Lab Works (Working for love Book 1)

Hope Jahren combines the stories of her life with alternating and connected stories of the plant world to create a brilliant book. Jun 20, Mara rated it liked it Shelves: This is less a review than it is a caveat: But, what with lady scientist solidarity and such, I'm rounding up. Apr 22, Connie rated it it was amazing Shelves: Hope Jahren's love of science comes through loud and clear in her memoir.

She grew up in a rural Minnesota home where there was not much family interaction. The highlight of her day as a child was spending the afternoon in her father's science lab at the local community college. Jahren is presently a professor of geobiology at the University of Hawaii. Her memoir chronicles her personal history and the challenges of running her own laboratory. It also contains short chapters giving fascinating i Hope Jahren's love of science comes through loud and clear in her memoir. It also contains short chapters giving fascinating information about plants. Her lab manager, Bill, has been working with Jahren for twenty years, going with her as she changed jobs.

He's eccentric, loyal, hard-working, brilliant, and Jahren's best friend. His quirky sense of humor always comes through, even in the worst of times. It's not easy being a woman running a laboratory in departments that seem to be men's clubs. Even though she works long hours in the lab, Jahren feels that procuring grant money is the hardest part of the job. Jahren has a passion for understanding how plants and the soil work together.

Some of her work has been in paleobiology, researching the layers of soil in the Arctic. Other projects involved researching live plants. The chapters on plants are written at a level where most readers will pick up lots of interesting information, but not so technical that it's difficult to understand. Jahren also has a love of literature, and her memoir is not written like a dry science text.

She writes beautifully about how she looks at nature with awe. Her emotions come through as she tells us about her challenges with her bipolar condition, finding love with her husband Clint, and the joy of motherhood. She's not afraid to poke fun at herself and Bill, and shared humorous events from some unconventional field trips. I found her memoir to be entertaining as well as informative.

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View all 14 comments. Apr 12, Joseph rated it it was amazing. But if were to pretend, I might point out that this book is about trees and science and love and sheer bloodymindedness and may or may not have made me cry. Mar 30, Caroline rated it it was amazing Shelves: This book is both wonderful and idiosyncratic; I found it full of surprises. It's a mixture of various aspects of Hope Jahren's life. In different parts it is the author's life story, a description of a deep and unusual friendship, the trials of being an academic and researcher, and a monument of her devotion to ecology and botany.

Hope Jahren is an unusual person, overflowing with warmth, wit and originality. Her story makes for a fascinating and delightful read. I am going to finish this by s This book is both wonderful and idiosyncratic; I found it full of surprises. I am going to finish this by simply giving two extracts from her book. These focus on her passion and lyricism when writing about nature, but her writing about her life in other spheres is equally gripping.

Every toadstool from the deliciously edible to the deathly poisonous, is merely a sex organ that is attached to something more whole, complex, and hidden. Underneath every mushroom is a web of stringy hyphae that may extend for kilometres, wrapping around countless clumps of soil and holding the landscape together. A very small minority of these fungi - just five thousand species - have strategically entered into a deep and enduring truce with plants. They cast their stringy webbing around and through the roots of trees, sharing the burden of drawing water into the trunk. They also mine the soil for rare metals, such as manganese, copper, and phosphorous, and then present them to the tree as precious gifts of the magi.

The vast majority of the branches that any tree produces are severed before they become large, usually by external forces like wind, lightning, or just plain old gravity. Misfortunes that cannot be prevented must be endured, and trees possess a ready strategy. Within a year after the loss, the cambium will cast a healthy new sheath fully over the broken base of what used to be the branch, and then layer upon it year after year until no scar is visible at the surface In the city of Honolulu, just where Manoa Road crosses Oahu Avenue, there stands a gigantic monkeypod tree.

The trunk of this tree is fifty feet tall and its branches form a giant arch Wild orchids grown on the branches: From the tourists perspective, the tree has achieved its perfect form: If the monkeypod tree at Manoa Road and Oahu Avenue were to be cut down, we could count the knots and see the buried scars of the hundreds of branches that it has lost during the last century of its life Every piece of wood in your house - from your windowsills to the furniture to the rafters - was once part of a living being, thriving in the open and pulsing with sap.

If you look at these wooden objects across the grain, you might be able to trace out the boundaries of a couple of rings. The delicate shape of those lines tells you the story of a couple of years. If you know how to listen, each ring describes how the rain fell and the wind blew and the sun appeared every day at dawn. View all 6 comments. Dec 18, Chrissie rated it it was ok Shelves: The book is not bad, it is OK. It spreads itself thin. It is an autobiography of one specific woman, a woman both ordinary and exceptional.

