The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks
As the semester is winding down, I have the time to write about the book that made an incredible impression on me. The book “The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks” opened my eyes to one of the most interesting and most ethically- and politically-loaded unsolved mysteries of the 20th century: the mystery of cancer. I would recommend this book without a doubt to any science educator, any elementary or secondary teacher and certainly to any student or a lay person. If you ever wondered how medical research is done and how complicated and exciting it is, this is the book. However, the book is more than that: it will open your eyes to the ways our (American in that case, but I have a strong suspicion that similar things have been happening in Canada and in other countries) poor and less educated people are marginalized and how they are mistreated by the medical research establishment (in case of Henrietta Lacks). This book made me think once again of the importance of educating our students and helping each one of them to get the minimum (high school) education to be able to interpret the world around them. This is an excellent and exciting read – you will not be able to put the book down and it will be a great holiday gift for friends and family.