On the Origin of Science Writers
Every now and then, I get an email from someone who’s keen to get into science writing and wants to know how I started. Whenever I reply, and I always try to, I’m always left with the nagging feeling that my experience is but one of a multitude of routes that people have taken. Science writing (whether you want to call it journalism, blogging, communication and so on) is a diverse field, as are the people working in it. It would be far more illuminating for a newbie to see a variety of stories rather than just one.
This was the origin of this thread of origins. I will be asking science writers around the world to do what they do best – tell a story – about the thing they know best – themselves. This will be a perpetual thread that I hope will act as a lasting resource for the writers of tomorrow to take inspiration from.
Some kind individuals have already submitted their stories and I hope that many more will chip in. You can already see that they’re a varied bunch. Some stumbled into it by accident. Some came from traditional journalistic backgrounds. Others were bitten by a radioactive Carl Sagan. The more the stories accumulate, the better this diversity reveals itself.
Who should contribute to this thread?
Anyone who regularly writes about science, and preferably has been doing it for a couple of years now. I originally wanted to focus on science journalists but because all these definitions are bleeding into one, I’m opening it to all manner of science writers. From blogger to book writer, beginner to veteran, Asimov to Zimmer, tell us your story.
What should I say?
You’ll see from the existing entries (which are virtually unedited) that there’s a lot of variety in content, tone and length. This is as it should be – science writers are a diverse bunch and it would be a shame to edit them into uniformity. But essentially, there are two basic questions:
- how did you make your start
- what advice would you give to people in the same position?
What do I do?
Just stick a comment in with your story, who you are and what you do. If there are multiple links, it’ll be diverted to my spam folder, but just email or tweet me and tell me to rescue it. Alternatively, feel free to email your story and I’ll put it up on your behalf.
How do I tell people about this?
Obviously, the URL is above, but you can also link to this page from tinyurl.com/sciwriters and bit.ly/sciwriters
What about regular comments?
I’m not going to restrict people from posting regular comments initially, but I’d ask that readers keep them to a minimum. The thread’s value relies on the stories taking centre-stage.
Other than that, go for it.
Who has contributed?
I’ll keep a running list here, with links to their stories:
- Carl Zimmer – blog; website, Twitter
- Mark Henderson – Twitter
- Tim Radford
- Jonah Lehrer – blog, Twitter
- Maggie Koerth-Baker Twitter
- John Rennie – blog; Twitter
- Steve Silberman – website, Twitter
- Gaia Vince – blog; Twitter
- Mary Carmichael – Twitter
- Ivan Oransky – blog; Twitter
- James Randerson Twitter
- Deborah Blum – blog; Twitter
- Oliver Morton – blog; Twitter
- Melinda Wenner Moyer – website; Twitter
- Jonathan Gitlin – Twitter
- Raima Larter – blog; Twitter
- Mohammed Yahia – Twitter
- Steffie Tomson – blog
- Jennifer Ouellette – blog; Twitter
- Chris Lee aka Laserboy – blog
- John Pavlus – blog; Twitter
- Alice Bell – blog; Twitter
- Ed Yong – blog (yes, this one); Twitter
- Sandeep Gautam – blog
- John Timmer – website; Twitter