The book depicts the life of a female botanical research scientist at the turn of the 21st century, a central issue being the difficulty in attaining adequate research grants to survive on. It is about friendship. It is about choosing where one's main interests lie - family or job. What I think it does best is draw the author's fervent passion for plants, re The book is not bad, it is OK. What I think it does best is draw the author's fervent passion for plants, research and ecology.

She loves what she does almost to the point where it destroys her. It only touches upon the latest research on trees. The reader watches her emotional involvement, sense of responsibility and compulsion to do a good job grow as she through scholarships and hard work gets an education. In May she got her Doctorate at University of California Berkeley and began teaching as well as pursuing independent research in paleobiology. We then follow her for another twenty years, twenty years of struggles to get money, recognition and lab facilities.

It is the struggle rather than her particular scientific goals that are focused upon. For example, she travels to San Francisco to give a talk at a conference. We are given a lengthy description of the horrendous trip, rather than what she spoke about! This friendship runs straight through the entire book. Any reader of this book will be gripped by the importance of research work to Hope. However, it is not her scientific results per se that is the central focus.

The research work that is detailed is more often about lab techniques or sterility procedures or the proper statistical means of accounting data rather than a detailed explanation of her discoveries in plant science. These are merely touched upon. Neither does one get a complete coverage of all that she has done in these twenty years.

Near the end of the book she travels with Bill to Ireland; we are told then that she had been to Ireland many times before! This book contains little about contemporary plant research. The author reads her own book, and she does it very well. You hear her engagement. You hear her frustration.

Her emotions come through very, very well.

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At emotional crises her voice trembles. However there are parts where she is more detached, in the epilog and the endnote for example, which drag on f-o-r-e-v-e-r! I suppose here the main fault is not the narration, but rather a more rigorous editing would have helped. View all 24 comments. Hope Jahren's memoir is a fascinating insight into what it takes to be a successful research scientist in America today.

She writes of the struggle to establish herself in a male-dominated world and the constant fight for recognition of ideas that don't fit in with the conventional view. She also touches on her struggle with bipolar disease and it's effect on her work, her life and motherhood. She describes the constant fight for funding and making do on a shoe-string, which will resonate with r Hope Jahren's memoir is a fascinating insight into what it takes to be a successful research scientist in America today. She describes the constant fight for funding and making do on a shoe-string, which will resonate with research scientists all over the world.

Fortunately she has a passion for her work in paleobiology and through working extraordinary hours, she does eventually win through and become recognised and rewarded with awards and a tenured position, but even then she must worry about how to keep her lab funded. Throughout the book there are chapters on trees where she explains in fascinating detail what it is they need to grow and thrive. I learnt a lot about how they interconnect with each other above and below ground and will never look at trees the same way again. I also enjoyed her tales of field trips with her students, piling them into a minibus with camping supplies and a cooler box of food to go and dig pits and collect specimens in wild locations.

The star of her book is undoubtably Bill, her loyal assistant and lab manager who moved several times with her to set up new labs all over the country. He is a magician in the lab, fixing and adapting equipment and in the early days survived on a meagre salary for his love of the job. Their platonic relationship and shared passion for their work has obviously been central to Hope's success and life and his encouragement has helped to buoy her up in the difficult times.

Thoughtful and well written, this is a different and interesting memoir. View all 3 comments. Dec 29, Petra rated it it was ok Shelves: A strange book, for sure. Although this is a memoir of her working life, there's very little of her work included. For example, we're told in detail of a multi-day car trip to a conference I enjoyed the short chapters on plants and trees. I found these very interesting and wish there had been more on this.

I wasn't as interested in her personal life. Hope comes across as rather whiny and woeful at times. However, the stories of her son and husband are touching. Her love for them comes through the pages. All in all, an okay read but not very engaging most of the time.

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Oct 05, L. Starks rated it it was amazing. What a shame this utterly amazing book has such a lame title. My advice is to forget the title and read the book. Jahren, a three-time Fulbright winner, has written a reader-friendly, relationship-centered sequence of stories about her experience as a paleobotany researcher. There is much to learn and Jahren doesn't shrink from explaining it.

However, the terms and structure are highly accessible. The book is one of those rare fusions of science and humanity that many readers so often wish for b What a shame this utterly amazing book has such a lame title. The book is one of those rare fusions of science and humanity that many readers so often wish for but can seldom find. The reason is simple--it takes a polymath like Ms.

