In 1996 I had just turned thirty. If you had told me at the time that parasites were about to become an integral part of my life for years to come, I would have said, “Oh, look at the time! I’ve got to go feed my hyrax!” and headed for the nearest restroom to scrub my hands.

But it would have been true. I just had finished my first book, and I was wondering what to write next. I had a couple vague ideas I bounced around with my agent over lunch. How about an exploration of the intersection of biology and philosophy? A blank look. How about a book about parasites? Boom: my agent sat up.

Continue reading “Parasite Rex Redux: Now with a new epilogue” →

I’ll be giving public talks fairly regularly for the next few months, partly due to the publication of A Planet of Viruses. Here’s an updated list of my talks. (If you’d like me to give a lecture or appear on a radio show, please get in touch.)

Continue reading “Springtime Yammerings” →

Over the weekend, I was contacted by Melissa Townsend, an Arizona high school teacher, with this question:

Getting ready to assign spring reading to my students. What are your favorite non-fiction science books a HS kid can handle?

Continue reading “Great science books for high school students: The hive-mind speaks” →

There’s nowa page in Sterling’s fall catalog for my book of science tattoos. Here’s the cover. You won’t be able to appreciate its full die-cut splendor, however, till you hold it in your hands when it comes out in October 2011. More details to come!

Originally published March 26, 2011. Copyright 2011 Carl Zimmer.

Recently I blogged about how the mere existence of whales might be an important clue to treating cancer. That post has drawn many readers, and many questions in the comment thread.

Happily, the authors of the review I described–Carlo Maley of the University of California, San Francisco, and Aleah Caulin of the University of Pennsylvania–have joined the thread. They’ve answered the first set of reader questions and promise to come back to respond to the rest. Further proof of the majesty of blogs…

[Update: Here’s their next batch of answers.]

Originally published March 25, 2011. Copyright 2011 Carl Zimmer.