Category: Classroom

The Economist has covered several stories recently that document the ongoing issue of religious objections to various aspects of science. In schools and in the halls of government, these articles suggest, there is a gulf between those who trust scientifically demonstrated facts, and those who feel that ideology or religious belief preclude the acceptance of scientific findings. This conflict has direct economic implications for any nation.

The impact of human decisions on the environment, and therefore on economic health, for example, is potentially very large. These articles in The Economist point up the disturbing potential for that a future population is being nurtured that will be uneducated regarding evolution and scientific inquiry (S.M., Opting out of Evolution: Darwin shmarwin) (S.M., Faith and Reason: Scientists are not as secular as people think).

Such a population will run the risk of failing to compete globally in the marketplace of ideas and innovation. Of greater worry is that they make choices in their own lives or in the leaders they elect that could destroy the environment through ignorance or willful rejection of science on religious or ideological grounds S.M. of The Economist, in an article titled “Opting out of evolution” describes the situation in Missouri’s school system, where a bill is proposed that would all allow parents to keep their kids out of class when evolution is discussed. As the article points out, this is a bit different from asking that one’s child be offered a virtual alternative to actual animal dissection, or even from excluding one’s child from sex education.

Evolution is so fundamental to life sciences that to stay out of a class whenever it is discussed would mean not taking the course at all (S.M., Opting out of Evolution: Darwin shmarwin). Not understanding the life sciences places people at risk for not understanding issues that affect their own life, for example health, and nutrition.

An entire generation of leaders who do not understand, and even reject evolution and science generally, could wreak a disheartening degree of damage on the environment and, thus, on the economy.

The article “Faith and reason” describes the way that current leaders who dismiss scientific thinking address key issues such as global climate change. As an example, the article discusses Illinois Congressman John Shimkus, whose committee assignments relate to the environment. He interprets the Biblical covenant after the Flood as meaning that the human race is protected from rising waters.

He maintains this opinion although the promise in scripture appears to say that the Creator will not wipe humans out again, not that humans cannot ever wipe themselves out through carelessness, greed, or ignorance (S.M., Faith and Reason: Scientists are not as secular as people think). Based on his interpretation of Scripture and his rejection of scientific evidence, this leader is not likely to support any moves to prevent further encroachment on economically important regions of the country such as New Orleans or parts of Florida.

One impact of not appreciating science is that it will place the USA (or any nation that pursues this course of action or inaction) at a disadvantage in comparison with other countries that take science seriously and teach undiluted biology to their students.

The world needs scientifically trained people to achieve all the innovations that beckon. If the USA or any country is not producing well-trained scientists, this will place them behind the rest of the world in invention and development of new technologies. This will put them behind economically.

The other impact could be very direct and very deadly. If citizens and their leaders do not believe in science, they may not take action to mitigate environmental catastrophe: for example, slowing carbon emissions. The result for the country could include worse agricultural disruption than those that current drought conditions have imposed. This will impact the economy drastically.

These articles alert readers to what could be a growing trend. Religious or ideological challenges to learning about evolution could deprive a generation of students of scientific training. These individuals, if in positions of power, can make poor decisions with wide environmental and economic results.

Works Cited

“Faith and Reason.” The Economist (n.d.). Web.

“Opting out of Evolution.” The Economist (n.d.). Web.

Adobe Photoshop is one of the most actively used programs in order to edit digital images, and these programs are known as graphics editors. Photoshop was developed by Adobe Systems in the 1980s, and its popularity among professional photographers, editors, and designers increases each year. In order to review Adobe Photoshop CC: Classroom in a Book by Andrew Faulkner and Conrad Chavez, which is a detailed guide for working with this graphics editor, it is important to focus on the following aspects: contents of the book, favorite features, and tools, descriptions of some Photoshop techniques that were not covered in the class, and areas for improvement. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to provide a review of the book by Faulkner and Chavez, which explains how to effectively work with Adobe Photoshop.

While focusing on the book’s contents, it is necessary to state that this guide covers all possible aspects of working with Adobe Photoshop, starting with the installation of the program and ending with printing photographs after managing them with the help of different filters and instruments. The book provides helpful information on how to start working with the program even if readers have no experience in this field. Thus, a lot of information on the essentials of editing graphics is provided in the first chapters of the book. From this point, the first chapters provide the introduction to the work with Adobe Photoshop with the focus on the editor’s interface, layout, key functions, navigation, tools, and accessories (Faulkner and Chavez 8). The book provides a step-by-step guide on how to work with different formats of images, what tools to apply, what approaches to sharpening photographs to use, how to edit images using basic and advanced tools, how to work with rulers and grids, and how to change colors among other techniques (Faulkner and Chavez 10-18). All the explanations presented in the book can be understood and applied to practice by both professionals and novices.

The book also provides a detailed explanation of how to work with the Quick Selection tool in order to choose areas for further manipulations and modification. The Quick Selection tool provided by Photoshop can be viewed as the most important instrument which influences the quality of the work with photographs and other types of images. Thus, each user needs to understand how to select objects and parts of photographs in the most efficient manner in order to decrease the time required for working with the program and increase the quality of editing (Faulkner and Chavez 55). Therefore, it is important to learn how to highlight certain parts of photographs, select different objects, and determine texts to change, how to manipulate only a specific area, and how to make the most accurate selections.

Some techniques proposed in Photoshop in order to edit graphics that were covered in the book but not studied in the class include such essential tools as the Custom Shape tool, the Red Eye Removal tool, and the Hand tool, among others. The Custom Shape tool in Photoshop allows users to manipulate different difficult shapes, other than circles and squares, in order to add them to images. The book presents a detailed explanation of how to work with this tool (Faulkner and Chavez 193). While editing photographs that depict people, it is often necessary to remove the effect of red eyes. The Red Eye Removal tool described in the book is useful to work with these photographs to achieve the effect of a natural color applied to the depicted eyes (Faulkner and Chavez 126). Another key tool is the Hand tool which is often used to scroll down images and apply the zoom instrument (Faulkner and Chavez 65).

In spite of the fact that the book provides a range of important details and instructions regarding the effective work with Photoshop, there are also some areas for further improvement. The structure of the book is effective in guiding persons who have different levels of skills in editing various types of images. However, it is possible to add even more photographs and examples in the part of the book which explains essential aspects of editing in order to provide readers with more opportunities to apply the studied knowledge to practice. Thus, it is important to state that technical aspects of working with images are thoroughly described in the book, but some more clarifications can be required for those readers who have no experience in working with Photoshop.

After reviewing the book on the basics of Adobe Photoshop, it is necessary to note that this work provides all the information required for using this editor effectively. The reader has an opportunity to learn how to install the program, what options and tools to use as basic ones, and what features to utilize in order to edit photographs and other types of graphics at the higher level to provide high-quality digital images. Still, in spite of the fact that real-world examples provided in the book are appropriate to demonstrate how to use this or that tool, it is possible to suggest adding more photographs, images, and explanations to guide potential users.

Work Cited

Faulkner, Andrew, and Conrad Chavez. Adobe Photoshop CC: Classroom in a Book. Adobe Press, 2015.