Steven Nadis: Shape of a Life

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.

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.

Cover: Shape of a Life

THE SHAPE OF A LIFE:
ONE MATHEMATICIAN’S SEARCH
FOR THE UNIVERSE’S HIDDEN GEOMETRY
Shing-Tung Yau and Steve Nadis (NASW member)
Yale University Press, February 19, 2019, Hardcover & digital, $28
ISBN 10: 0300235909; ISBN-13: 978-0300235906
ASIN: B07N8V6DQX

Nadis reports:

This is the autobiography of Harvard geometer Shing-Tung Yau, the winner of the Fields Medal, the National Medal of Science, a MacArthur Fellowship, and other awards. Yau is most famous for proving the Calabi Conjecture, which gave rise to a large class of geometric spaces subsequently called “Calabi-Yau manifolds.” These manifolds play a central role in string theory—an attempt to unify the forces of nature into a single framework—and may provide the shape of the universe’s hidden, “extra” dimensions posited by that theory.

Steven Nadis

Yau has made important contributions to many areas of math and physics, but I wouldn’t have undertaken this autobiography if he had led an otherwise uneventful life. That is decidedly not the case. He was born in China during the Communist revolution. His family fled to Hong Kong where they lived under conditions of dire poverty. When Yau was 14, his father died, making the family’s financial situation even worse.

He started tutoring in mathematics to earn money—an experience that added to his appreciation of the discipline. He soon resolved to make a career in that field, if at all possible. Through a combination of luck and talent, he landed a generous scholarship for graduate studies at the University of California, Berkeley. Yau arrived in Berkeley in the fall of 1969 with less than $100 in his pocket, enrolling in every class he could. His career quickly took off: Within a few months, he had two papers accepted in prestigious math journals.

I met him for the first time in 2006. A friend of his, a Cornell physicist I knew from articles I’d previously written, told me that Yau was looking for someone with whom to coauthor a book. I was busy at the time and almost said no but then decided to meet with Yau since his office at Harvard was just a five-minute bike ride from my home in Cambridge. Looking back, I’m glad I made time for that conversation. THE SHAPE OF A LIFE is the fourth book we’ve written together. We’re already making plans for a fifth.

Contact info:

Steve Nadis, 617-876-7143, stevenadis@comcast.net
Book website: https://yalebooks.yale.edu/book/9780300235906/shape-life
Publicist: Jennifer Doerr, 203-432-0969, jennifer.doerr@yale.edu

NASW members: will your book be published soon? Take advantage of this opportunity for shameless self-promotion. Submit your report for Advance Copy.

Tell your fellow NASW members how you came up with the idea for your book, developed a proposal, found an agent and publisher, funded and conducted research, and put the book together. Include what you wish you had known before you began working on your book, or had done differently.

See https://www.nasw.org/advance-copy-submission-guidelines.

View Advance Copy archives at https://www.nasw.org/member-article/advance-copy.

Thinking of writing a book? If you are a NASW member, you may access a list of more than 150 books and online resources to help you craft your book proposal, find an agent and funding sources, negotiate your contract, learn about self-publishing, publicize and market your book, and more at https://www.nasw.org/article/write-book.

Send book info and questions about book publishing to Lynne Lamberg, NASW book editor, llamberg@nasw.org.

Advance Copy

The path from idea to book may take myriad routes. The Advance Copy column, started in 2000 by NASW volunteer book editor Lynne Lamberg, features NASW authors telling the stories behind their books. Authors are asked to report how they got their idea, honed it into a proposal, found an agent and a publisher, funded and conducted their research, and organized their writing process. They also are asked to share what they wish they’d known when they started or would do differently next time, and what advice they can offer aspiring authors. Lamberg edits the authors’ answers to produce the Advance Copy reports.

NASW members: Will your book be published soon? Visit www.nasw.org/advance-copy-submission-guidelines for information on submitting your report.

Publication of NASW author reports in Advance Copy does not constitute NASW's endorsement of any publication or the ideas, values, or material contained within or espoused by authors or their books. We hope this column stimulates productive discussions on important topics now and in the future as both science and societies progress. We welcome your discussion in the comments section below.