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.
I’m a judge again this year for the Imagine Science Film Festival, a fascinating Petri dish of short movies that feed on science and produce all sorts of interesting artistic metabolites. The festival has just kicked off, and there will be movies (both short and long) all week. Here’s the schedule. Having seen all the short pieces, I can say there’s some excellent stuff in the mix (although I won’t tell you exactly which ones I liked best till after the award ceremony on Friday).
Originally published October 16, 2010. Copyright 2010 Carl Zimmer.
Hearty congratulations to Ed Yong, fellow Discover blogger, for winning this year’s online National Academies Communication Award. I serve as a judge for the awards, so I told the NAS folks I would have to sit this particular vote out this year, seeing that a fellow member of the Discover hivemind was in the running. From the sidelines, I was very pleased to see him win. Ed’s torrent of well-researched blog posts on natural history give the lie (again) that blogging isn’t serious journalism.
Congratulations as well to Richard Holmes for his wonderful book, Age of Wonder, Charles Duhigg for his deep exploration of our water woes, and Carole and Richard Rifkind, co-producers and co-directors of the show, “Naturally Obsessed: The Making of a Scientist.”
Originally published October 14, 2010. Copyright 2010 Carl Zimmer.
Over at the Atlantic, I describe my experience creating an ebook. First lesson: I don’t want to be the author of a Microsoft Word file. Check it out.
My deep thanks to Alexis Madrigal, the technology editor at the Atlantic, for inviting me to contribute my thoughts.
Originally published October 14, 2010. Copyright 2010 Carl Zimmer.
I’d like to introduce you to my latest book. It’s called Brain Cuttings: Fifteen Journeys Through The Mind. ( Amazon/BN/ Mobipocket ) It’s my ninth book, but it’s my first dip into a new kind of publishing. And it was spurred on by you, dear reader.
Last year I put a survey on the Loom to find out about your reading habits — current and future. The 761 responses I got were surprising in a lot of ways, and they guided my thinking about what sort of new kinds of formats I could explore. I’ve been especially curious about how books can become blogified: in other words, writers can think up ideas for books, create them, and then quickly offer them up for sale at places like Amazon, regardless of whether they fit into the well-worn grooves of traditional publishing.
Continue reading “My new book–ebook, that is: Brain Cuttings”