A blog about life, past and future
Carl Zimmer is a science writer. His articles appear in the New York Times and many magazines. He is also the author of six books about science. Send messages to blog/ at/ carlzimmer/ dot/ com
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Microcosm: E. coli and the New Science of Life
Charles Darwin's The Descent of Man: The Concise Edition
"As fine a book as one will find on the subject."-- Scientific American
Revised with a new introduction
"Superb...a non-stop delight."-- New Scientist
"Fascinating...thrilling... Zimmer has produced a top-notch work of popular science." --LA Times
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"...among the joyous, heartless, ever-juvenile eternities, Pip saw the multitudinous, God-omnipresent, coral insects, that out of the firmament of waters, heaved the colossal orbs. He saw God's foot upon the treadle of the loom, and spoke it; and therefore his shipmates called him mad."
--Moby Dick
January 30, 2004
Category: Evolution
Charles Darwin had no great hope of witnessing natural selection at work in his own time. He assumed that it would operate as slowly and imperceptibly as the water that eroded cliffs and canyons. He would have been delighted to...
Posted by Carl Zimmer at 2:33 PM • 3 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
January 26, 2004
Category: Brains
If you're in New York, you've got two chances on Tuesday January 27 to hear me talk about Soul Made Flesh. At 5:30 I'll be giving a talk in the "Mind Over Body" lecture series at New York Public Library's...
Posted by Carl Zimmer at 5:09 PM • 0 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Category: Evolution
Last week I wrote a post about some new research that suggests that global warming could trigger large-scale extinctions in the next few decades. In particular, I dissected some of the objections that were leveled at the study, pointing out...
Posted by Carl Zimmer at 1:14 PM • 5 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
January 23, 2004
Category: Evolution
If you'd like an example of the latest rhetorical tricks being used by antievolutionists, you can't do better than this press release issued today from the Discovery Institute. The Minnesota legistlature has to choose between two drafts of state science...
Posted by Carl Zimmer at 6:07 PM • 9 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Category: Evolution
Sometimes when you take a look at life on Earth, it seems like evolution might be able to produce anything you could ever imagine. Can a mammal become so adapted to swimming in the ocean that it never comes back...
Posted by Carl Zimmer at 1:58 PM • 0 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
January 20, 2004
Category: Brains
At noon today in New York I'll be at the Makor Center of the 92nd St. Y at 35 W. 67 St. to talk about Soul Made Flesh....
Posted by Carl Zimmer at 1:19 AM • 2 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Category: Evolution
If you've ever been to a Central American forest, you've probably heard the hoots and wails of a howler monkey. But these creatures deserve our attention for more than their howls. They turn out to tell us a lot...
Posted by Carl Zimmer at 1:12 AM • 2 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
January 14, 2004
Category: Evolution
The emotions that other species summon up in the human brain are perplexing. A lion inspires awe and respect. It is the king of the jungle, a great name for a football team, a noble guardian of the entrance to...
Posted by Carl Zimmer at 10:58 PM • 5 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Category: General
Based on some feedback from subscribers and my own nosing around, I've decided to switch the subscription system to Bloglet. While this requires you to create a user name over at bloglet.com, the result of this minor chore seems better...
Posted by Carl Zimmer at 10:49 PM • 3 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
January 12, 2004
Category: Evolution
Last week I briefly mentioned some stark estimates about the potential extinctions that could be triggered by global warming. Since then, some global warming skeptics have tried to pour cold water on these results by making some dubious claims about...
Posted by Carl Zimmer at 10:14 PM • 9 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Category: Brains
Today I'll be talking for an hour about Soul Made Flesh on Minnesota public radio. You can listen to the broadcast live online at 11 am EST (the show will be archived). At 2 pm EST, you can listen online...
Posted by Carl Zimmer at 10:03 AM • 1 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
January 11, 2004
Category: General
It's been a month since I've joined Corante, and my deep thanks go out to the many new readers who have visited the Loom. Daily visits reached a new high this Friday, January 9, with 900 pairs of eyeballs pointed...
Posted by Carl Zimmer at 2:08 PM • 4 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
January 9, 2004
Category: Brains
Oliver Sacks muses on how we construct our perceptions of reality. (Via ALDaily.)...
Posted by Carl Zimmer at 9:25 AM • 0 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
January 7, 2004
Category: General
I'm en route to Washington DC to talk tonight about Soul Made Flesh. If you're in the District, please come to Reiter's Bookstore at 2021 K Street NW at 6:30. On my web site I'm posting all my talks and...
Posted by Carl Zimmer at 10:49 PM • 5 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Category: The Parasite Files
Few humans have been as successful in Hollywood as parasitoids.
Posted by Carl Zimmer at 12:09 PM • 5 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
January 4, 2004
Category: General
Today's issue of Newsday has my review of Sea of Glory, Nathaniel Philbrick's history of the first great scientific U.S. expedition. The review gets pretty harsh towards the end, despite the fact that the book is an exquisitely researched narrative...
Posted by Carl Zimmer at 12:05 PM • 3 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
January 2, 2004
Category: Brains
By sheer coincidence (or some journalistic twist of fate) two magazine articles of mine are coming out this week, and they just so happen to make a nice neurological pairing. In Science, I've written an essay about what seventeenth-century natural...
Posted by Carl Zimmer at 11:39 AM • 2 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
