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David Dobbs on science, nature, and culture.
I write on science, medicine, nature, culture and other matters for the New York Times Magazine, The Atlantic, Slate, National Geographic, Scientific American Mind, and other publications. (Find clips here.)
I've also written three books, including Reef Madness: Charles Darwin, Alexander Agassiz, and the Meaning of Coral, which traces the strangest but most forgotten controversy in Darwin's career — an elemental dispute running some 75 years. Oliver Sacks found Reef Madness "brilliantly written, almost unbearably poignant." Check it out.
If you'd like, you can subscribe to Neuron Culture by email. You might also want to see more of my work at my main website or check out my Tumblr log.
Category: Books
Adrienne Mayor's riveting (if queasy-making) biography of Mitradates, "Poison King," is a finalist for the National Book Award. It's wonderful to see a skillfully executed and absorbing account of an obscure bit of history get this sort of well-deserved attention.
Posted by David Dobbs at 2:40 PM • 0 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Category: Brains and minds
I regret I can't handle at more length, the following weighty and pressing matters:
Posted by David Dobbs at 12:12 PM • 1 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Category: Books
The coral reef argument was fascinating in its own right, both scientifically and dramatically -- for here a very capable andn conscientious scientist, Alexander Agassiz, struggled to reconcile both two views of science and the legacies of the two scientific giants of the age, one of whom was his father.
Posted by David Dobbs at 9:50 AM • 0 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Category: Books
I was pleased to see my book Reef Madness: Charles Darwin, Alexander Agassiz, and the Meaning of Coral written up in a couple of venues recently -- The Primate Diaries and The Reef Tank.
Posted by David Dobbs at 6:37 AM • 1 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Category: Healthcare policy
What's been distracting me lately from the big story I need to finish writing ...
Posted by David Dobbs at 10:25 AM • 0 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Category: Culture of science
Nold came up with the idea of fusing a GSR machine, a skin conductance monitor that measures arousal, and a GPS machine, to allow stress to be mapped to particular places. He then gets people to walk round and creates maps detailing high arousal areas of cities.
Posted by David Dobbs at 7:14 AM • 0 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Category: Books
a surprising study looking at psychological attributes that predict which castration enthusiasts who will actually go on to remove their own testicles, in contrast to those who just fantasise about it. ... Those interested will definitely want to check out the essay with which David Foster Wallace opened his essay collection Consider the Lobster " Big Red Son " opens
Posted by David Dobbs at 7:14 PM • 1 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Category: Books
The 10,000-year Explosion: How Civilization Accelerated Evolution, of which I've so far read about 1000 words -- but I just...
Posted by David Dobbs at 9:39 PM • 1 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Category: Books
I've had mixed reactions to Gladwell's writing over the years: I always enjoy reading it, but in Blink, especially, I was troubled not just by what seemed an avoidance of neuroscientific explanations but by an oversimplified argument. I was also troubled by ... well, I couldn't put my finger on it. But Joseph Epstein has:
Posted by David Dobbs at 9:34 AM • 5 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Category: Culture of science
Despite the rain on my window, it's a fine day indeed, with many wonderful celebrations of Darwin's 200th ringing throughout the blogoshere.
Posted by David Dobbs at 3:29 PM • 2 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
PZ Myers 11.08.2009
PZ Myers 11.08.2009
Orac 11.06.2009
Tim Lambert 11.08.2009
Orac 11.08.2009