- Mun-Keat Looi – website; Twitter
- Charles Seife – website; Twitter
- Helen Fields – website
- TR Gregory – blog; Twitter
- JR Minkel – blog; Twitter
- Cassandra Willyard – website; Twitter
- Christopher Mims – blog; Twitter
- Brendan Maher – Twitter
- Rowan Hooper – Twitter
- Yudhijit Bhattacharjee
- Emilie Lorditch
- Catherine Shaffer – website, Twitter
- Apoorva Mandavilli – Twitter
- Ann Finkbeiner – blog, Twitter
- Eric Michael Johnson – blog, Twitter
- Emily Anthes – website, Twitter
- Carin Bondar – website, Twitter
- Michaelangelo D’Agostino – website, Twitter
- Tom Levenson – blog, Twitter
- Stephen Curry – blog, Twitter
- Richard Conniff – blog
- Alexandra Witze – Twitter
- Sean Carroll – blog, Twitter
- Emily Willingham – blog, Twitter
- Maryn McKenna – blog, Twitter
- Thomas Hager – blog, Twitter
- Joanne Manaster – blog, Twitter
- Matt Ford – blog
- Marcia Bartusiak – website,
- Barbara J King – website, Twitter
- Virginia Hughes – blog, Twitter
- TJ Kelleher – Twitter
- Michelle Nijhuis – website, Twitter
- Dan Vergano – column, Twitter
- Edward Winstead – Twitter
- Hillary Rosner – website, Twitter
- Cristine Russell – Twitter
- Kate Travis – Twitter
- Peter Rodgers – Twitter
- Jon Turney – website, Twitter
- Christie Aschwanden – website
- Andy Extance – blog, Twitter
- Vivienne Raper – blog, Twitter
- Priya Shetty – blog,
- Kat Arney – blog, Twitter
- Leila Sattary – website, Twitter
- K. Kris Hirst – website
- Dave Mosher – website, Twitter
- Claire Ainsworth – Twitter
- Paul Sutherland – website, Twitter
- Nancy Shute – Twitter
- Maria-Jose Vinas – website, Twitter
- Ann Downer-Hazell – blog, Twitter
- Heather Pringle – blog, Twitter
- Emily Sohn – website, Twitter
- Dan Fagin – website, Twitter
- Mary Knudson – Twitter
- Beth Azar
- Anne Sasso – website
- Adam Rutherford – Twitter
- Mike Lemonick – website
- Dave Munger – website, Twitter
- Sheril Kirshenbaum – blog, Twitter
- Laurel Neme – website, Twitter
- Richard van Noorden – Twitter
- Jude Isabella – website
- Matt Bille – website, Twitter
- Becky Oskin – website,
- Emil Viktor Nilsson – blog, Twitter
- Jeff Hecht – website,
- Rhett Allain – blog, Twitter
- Alex Antunes – website,
- Bora Zivkovic – blog, Twitter
- Eoin Lettice – blog, Twitter
- Steve Koppes – website, Twitter
- Joerg Kurt Wegner – website, Twitter
- Sally Church – blog, Twitter
- J. Michael Quante, Twitter
- Martin Fenner – blog, Twitter
- Lewis Dartnell – website, Twitter
- Catherine Dold – website, Twitter
- Erik Klemetti – blog, Twitter
- Carmen Drahl – Twitter
- Boonsri Dickinson – website, Twitter
- Pamela Ronald – blog
- David Manly – blog, Twitter
- Roger Highfield – Twitter
- Tom Chivers – website, Twitter
- Dan Ferber – website, Twitter
- Emily Baldwin – Twitter
- Kerri Smith – website, Twitter
- Earle M. Holland – blog, Twitter
- DeLene Beeland – blog, Twitter
- Hannah Waters – blog, Twitter
- David M. Lawrence – website
- Michael Brooks – blog, Twitter
- Cobi Smith – website, Twitter
- Julia Heathcote – blog, Twitter
- Alan Boyle – website, Twitter
- Sarah Webb – blog, website, Twitter
- Charlie Petit – blog
- Todd I Stark – blog, Twitter
- PalMD – blog, Twitter
- Brian Switek – blog, Twitter
- Jim Handman
- Martin Robbins
- Richard Grant
- Fred Furtado
- Henry Gee
- Brain Clegg
- Eva Amsen
- Simon Frantz
- Allen Salzberg
- Catherine Schmitt
- Gianluigi Fillippelli
- Wendy Barnaby
- David Bradley
- Daniel Stolte
- Tuan Nguyen
- Catherine Brahic
http://steffietomson.wordpress.com/
