Science writing news

Liz Heinecke: Radiant—The Dancer, The Scientist, and a Friendship Forged in Light

In 1890s Paris, modern dance pioneer Loie Fuller dazzled Folies Bergere audiences with her swirling movements and inventive lighting. Later, she sought Marie Curie’s newly discovered glow-in-the-dark element, radium, to apply to her costumes. Liz Heinecke’s Radiant: The Dancer, The Scientist, and a Friendship Forged in Light tells the story of Fuller’s and Curie’s professional and personal ties.

Randy Mayfield with Beth Miller—One Life: Your Gift Will Make a Way!

NASW member Beth Miller teamed up with her lifelong friend, singer, songwriter, and pastor Randy Mayfield to produce Mayfield’s memoir, One Life: Your Gift Will Make a Way!. The book describes Mayfield’s many humanitarian missions around the world, which include providing aid for orphanages in India, food and clean water programs in Haiti, and job training programs for Kurdish refugees in Iraq.

Bijal P. Trivedi—Breath from Salt: A Deadly Genetic Disease, a New Era in Science, and the Patients and Families Who Changed Medicine Forever

For cystic fibrosis, a hereditary disease often fatal in early decades of life, parents raised millions of dollars to support research by scientists working at the cutting edge of gene therapies. Bijal P. Trivedi ties these threads together in her riveting narrative Breath from Salt: A Deadly Genetic Disease, a New Era in Science, and the Patients and Families Who Changed Medicine Forever.

Christoph Droesser: When Things Talk to Us - Voice Assistants, Computers as Authors & Social Bots

“We need more detergent,” I told my husband. “I can help you with that,” my phone offered, unasked. I wasn’t aware it was eavesdropping. For the first time in history, humans can interact verbally with non-human entities, says Christoph Droesser. Are these genuine conversations? Droesser explores this question in When Things Talk to Us: Voice Assistants, Computers as Authors and Social Bots.

Lisa Selin Davis Tomboy: The Surprising History and Future of Girls Who Dare To Be Different

Until the mid-20th century, boys often wore pink, & girls, blue. Mamie Eisenhower's love for pink in the 1950s reinforced its use for girls. Some girls & boys reject gender stereotypes—colors, toys, clothes, activities, & behaviors—Lisa Selin Davis reports in Tomboy: The Surprising History and Future of Girls Who Dare To Be Different. They typically become well-rounded, self-confident adults.

Bookshelf

Christopher Wanjek—Spacefarers: How Humans Will Settle the Moon, Mars, and Beyond

Imagine vacationing at a hotel in low-earth orbit, within 200 miles of the Earth’s surface—a genuine out-of-this-world experience. Though daunting challenges remain, the potential for scientific advances, mining profits, and the thrill of space tourism likely will stimulate heightened space exploration, Christopher Wanjek writes in Spacefarers: How Humans Will Settle the Moon, Mars, and Beyond.

Emily Willingham: Phallacy — Life Lessons from the Animal Penis

The notion that the penis is the throbbing obelisk of all masculinity is a fallacy, Emily Willingham asserts in Phallacy: Life Lessons from the Animal Penis. Willingham, a PhD in biological sciences who writes and teaches about how gonads and penises develop and work, provides an entertaining survey of flabby studies with a patriarchal perspective, supporting her conclusions with hard science.

Cheryl Pellerin: Healing with Cannabis

Cannabis, approved for medical use in at least 35 states, also is available without a prescription in 11 states, Washington DC, and 2 US territories. These stats suggest it’s high time for Cheryl Pellerin’s guidebook on why & how cannabis works in the body, Healing with Cannabis: The Evolution of the Endocannabinoid System and How Cannabinoids Help Relieve PTSD, Pain, MS, Anxiety, and More.

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