Dr. Steven Vogel, reading from "The Life of a Leaf" - rescheduled for Feb 20, 2013

In its essence, science is a way of looking at and thinking about the world. In "The Life of a Leaf," Dr. Steven Vogel illuminates this approach, using the humble leaf as a model. Whether plant or person, every organism must contend with its immediate physical environment, a world that both limits what organisms can do and offers innumerable opportunities for evolving fascinating ways of challenging those limits. Here, Dr. Vogel explains these interactions, examining through the example of the leaf the extraordinary designs that enable life to adapt to its physical world.In his account, the leaf serves as a biological everyman, an ordinary and ubiquitous living thing that nonetheless speaks volumes about our environment as well as its own. (goodreads.com) Dr. Vogel is Research Professor in Duke's Biology Department. Books will be available for purchase.McClendon Commons is the Visitors¿ Center for Undergraduate Admissions, which is located at the corner of Campus Drive, Chapel Drive, and Flowers Drive. McClendon Commons is behind the main UG Admissions Gothic stone building.