnegie Science Center

We're mixing things up a little for the next event, which will be on Thursday, February 25 at 7:00 (PLEASE NOTE THE NEW DAY--A THUIRSDAY INSTEAD OF A MONDAY!) to accomodate our speaker's book tour schedule. The speaker is Rebecca Skloot, whose book "The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks" just came out on February 2nd. It tells the amazing story of an African-American woman whose cancer cells were taken before her death in 1951, without her permission. These so-called HeLa cells (named using the first two letters of her first and last name) were the first human cells ever to be successfully cultured, and they are so prolific that that they have been used in labs throughout the world for over 50 years now, testing vacccines, developing pharmaceuticals, and helping scientists to understand the mechanisms of cancer and other diseases. Neither she nor her family ever received a cent for this incredible contribution to science. In fact, her family was stunned to find out that her cells were still alive so many years after her death. The book tells multiple stories: of Henrietta's death and the trauma that her family endured over the years trying to understand what was being done with her cells; of the science behind culturing cells and using them in biomedical experimentation; and of Rebecca's quest as a young reporter to gain the family's trust so that she could learn the details and tell this tale. Rebecca was on the cover of Publisher's Weekly recently, touted as a bestseller for 2010, and was interviewed by Terry Gross for NPR's Fresh Air show last week. Please come and hear this remarkable story and buy a copy of the book (on sale at the event) for Rebecca to sign for you.


Tim Palucka and Angela Stabryla, co-organizers

Café Scientifique Pittsburgh