Jahren to understand and love the labwork and yet also be able to explain it to non-scientists. This is the biology class--really much more--you wish you'd experienced. At the same time, Jahren is clear about the difficulties of an academic scientist's life--getting grants, writing proposals, acquiring equipment, paying lab assistants, the necessity of moving on to better opportunities. She writes with joy about marriage, her son, her struggle with bipolarity, and most of all about her talented, brilliant assistant, Bill.

I wish the publishers had worked harder to come up with a title that better represents this story. Apr 26, Lynn added it Shelves: My first thoughts, this book is in a word, odd. They stumble through the US and Europe trying to do good science. The book is about three things. Despite her struggles, she becomes an award winning and accomplished scholar with her best friend by her side.

Oct 21, Jessica Woodbury rated it really liked it Shelves: I waited for a long time to read this book even though it came highly recommended from several scientists. I was skeptical about the title. And while I am not a scientist by profession, I did train as an undergrad and earn a BS. The thing about scientists is we are very territorial. I am a Chemist. My Physicist friends say, "But Chemistry is all Physics!

I often scoff at Biology, Botany, Zoology, etc. As a baby scientist myself, and as someone who spent several years married to a scientist during his PhD and basically lived and breathed lab culture, ultimately I couldn't stay away. I had to see what all the fuss about and I had to see if Jahren got it right. If you are intimidated by a very scientific read, don't be afraid. Jahren's years of teaching experience have clearly created someone who is skilled at turning complex scientific processes and ideas into easily digestible narratives.

If you are concerned it will not be scientific enough, there's enough interesting data here to sate you, though I did wish I learned more about Jahren's own research. The thing about this book, though, the thing that makes it one of my favorites of the year isn't just that Jahren gets lab life right, it's how skillfully she tells the stories of trees alongside her own story. I have never ever cared about a tree more than I did during this book. And I was lucky enough to listen to the audio read beautifully by Jahren herself while I drove past the blazing autumn leaves of New England, so every tree seemed somehow magical.

If someone had taught me about plants the way Jahren does, where it is not just a process to learn and a life cycle to memorize, but where every single step along the way is a miracle in and of itself, I can see myself seriously considering Botany as a potential major. This book in the hands of a college student could be life changing. Some may find Jahren's story not interesting enough for a memoir. But this is not a memoir that is built around a journey. It is showing you who she is, and a big part of it focuses on the incredibly close relationship she has with her lab partner, Bill.

While they mean absolutely everything to one another, they are not intimate friends, not secret sharers, not confidants. Learning the rhythms of their conversation and the routines of their friendship will show you the kind of relationship you probably haven't seen before. Jahren covers many things here besides science. Parenthood, the chill Scandinavian traditions of the Midwest, the slog of early academic life, and her own struggle with bipolar disorder.

Her writing is simple but deliberate and lovely. I enjoyed every moment listening to her read. Jan 19, JanB rated it it was amazing Shelves: I finished this memoir a few days ago and in trying to get my thoughts together for a review, I read what my GR friends said about the book, and I realized it's all been said and said so much better and eloquently than I could.

So I'll just say I loved it. I listened to the audiobook, read by the author , and she does an excellent job. I loved hearing about her life and passion as a scientist, her illness bipolar , her quirky friend Bill, her marriage, motherhood, and yes, I even loved the scien I finished this memoir a few days ago and in trying to get my thoughts together for a review, I read what my GR friends said about the book, and I realized it's all been said and said so much better and eloquently than I could.

I loved hearing about her life and passion as a scientist, her illness bipolar , her quirky friend Bill, her marriage, motherhood, and yes, I even loved the science-y parts. I'll never look at a tree the same and I now have even more respect for research scientists. View all 19 comments.

Firstly i want to thank Elyse for recommending this book and letting me have a chance to read it: Hope firstly began with her childhood and then suddenly make a jumb to her recent life to introduce herself but kept it short in lab with Bill of course they can't be thought apart: It was nice in the beginning but after she met with Bill and they began to work together in her lab it's like everything fell into place and real story began. When she told about her studies it was not boring but Firstly i want to thank Elyse for recommending this book and letting me have a chance to read it: When she told about her studies it was not boring but interesting some of them was long but she kept its length good enough and she shared with us interesting facts about plants.

First i began listening this novel as an audio book but because when i listened i kept lost track when i came places she talks about her studies they are not in my domain and English is my second language and i'm not good enough to listen everything after that i bought it as an e book and went on by reading. If i think as a whole i loved this book and i loved the way she finished it. But if i talk about its part some part was boring, some exiting and make me happy, sad and worried I want to say life is not so different.

