American writer
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8 episodes with Dava Sobel
2 episodes with Dava Sobel
3 episodes with Dava Sobel
2 episodes with Dava Sobel
2 episodes with Dava Sobel
2 episodes with Dava Sobel
2 episodes with Dava Sobel
2 episodes with Dava Sobel
2 episodes with Dava Sobel
Few writers have captured the wonder of science through storytelling as powerfully as Dava Sobel. In this episode, we celebrate her remarkable career and her recent honor as the recipient of The Planetary Society’s 2025 Cosmos Award for Outstanding Public Presentation of Science. Mat Kaplan, senior communications advisor at The Planetary Society, sits down with Sobel for a conversation about the human lives behind great scientific discoveries, from Galileo and Copernicus to the women of the Harvard Observatory and Marie Curie’s lab. Later in the show, Jack Kiraly, our director of government relations, joins us with an encouraging update on our public advocacy campaign to save NASA science. And don’t miss What’s Up with Bruce Betts, where we reflect on the role of science communicators and share a fresh Random Space Fact. Discover more at: https://www.planetary.org/planetary-radio/2025-cosmos-awardSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
It's Memorial Day, Short Wavers. This holiday, we bring you a meditation on time ... and clocks. There are hundreds of atomic clocks in orbit right now, perched on satellites all over Earth. We depend on them for GPS location, Internet timing, stock trading and even space navigation. In today's encore episode, hosts Emily Kwong and Regina G. Barber learn how to build a better clock. In order to do that, they ask: How do atomic clocks really work, anyway? What makes a clock precise? And how could that process be improved for even greater accuracy?- For more about Holly's Optical Atomic Strontium Ion Clock, check out the OASIC project on NASA's website.- For more about the Longitude Problem, check out Dava Sobel's book, Longitude. Listen to every episode of Short Wave sponsor-free and support our work at NPR by signing up for Short Wave+ at plus.npr.org/shortwave.Have questions or story ideas? Let us know by emailing shortwave@npr.org!Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy
Award-winning science writer Dava Sobel returns to AMSEcast to discuss her latest book, The Elements of Marie Curie. She and host Alan explore Curie's groundbreaking research, her struggles against societal barriers, and her enduring impact on science and women in STEM. From her discovery of polonium and radium to mentoring future pioneers like Ellen Gleditsch and Marguerite Perey, Curie's legacy shaped cancer treatment and scientific research. Sobel also highlights Curie's daughter, Irène Joliot-Curie, and her Nobel-winning work on artificial radioisotopes. Tune in for a fascinating look at one of history's greatest scientific minds. Guest Bio Dava Sobel is an award-winning science writer known for bringing history and scientific discovery to life. She has authored acclaimed books including Longitude, Galileo's Daughter, The Glass Universe, A More Perfect Heaven, as well as the play And the Sun Stood Still. In her latest work, The Elements of Marie Curie: How the Glow of Radium Lit a Path for Women in Science, Sobel explores Curie's groundbreaking research, resilience, and lasting impact on women in STEM. Returning to AMSEcast, she joins host Alan to discuss Curie's legacy and the challenges she overcame in pursuit of scientific discovery. Show Highlights (1:25) What led Marie Curie to a life of science (6:28) Marie Curie's Nobel Prizes (11:47) Her role in creating a radium standard and why that's important (13:31) Madame Curie's pioneering role in the use of radiation for medical therapies (15:00) Her role as mentor and teacher to other to other women in science (20:54) Curie's reception in the United States (22:04) Her daughter's scientific legacy (28:23) What's next for Dava Sobel Links The Elements of Marie Curie: How the Glow of Radium Lit a Path for Women in Science: https://groveatlantic.com/book/the-elements-of-marie-curie/
