Name ________________
PSCI 4442
Homework #2
January 23, 2009
Your participation in this course includes giving a scientific presentation toward the end
of the semester. The presentation will be based on an article from the primary literature, but
sometimes it helps to put things in context first.
This week’s assignment is to pick out a subject area (more specific than chemistry or
physics) over which you would like to give your presentation. You may not have ideas yet, but
the library has several good sources to browse and come up with an idea – for example,
Science, Accounts of Chemical Research, etc.
In addition to picking out the particular topic, you will find one secondary reference that
may be used to help you set the background for your talk. This is important to put the specific
paper into context and to help acquaint you with the field over which you will give the talk. In
addition, secondary sources typically have references to primary literature. Thus, if you choose
your secondary reference well, you can probably find a reasonable primary article in its
references for later use.
This assignment is due on Friday, January 30, at class time.
Topic area: ____________________________________________________________________
Secondary Reference: To cite the reference, use the format for citations used in this secondary
reference.