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.

Rebecca Heisman—Flight Paths: How a Passionate and Quirky Group of Pioneering Scientists Solved the Mystery of Bird Migration

Where do birds go when seasons change? A 17th-century theory posited they flew to the moon. Researchers today use radar, satellites, light-level geolocation, DNA, data from community bird-watchers, and more to track and understand migration patterns, as Rebecca Heisman details in Flight Paths: How a Passionate and Quirky Group of Pioneering Scientists Solved the Mystery of Bird Migration.

Amy Dockser Marcus—We the Scientists: How a Daring Team of Parents and Doctors Forged a New Path for Medicine

Parents of children with rare, potentially fatal, disorders, building on activism by people with breast cancer and HIV, have spurred the burgeoning citizen-science movement. Their efforts, Amy Dockser Marcus reports in We the Scientists: How a Daring Team of Parents and Doctors Forged a New Path for Medicine, have improved both national health policy and social and political equality.

Diana Parsell—Eliza Scidmore: The Trailblazing Journalist Behind Washington's Cherry Trees

From the 1890s to the 1920s, reporter/photographer Eliza Scidmore covered Alaska’s Klondike gold rush, Japan’s emergence as a modern world power, and other world events for National Geographic and other publications. She also orchestrated Japan’s 1912 gift of 3000 cherry trees to Washington, DC, Diana Parsell recounts in Eliza Scidmore: The Trailblazing Journalist Behind Washington's Cherry Trees.

Dennis Meredith—The Climate Pandemic: How Climate Disruption Threatens Human Survival

Climate disruption occurs almost too slowly to fear, Dennis Meredith asserts in The Climate Pandemic: How Climate Disruption Threatens Human Survival. The innate human “optimism bias” thwarts efforts to halt rising global temperatures, acidifying oceans, disappearing forests, and increasing wildfires. With 1700 references, “this book is not a wake-up call,” he insists. “It may well be taps.”

Marc Dingman—Bizarre: The Most Peculiar Cases of Human Behavior and What They Tell Us about How the Brain Works

What could prompt a person to act like a cat, view family members as imposters, eat cigarette ashes, or hear sounds others don’t notice? What allows others to memorize dozens of books or rapidly calculate math problems? Neuroscientist and science writer Marc Dingman explores such queries in Bizarre: The Most Peculiar Cases of Human Behavior and What They Tell Us about How the Brain Works.

Jen Christiansen—Building Science Graphics: An Illustrated Guide to Communicating Science through Diagrams and Visualizations

Would charts and other visuals enhance your articles, press releases, blog, social media posts, book, and talks? Learn DIY tactics from Jen Christiansen’s book, Building Science Graphics: An Illustrated Guide to Communicating Science through Diagrams and Visualizations. Christiansen includes worksheets and case studies to help journalists, editors, students, and teachers improve their messaging.

Liz Lee Heinecke—Sheet Pan Science: 25 Fun, Simple Science Experiments for the Kitchen Table

Turning a sheet pan into a science lab involves no alchemy, only the wizardry of kitchen pantry scientist Liz Lee Heinecke. In Sheet Pan Science, Heinecke provides photo-illustrated guides to 25 fun home experiments. Using baking powder, cornstarch & other kitchen staples, readers aged 7 to 10 will learn the science behind pyramid & cube-shaped bubbles, tie-dye milk, kaleidoscopic eggs, & more.

Bethany Brookshire—PESTS: How Humans Create Animal Villains

When we see coyotes in the street, rats in our trash can, or squirrels in the attic, we feel helpless, Bethany Brookshire writes in Pests: How Humans Create Animal Villains. We want them to go away. It would be better, she suggests, to emulate Indigenous cultures and learn to coexist with—and not feed—wildlife in our midst, protecting our homes and ourselves with safe methods of biocontrol.

Vincent Kiernan—Atomic Bill: A Journalist’s Dangerous Ambition in the Shadow of the Bomb

William Laurence, New York Times science writer and, from 1956-’64, NYT science editor, received two Pulitzer Prizes. In 1934, he helped launch NASW. He also took money from sources to skew stories, Vincent Kiernan asserts in Atomic Bill: A Journalist’s Dangerous Ambition in the Shadow of the Bomb. Laurence focused on serving himself, Kiernan maintains, not the NYT or his readers.