Look in the nonfiction section of any bookstore and you'll find dozens of history books making the same bold claim: that their narrow, unexpected subject somehow changed the world. Potatoes, kudzu, soccer, coffee, Iceland, bees, oak trees, sand, chickens—there are books about all of them, and many more besides, with the phrase “changed the world” or something similarly grandiose right there in the title. These books are sometimes called “microhistories” or “thing biographies” and they've been a trope in publishing for decades. In this episode, we establish where this trend came from, figure out why it's been so persistent, and then we put a bunch of authors on the spot, asking them to make the case for why their subjects changed the world. The writers you'll hear from include: Simon Garfield (Mauve: How One Man Invented a Color That Changed the World) Mark Kurlansky (Cod: A Biography of the Fish That Changed the World) George Gibson, publisher of Cod and Dava Sobel's Longitude Historian Bronwen Everill Slate writer Henry Grabar (Paved Paradise: How Parking Explains the World) Gastropod co-host Nicola Twilley (Frostbite: How Refrigeration Changed Our Food, Our Planet, and Ourselves) Tim Queeney (Rope: How a Bundle of Twisted Fibers Became the Backbone of Civilization) Leila Philip (Beaver Land: How One Weird Rodent Made America). This episode was written by Willa Paskin and produced by Evan Chung, Decoder Ring's supervising producer. Katie Shepherd and Max Freedman also produce our show. Merritt Jacob is Senior Technical Director. Thank you to Joshua Specht, author of Red Meat Republic: A Hoof-to-Table History of How Beef Changed America; Dan Koeppel, author of Banana: The Fate of the Fruit That Changed the World; Tina Lupton; Dan Kois; and Nancy Miller. If you have any cultural mysteries you want us to decode, please email us at DecoderRing@slate.com, or leave a message on our hotline at 347-460-7281. Want more Decoder Ring? Subscribe to Slate Plus to unlock exclusive bonus episodes. Plus, you'll access ad-free listening across all your favorite Slate podcasts. Subscribe now on Apple Podcasts by clicking “Try Free” at the top of the Decoder Ring show page. Or, visit slate.com/decoderplus to get access wherever you listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Look in the nonfiction section of any bookstore and you'll find dozens of history books making the same bold claim: that their narrow, unexpected subject somehow changed the world. Potatoes, kudzu, soccer, coffee, Iceland, bees, oak trees, sand, chickens—there are books about all of them, and many more besides, with the phrase “changed the world” or something similarly grandiose right there in the title. These books are sometimes called “microhistories” or “thing biographies” and they've been a trope in publishing for decades. In this episode, we establish where this trend came from, figure out why it's been so persistent, and then we put a bunch of authors on the spot, asking them to make the case for why their subjects changed the world. The writers you'll hear from include: Simon Garfield (Mauve: How One Man Invented a Color That Changed the World) Mark Kurlansky (Cod: A Biography of the Fish That Changed the World) George Gibson, publisher of Cod and Dava Sobel's Longitude Historian Bronwen Everill Slate writer Henry Grabar (Paved Paradise: How Parking Explains the World) Gastropod co-host Nicola Twilley (Frostbite: How Refrigeration Changed Our Food, Our Planet, and Ourselves) Tim Queeney (Rope: How a Bundle of Twisted Fibers Became the Backbone of Civilization) Leila Philip (Beaver Land: How One Weird Rodent Made America). This episode was written by Willa Paskin and produced by Evan Chung, Decoder Ring's supervising producer. Katie Shepherd and Max Freedman also produce our show. Merritt Jacob is Senior Technical Director. Thank you to Joshua Specht, author of Red Meat Republic: A Hoof-to-Table History of How Beef Changed America; Dan Koeppel, author of Banana: The Fate of the Fruit That Changed the World; Tina Lupton; Dan Kois; and Nancy Miller. If you have any cultural mysteries you want us to decode, please email us at DecoderRing@slate.com, or leave a message on our hotline at 347-460-7281. Want more Decoder Ring? Subscribe to Slate Plus to unlock exclusive bonus episodes. Plus, you'll access ad-free listening across all your favorite Slate podcasts. Subscribe now on Apple Podcasts by clicking “Try Free” at the top of the Decoder Ring show page. Or, visit slate.com/decoderplus to get access wherever you listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Look in the nonfiction section of any bookstore and