When Hope writing about her life she was so sincere and because of that when she was happy i was happy with her, and worried about her when she feel desperate. I think she is so good at telling her life story and i want to that everything would be good for her. I loved her and the way she tells her story but mostly and all i loved Bill and his answers I usually marked what he said.

What unfolds is a nightmarish story of how the creepy practices of the tech industry has spread through other businesses in their hope of mimicking the success they see in Silicon Valley. The book, however, is written from a kind of bubble where long working hours and job insecurity, among other things, are seen as somewhat unique and mostly stemming from the seeming insanity of Silicon Valley.

But those things have long been present in many businesses. Small business owners, farmers and people in any competitive industry - sports, entertainment, garment, food - will likely find Lyons ideas about hard work, job security and long hours pretty laughable. There is perhaps an age bubble at work here as well. Most of the people I know who work in tech are young and love it. After reading this book, I saw a young friend who has been working for a while at one of the tech companies mentioned frequently in this book.

He shook his head in puzzlement at some of the things I mentioned and shrugged his shoulders, saying that he absolutely loves going to work and doing the work he is doing. For them, maybe this is the new normal because they do not know work to be otherwise. There is sometimes a lack of even-handedness in this book.

When he points out how corporations found a nefarious way to save money by fooling workers with things like bulk payouts of pension and health benefits, he fails to report that workers' unions have also engaged in the very same practice as I have seen happen in my motion picture industry union. In addition, he is eager to point out the politics of certain CEOs when it benefits his argument, but not when it does not. There is a lot of hyperbole and emotional ranting in this book that is very funny, but at times starts to sound a bit like sour grapes.

The author's inability to modulate those things at times works against his credibility.

Science students need lab experience, but it's nearly impossible to get

The most successful and persuasive parts of the book are when he offers his most objective, yet still witty, observations. I would have liked this book infinitely more if there was more of that tone. See all 28 reviews. Amazon Giveaway allows you to run promotional giveaways in order to create buzz, reward your audience, and attract new followers and customers. Learn more about Amazon Giveaway. Set up a giveaway. Customers who viewed this item also viewed. We Are the Nerds: How the Internet Happened: From Netscape to the iPhone.

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Alexa Actionable Analytics for the Web. AmazonGlobal Ship Orders Internationally. Amazon Inspire Digital Educational Resources. Amazon Rapids Fun stories for kids on the go. Amazon Restaurants Food delivery from local restaurants. ComiXology Thousands of Digital Comics. East Dane Designer Men's Fashion. A good leader not only directs lab members and tells them what to do, but he or she also listens to his or her employees.

Taking time to listen is also important because a lot can be gained from your lab members. One way to do this is to organize brainstorming sessions. Not only does this make lab members feel appreciated, but it also provides them with a learning experience. Most importantly, it gives you a different perspective on your research than you would have if you worked in isolation.

Lastly, know when to relax and have fun. Taking time to celebrate as a lab is great for morale and can act as an incentive to reach lab goals. Science is full of disappointments, and perseverance is essential for survival. Taking time to relax and enjoy your accomplishments will give lab members and you the energy to continue. One of the best ways to prevent issues with employees is to be clear about standards and expectations from the start. Every lab member comes from a different background. Most of the issues rise from a lack of communication about expectations.

Without clear expectations, you cannot expect lab members to do something just how you like it. It is equally important for lab standards to be maintained, or they will not be followed. DeFrank and Lorsch both suggest motivating lab members through rewards rather than fear.

Lastly, try to give lab members a sense of control over their work.

Many grad students want to have labs of their own one day, and experiment planning is a skill they need to learn now. Additionally, a sense of pride and ownership can go a long way to motivate employees while freeing you to spend time on other issues. While you may not run a whole lab, your boss will give you smaller tasks to manage. The ability to manage a little will bring opportunities to lead larger future projects. Many of the techniques for managing a lab also can be used on a personal level for career development.

It may take some work, but the payoff will be rewarding to you and your lab members. If you can learn science, you can learn lab management.

Lab Girl by Hope Jahren

More from the current issue. Biotech Careers website Minority Affairs: How to become a good lab manager. By Elizabeth Sandquist Do you ever feel you were unprepared for a career as the head of a research lab? Management can be divided into four main categories: Planning allows a lab manager to know where the lab is going. Organizing is also an important job for a lab manager as he or she determines who does which project and technique, manages the timelines and budgets for multiple projects, and keeps current with research in the fields.