Book Review – All in a Day’s Work: Careers Using Science, Second Edition.

February 6th, 2009 By: Diane Trim in Articles, Teachers' Corner

Sullivan, Megan. All in a Day’s Work: Careers Using Science, 2nd ed. NSTA Press: Arlington, Va. 2008.

All in a Day’s Work, $15.95, is a short book that profiles 49 different careers in science. The book is divided into areas of interest such as The Adventurous life, Animal Kingdom, and Artistic Endeavors and the jobs profiled in each section will appeal to a wide number of students in class. Some of the profiles are what you’d expect: science teacher, oceanographer, and physician. Other profiles include deep-cave explorer, shark advocate, and roller coaster designer.

Each job profile is written from the job holder’s perspective and offers students insights into the field, how the person became interested in the field, the career path, and what students can do right now to explore the career. At the end of each job is a brief resume of the job holder’s education, a Web site for more information, and related jobs.

Sullivan did a nice job balancing the men and women in the book (29 men, 20 women), but some students might be intimidated by the level of education that each profiled person has. People with doctoral-level degrees dominate the book, with over half of the job profiles (56%). Those with Master’s degrees and Bachelor’s degrees are evenly split among the rest of the profiles, with only one job for those with only a high school diploma.

As a teacher, this book could be a good tool to connect student interests with science. Musicians will find jobs as a musical acoustics scientist and artists might see themselves as scientific illustrators or art conservationists. Athletes might connect with the deep-cave explorer or the sport biomechanist.

Science teachers who are looking for a guest speaker for a unit might want to consult this book as well. The individual professions list the professional Web site and related occupations, which would be helpful when looking for local experts to talk to the class.

This small book written in a friendly, useful way and would make a great addition to a science department’s professional library. Individual teachers who want to interest students in careers in the sciences will find a spot on their bookshelves for it, too.

Bottom line: It’s a bit pricey for a 140-page book, but the information in it is terrific for sparking student interest in science-related jobs.

Tags: careers, science