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
NOW ON SALE!
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
May 13, 2008
Category: Science Tattoos
Last fall the Loom was awash in tattoos from scientists. Since then, I've moved them over to my Science Tattoo Emporium. If you haven't checked it out recently, let me invite you over. Incredibly, someone sends me a new...
Posted by Carl Zimmer at 10:26 AM • 1 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
May 12, 2008
Category: Microcosm: The Book
I'm heading to Boston on Friday to speak at the Harvard Book Store about Microcosm. It's at 7 pm, and it's free. Information is here. Then it's on to Chicago, where I'll be talking at the Field Museum on Saturday...
Posted by Carl Zimmer at 4:07 PM • 4 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
May 10, 2008
Category: General
Following up on the last post, here's George Johnson with Stephen Colbert. Where else on TV could someone recreate one of Faraday's experiments? The new Mr. Wizard?...
Posted by Carl Zimmer at 11:31 AM • 6 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Category: Microcosm: The Book
As long as I can remember, I've been a fan of George Johnson's writing about science. He has always kept focus on the deep mysteries of existence, even while writing in a deliciously clear style. So it was a real...
Posted by Carl Zimmer at 10:55 AM • 0 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
May 9, 2008
Category: Microcosm: The Book
From the new issue: "It is a powerful account of the dynamic, complicated and social world we share with this ordinary yet remarkable bug. Evolution and genetics glitter among the pages, as do the lives and experiments of the scientists...
Posted by Carl Zimmer at 8:36 PM • 3 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Category: Microcosm: The Book
I'll be talking on Coast to Coast at a slightly less wee-hours time: 1 am on Sunday....
Posted by Carl Zimmer at 8:35 PM • 2 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Category: Microcosm: The Book
Just a quick note to say that, if all goes according to plan, I will be appearing on the Internets on bloggingheads tomorrow, and on the radio show Coast-to-Coast in the wee hours of Saturday night/Sunday morning. In both cases...
Posted by Carl Zimmer at 2:44 PM • 1 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Category: Microcosm: The Book
At last we come to the fifth winning question about Microcosm, from Ceph. Once again, thanks to the ~240 people who entered the contest. I hope my answers to these five questions give you a sense of what my...
Posted by Carl Zimmer at 1:00 PM • 2 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Category: Microcosm: The Book
Here's the fourth winning question about Microcosm, from Sigmund: Creationists often point to the bacterial cell and say something to the effect of "the cell is so complicated it is highly improbable that it could have spontaneously formed - therefore...
Posted by Carl Zimmer at 12:00 PM • 0 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Category: Microcosm: The Book
Now we come to the third winning question about Microcosm. Kenatiod writes, Long ago, in bacteriology class, the teacher (an ex-nun at an ex-Catholic college) was telling us about the type "F" pili that are used to pass DNA so...
Posted by Carl Zimmer at 11:00 AM • 1 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Category: Microcosm: The Book
Here's the second winning question about Microcosm, from Kevin: E. coli is a bacteria commonly found in the intestines of some animals. What distinguishes the common and harmless strains from those that can cause illness and death? A lot of...
Posted by Carl Zimmer at 10:00 AM • 1 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Category: Microcosm: The Book
If you're just tuning in, on Tuesday I offered five free signed copies of my new book Microcosm: E. coli and the New Science of Life to readers if they sent in a question. I was quite stoked to see...
Posted by Carl Zimmer at 7:00 AM • 2 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
May 8, 2008
Category: Microcosm: The Book
Thanks to everyone who submitted the 240 or so questions about Microcosm, E. coli, and life in general. I'll pick five of them tonight and answer them tomorrow and start signing copies for the winners. And if you didn't enter,...
Posted by Carl Zimmer at 5:09 PM • 2 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Category: Microcosm: The Book
From the blog of Steven Johnson, author of The Ghost Map and Mind Wide Open Go Buy Microcosm Right Now Carl Zimmer may be my favorite science writer around today (others seem to agree), so I'm excited to report that...
Posted by Carl Zimmer at 3:01 PM • 1 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Category: Microcosm: The Book
Just a quick reminder--I'll be keeping the contest for a free autographed copy of Microcosm till 5 pm this afternoon. Think of a question about E. coli (and what it can say about life itself), and get in the running...
Posted by Carl Zimmer at 8:42 AM • 0 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Category: Evolution
In case you missed it, there's a great article in Smithsonian about hyena intelligence, focusing on the work of Kay Holekamp, the subject of my recent piece in the New York Times. The author, Steve Kemper, spent time with Holekamp...
Posted by Carl Zimmer at 8:25 AM • 2 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
May 7, 2008
Category: Evolution
by the old man of the blogs, Andrew Sullivan, and even the editorial page of the New York Times. Who knew a few clever flies could win so many friends?...
Posted by Carl Zimmer at 7:19 AM • 2 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
May 6, 2008
Category: Microcosm: The Book
I'm in a celebratory mood. Microcosm is published today. In my mind, I can see the books moving out of warehouses onto trucks, off to book stores and front door steps. This morning I read a great review from Mykola...
Posted by Carl Zimmer at 9:50 AM • 243 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
May 5, 2008
Category: Evolution
In tomorrow's New York Times, I take a look at the evolution of intelligence. Or rather, I look at its flip side. Scientists and the rest of us are obsessed with intelligence--not just the intelligence of our own species, but...
Posted by Carl Zimmer at 11:30 PM • 15 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Category: Microcosm: The Book
Tomorrow is the publication date of Microcosm: E. coli and the New Science of Life. I'll be celebrating by sending out some signed copies (details tomorrow), but in the meantime, here's an interview that just came out this morning about...
Posted by Carl Zimmer at 10:46 AM • 3 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
