Advance Copy: Backstories on books by NASW members

For this column, NASW book editor Lynne Lamberg asks NASW authors to tell how they came up with the idea for their book, developed a proposal, found an agent and publisher, funded and conducted research, and put the book together. She also asks what they wish they had known before they began working on their book, what they might do differently the next time, and what tips they can offer aspiring authors. She then edits the A part of that Q&A to produce the author reports you see here.

NASW members: Will your book be published soon? Visit www.nasw.org/advance-copy-submission-guidelines to submit your report.

Publication of NASW members' reports in Advance Copy does not constitute NASW's endorsement of their books. NASW welcomes your comments and hopes this column stimulates productive discussions.

Rectangular photo of Olivia Campbell’s office bookshelf showing works on women in Nazi Germany, scientists under Hitler, displaced scholars in Nazi Germany in the 1930s, and physics. Photo credit: Olivia Campbell.

Olivia Campbell—Sisters in Science: How Four Women Physicists Escaped Nazi Germany and Made Scientific History

When the Nazis took control of Germany in the 1930s, they stripped Jewish citizens and women of their academic positions. In Sisters in Science: How Four Women Physicists Escaped Nazi Germany and Made Scientific History, Olivia Campbell describes the women’s harrowing journeys to freedom and later success in Sweden and the US, flourishing, she notes, “in the face of seemingly insurmountable odds.”

Rectangular photo of Christopher Pollon’s office bookshelf showing works on mining, capitalism, colonialism, sustainability, gold, oil, geology, wars, and various countries. Photo credit: Christopher Pollon.

Christopher Pollon—Pitfall: The Race to Mine the World’s Most Vulnerable Places

“Even though the world needs mining more than ever, the world needs mining to change,” Christopher Pollon writes in Pitfall: The Race to Mine the World’s Most Vulnerable Places, recipient of NASW’s 2024 Science in Society Book Award. It’s sometimes better to leave metals in the ground, he suggests, and capture those needed for present-day use by recycling outdated products, such as smartphones.

Rectangular photo of Kavin Senapathy office bookshelf showing works on child care, racism, feminism, and body image. Photo credit: Kavin Senapathy.

Kavin Senapathy—The Progressive Parent: Harnessing the Power of Science and Social Justice to Raise Awesome Kids

“There’s nothing more complicated than parenthood,” Kavin Senapathy asserts in The Progressive Parent: Harnessing the Power of Science and Social Justice to Raise Awesome Kids. She aims to help parents make evidence-based decisions about breast-feeding, vaccines, and food additives, and help their children acquire a positive racial, cultural, and gender identity, along with a social conscience.

Rectangular photo of Alison Bass’ office bookshelf showing books by Isaac Bashevis Singer, Chaim Potak, Bernard Malamud, and other great storytellers. Photo credit: Alison Bass.

Alison Bass—Rebecca of Ivanhoe

In her novel, Rebecca of Ivanhoe, Alison Bass imagines the life of Rebecca, a 12th-century healer saved from being burned alive as a witch, after she flees from England to Spain and then to Egypt. Bass describes botanical remedies and other therapies used in medieval medical practice. She incorporates historical characters, wars, and other events occurring in the background of daily life.

Rectangular photo of Vince Beiser’s office bookshelf showing books on mining cotton, salt, and metals, along with three polymetallic nodules, that is, rocks containing cobalt, nickel, and copper from the Pacific Ocean floor. The shelf also contains a warning sign from a minefield in Angola. Photo credit: Vince Beiser.

Vince Beiser—Power Metal: The Race for the Resources That Will Shape the Future

Do you need a new cell phone? Could you manage without a car? In Power Metal: The Race for the Resources That Will Shape the Future, Vince Beiser explores the damage to human and planetary health caused by mining metals to manufacture cars, phones, computers, and other everyday “necessities.” Repairing, reusing, and recycling products isn’t enough, he asserts. He suggests mindful DIY action.

Rectangular photo of Patchen Barss’ office bookshelf with titles on randomness, mathematics, computers, patterns, chaos, and biodesign. The shelf includes NASW author Kenneth Miller’s book Mapping the Darkness. Photo credit: Patchen Barss.

Patchen Barss—The Impossible Man: Roger Penrose and the Cost of Genius

Studying a sundial at age six, Roger Penrose first glimpsed a mathematical “world behind the world” where the shape of things revealed the universe’s deep secrets. In The Impossible Man: Roger Penrose and the Cost of Genius, Patchen Barss follows Penrose from childhood to Nobel Prize, capturing the intense mix of joy and sacrifice that allowed him to rewrite our understanding of the cosmos.

Rectangular photo of Lina Zeldovich’s office bookshelf with titles on bacteriophages, superbugs, and molecular biology. Photo credit: Lina Zeldovich.

Lina Zeldovich—The Living Medicine: How a Lifesaving Cure Was Nearly Lost—and Why It Will Rescue Us When Antibiotics Fail

Viruses that prey on bacteria, known as phages, may be our best defense against the next bacterial pandemic, Lina Zeldovich asserts in The Living Medicine: How a Lifesaving Cure Was Nearly Lost—and Why It Will Rescue Us When Antibiotics Fail. Multi drug-resistant bacteria kill more than a million people annually, she reports. Anthony Fauci and others have called for further phage research.

Rectangular photo of Siri Carpenter’s book shelf with titles on writing, science writing, book design, and science communication. Shelf also includes several works by NASW authors. Photo credit: Siri Carpenter.

Siri Carpenter, Ed.—The Craft of Science Writing: Selections from the Open Notebook (Expanded Edition)

Essays on how to evaluate ideas before you pitch, conduct difficult interviews, write a great lede and self-edit are among 42 articles in The Craft of Science Writing: Selections from The Open Notebook, expanded edition, edited by Siri Carpenter. Beyond craft, the book also addresses such topics as working with a sensitivity reader and dealing with the emotional toll science reporting may take.