This book originally appeared in the Arizona Daily Star as “100 Days of Science” and was published in the summer of 2012 as part of the Star’s yearlong celebration of Arizona’s centennial. Accompanying the print stories were blog items that appeared the same day on azstarnet.com, the Star’s website. For this book we have paired the print stories with the related blog items. We have grouped our science stories by specialty, though some elude classification.
Where do you list, for example, a “cosmogeochemist” who applies his work to more than one planet and who is now applying his techniques to measure bone density for medical purposes?
Ariel Anbar, the Arizona State University professor in question, is listed in the “General Science” category, but could have easily fit the “Medical” or Planetary Sciences” sections.
“Dendrochronology,” meanwhile, ended up in the “Archaeology & Anthropology” category because that was its first application, but it is a stand-alone technique that is used today in a variety of disciplines.
One thing becomes clear when you explore science in Arizona — it has been an interdisciplinary exercise throughout its history.