you'll find dozens of history books making the same bold claim: that their narrow, unexpected subject somehow changed the world. Potatoes, kudzu, soccer, coffee, Iceland, bees, oak trees, sand, chickens—there are books about all of them, and many more besides, with the phrase “changed the world” or something similarly grandiose right there in the title. These books are sometimes called “microhistories” or “thing biographies” and they've been a trope in publishing for decades. In this episode, we establish where this trend came from, figure out why it's been so persistent, and then we put a bunch of authors on the spot, asking them to make the case for why their subjects changed the world. The writers you'll hear from include: Simon Garfield (Mauve: How One Man Invented a Color That Changed the World) Mark Kurlansky (Cod: A Biography of the Fish That Changed the World) George Gibson, publisher of Cod and Dava Sobel's Longitude Historian Bronwen Everill Slate writer Henry Grabar (Paved Paradise: How Parking Explains the World) Gastropod co-host Nicola Twilley (Frostbite: How Refrigeration Changed Our Food, Our Planet, and Ourselves) Tim Queeney (Rope: How a Bundle of Twisted Fibers Became the Backbone of Civilization) Leila Philip (Beaver Land: How One Weird Rodent Made America). This episode was written by Willa Paskin and produced by Evan Chung, Decoder Ring's supervising producer. Katie Shepherd and Max Freedman also produce our show. Merritt Jacob is Senior Technical Director. Thank you to Joshua Specht, author of Red Meat Republic: A Hoof-to-Table History of How Beef Changed America; Dan Koeppel, author of Banana: The Fate of the Fruit That Changed the World; Tina Lupton; Dan Kois; and Nancy Miller. If you have any cultural mysteries you want us to decode, please email us at DecoderRing@slate.com, or leave a message on our hotline at 347-460-7281. Want more Decoder Ring? Subscribe to Slate Plus to unlock exclusive bonus episodes. Plus, you'll access ad-free listening across all your favorite Slate podcasts. Subscribe now on Apple Podcasts by clicking “Try Free” at the top of the Decoder Ring show page. Or, visit slate.com/decoderplus to get access wherever you listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Look in the nonfiction section of any bookstore and you'll find dozens of history books making the same bold claim: that their narrow, unexpected subject somehow changed the world. Potatoes, kudzu, soccer, coffee, Iceland, bees, oak trees, sand, chickens—there are books about all of them, and many more besides, with the phrase “changed the world” or something similarly grandiose right there in the title. These books are sometimes called “microhistories” or “thing biographies” and they've been a trope in publishing for decades. In this episode, we establish where this trend came from, figure out why it's been so persistent, and then we put a bunch of authors on the spot, asking them to make the case for why their subjects changed the world. The writers you'll hear from include: Simon Garfield (Mauve: How One Man Invented a Color That Changed the World) Mark Kurlansky (Cod: A Biography of the Fish That Changed the World) George Gibson, publisher of Cod and Dava Sobel's Longitude Historian Bronwen Everill Slate writer Henry Grabar (Paved Paradise: How Parking Explains the World) Gastropod co-host Nicola Twilley (Frostbite: How Refrigeration Changed Our Food, Our Planet, and Ourselves) Tim Queeney (Rope: How a Bundle of Twisted Fibers Became the Backbone of Civilization) Leila Philip (Beaver Land: How One Weird Rodent Made America). This episode was written by Willa Paskin and produced by Evan Chung, Decoder Ring's supervising producer. Katie Shepherd and Max Freedman also produce our show. Merritt Jacob is Senior Technical Director. Thank you to Joshua Specht, author of Red Meat Republic: A Hoof-to-Table History of How Beef Changed America; Dan Koeppel, author of Banana: The Fate of the Fruit That Changed the World; Tina Lupton; Dan Kois; and Nancy Miller. If you have any cultural mysteries you want us to decode, please email us at DecoderRing@slate.com, or leave a message on our hotline at 347-460-7281. Want more Decoder Ring? Subscribe to Slate Plus to unlock exclusive bonus episodes. Plus, you'll access ad-free listening across all your favorite Slate podcasts. Subscribe now on Apple Podcasts by clicking “Try Free” at