Next month, the National Association of Science Writers is descending on New Haven for their annual meeting. I didn’t want this talent pool to flow into and out of the Elm City without sharing some of it with the community. So I’ve organized a public reading with four authors–two coming to town for NASW, and two area residents. All four writers have excellent new science books, and–remarkably–they are not unique in that regard. This year has been a fantastic one for science books, and I could have easily scheduled half a dozen more events with quartets of equally gifted writers.
The readings will take place at the magnificent Beinecke Rare Book Library, where you can check out the Gutenberg Bible and Audubon double elephant folios beforehand. (A note to NASW members coming to the meeting: the library is a few minutes’ walk from the Omni Hotel, where the meeting is going to be held. And it will run from 4 to 6 on Friday, 11/5, ending just time for everyone to get to the evening NASW festivities.)
Richard Conniff: The Species Seekers: Heroes, Fools, and the Mad Pursuit of Life on Earth
Richard Conniff writes about wildlife, human nature, and other subjects for magazines including Time, Smithsonian, and National Geographic. His previous books include Spineless Wonders and The Natural History of the Rich: A Field Guide. He has won a National Magazine Award and his work has been included in three editions of the Best American Science and Nature Writing.
Jennifer Ouellette: The Calculus Diaries: How Math Can Help You Lose Weight, Win in Vegas, and Survive a Zombie Apocalypse
Jennifer Ouellette is the author of The Physics of the Buffyverse and Black Bodies and Quantum Cats: Tales from the Annals of Physics. She is the author of the popular “Cocktail Party Physics” blog and has served as the director of Science & Entertainment Exchange, an initiative from the National Academics of Sciences aimed at fostering collaboration between scientists and the entertainment industry.
Annie Murphy Paul: Origins: How the Nine Months Before Birth Shape the Rest of Our Lives
Annie Murphy Paul is the author of The Cult of Personality: How Personality Tests Are Leading Us to Miseducate Our Children, Mismanage Our Companies, and Misunderstand Ourselves. She is a former senior editor at Psychology Today and has written for The New York Times Magazine, Time, O: The Oprah Magazine and Slate.
Jonathan Weiner: Long for This World: The Strange Science of Immortality
Jonathan Weiner is the author of five books, including The Beak of the Finch: A Story of Evolution in Our Time, for which he won the Pulitzer Prize. He is the Maxwell M. Geffen Professor of Medical and Scientific Journalism at Columbia University.
The details:
Where: Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library (Map: http://bit.ly/YaleBeinecke )
Friday, November 5, 4-6 pm.
Free and open to the public; first come, first seated
Moderated by science writer and Yale lecturer Carl Zimmer
Sponsored by the Yale Environmental Studies Program
Feel free to download this poster (pdf) and spread the word!
Originally published October 18, 2010. Copyright 2010 Carl Zimmer.