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
"A fascinating story, which Zimmer unfolds as a tale of high-stakes scientific sleuthing...thanks to marvelous lucid writing." --Booklist
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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
March 26, 2007
Category: Evolution
Before I head for Utah, let me direct your attention to two articles of mine in tomorrow's New York Times. They don't have a whole lot in common except they are examples of cool biology... 1. Virus traps. Here's a...
Posted by Carl Zimmer at 10:39 PM • 10 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
March 22, 2007
Category: Evolution
Scientists often stick genes into organism in order to create something new. Remote-controlled flies, for example, or photographic E. coli. But by creating new kinds of life, scientists can also learn about the history of life. Give a mouse human...
Posted by Carl Zimmer at 2:00 PM • 27 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
March 20, 2007
Category: Upcoming Talks
Next week I'll be heading to Utah. Southern Utah University asked me to be their Visiting Eccles Scholar, which means that I'll be spending a couple days talking with students and faculty. I'll also be giving two talks that are...
Posted by Carl Zimmer at 2:10 PM • 5 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
March 19, 2007
Category: Microcosm: The Book
Science moves forward by flow. One experiment leads to another. Observations accrue. What seem like side trips or even dead ends may bring a fuzzy picture further into focus. Yet science often seems as if it moves forward one bombshell...
Posted by Carl Zimmer at 8:00 AM • 15 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
March 14, 2007
Category: Evolution
Perhaps the notion of conservatives building an alternative to Wikipedia that includes many "scientific" entries based on creationist books aimed at seventh graders sounds like some bizarre hoax. For those who doubt, there's now audio evidence. National Public Radio ran...
Posted by Carl Zimmer at 2:36 PM • 39 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
March 12, 2007
Category: Evolution
Dinosaurs had small genomes. At least some of them did--the ones that gave rise to birds. If you have access to Science, you can read my News Focus article on the new field of "dinogenomics." As I mentioned last week,...
Posted by Carl Zimmer at 2:04 PM • 0 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
March 7, 2007
Category: The Parasite Files
If pubic lice are not the sort of thing you want to be seen reading about, let me give you the opportunity to close your browser window right now. But if you're at all curious about the secret that...
Posted by Carl Zimmer at 12:00 PM • 44 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
March 6, 2007
Category: Evolution
Josh at Thoughts from Kansas makes some good points today about the need for more systematists (scientists who describe new species), launching his musings from an article in today's New York Times about the remarkable Eastern Arc mountains by...d'oh! That...
Posted by Carl Zimmer at 8:37 PM • 1 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
March 2, 2007
Category: Evolution
Forbes.com contacted me a few weeks ago to write a piece for a special report they were putting together on the theme of achievement. They asked me if I'd write something about "reproductive achievement." As the father of two children--who...
Posted by Carl Zimmer at 3:27 PM • 12 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
March 1, 2007
Category: General
Just a quick note: I'm in the process of changing hosts for my web site, carlzimmer.com. Once the transfer is done, you should be able to get to the article archive, book pages, and all the rest once more. The...
Posted by Carl Zimmer at 4:51 PM • 4 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Category: Evolution
In January, Scientific American ran an article by me about the evolutionary roots of cancer, which you can read here (and about which I blogged here). Now, via Respectful Ignorance Respectful Insolence [d'oh!], I've discovered a new review on said...
Posted by Carl Zimmer at 10:26 AM • 6 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