the top of the Decoder Ring show page. Or, visit slate.com/decoderplus to get access wherever you listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Look in the nonfiction section of any bookstore and you'll find dozens of history books making the same bold claim: that their narrow, unexpected subject somehow changed the world. Potatoes, kudzu, soccer, coffee, Iceland, bees, oak trees, sand, chickens—there are books about all of them, and many more besides, with the phrase “changed the world” or something similarly grandiose right there in the title. These books are sometimes called “microhistories” or “thing biographies” and they've been a trope in publishing for decades. In this episode, we establish where this trend came from, figure out why it's been so persistent, and then we put a bunch of authors on the spot, asking them to make the case for why their subjects changed the world. The writers you'll hear from include: Simon Garfield (Mauve: How One Man Invented a Color That Changed the World) Mark Kurlansky (Cod: A Biography of the Fish That Changed the World) George Gibson, publisher of Cod and Dava Sobel's Longitude Historian Bronwen Everill Slate writer Henry Grabar (Paved Paradise: How Parking Explains the World) Gastropod co-host Nicola Twilley (Frostbite: How Refrigeration Changed Our Food, Our Planet, and Ourselves) Tim Queeney (Rope: How a Bundle of Twisted Fibers Became the Backbone of Civilization) Leila Philip (Beaver Land: How One Weird Rodent Made America). This episode was written by Willa Paskin and produced by Evan Chung, Decoder Ring's supervising producer. Katie Shepherd and Max Freedman also produce our show. Merritt Jacob is Senior Technical Director. Thank you to Joshua Specht, author of Red Meat Republic: A Hoof-to-Table History of How Beef Changed America; Dan Koeppel, author of Banana: The Fate of the Fruit That Changed the World; Tina Lupton; Dan Kois; and Nancy Miller. If you have any cultural mysteries you want us to decode, please email us at DecoderRing@slate.com, or leave a message on our hotline at 347-460-7281. Want more Decoder Ring? Subscribe to Slate Plus to unlock exclusive bonus episodes. Plus, you'll access ad-free listening across all your favorite Slate podcasts. Subscribe now on Apple Podcasts by clicking “Try Free” at the top of the Decoder Ring show page. Or, visit slate.com/decoderplus to get access wherever you listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
With Sarah Kanowski.Bestselling writer Dava Sobel reflects on about the genius, politics and passions of the most famous woman in the history of science, as captured in her new book, The Elements of Marie Curie. Join her in conversation with Sarah Kanowski.Event details: Tue 04 Mar, 10:45am | East Stage
With Annabelle Quince.Judging by the death and destruction we are witnessing in the 21st century, it seems humanity has learnt nothing from the past century, be it the horrors of the world wars or the seemingly endless conflagrations in the Middle East. Orlando Figes, Bettany Hughes, Matthew Longo and Dava Sobel talk to Annabelle Quince about whether they despair as they document the past, or see their task as exhorting our generation to make the world a more humane place.Event details:Wed 05 Mar, 12:00pm | East Stage
With Katrina Strickland.Marie Curie and Maria Callas were legends in both their professional and private lives. Bestselling writers Dava Sobel and Daisy Goodwin take us inside these remarkable women's worlds, in company with Katrina Strickland.Event details:Wed 05 Mar, 9:30am | West Stage
The Polish-French physicist and chemist is famous for discovering radium, but Marie Curie was more than her accomplishments. From 'the flying university' to great loves and losses, Dava Sobel investigates her extraordinary life.Marie Curie was the first woman to be awarded a Nobel Prize, and the first person to win a second Nobel Prize. But alongside her discovery of radioactivity, Marie's life was marked by her fierce love for husband Pierre, a scandalous affair following his death, and feats of heroism during the First World War. Dava Sobel is one of the world's best loved science writers, who has written about revolutionary innovators from an 18th century clockmaker who changed marine navigation forever to Copernicus, Galileo's daughter.Now, Dava explores the extraordinary and surprising life of Marie Curie.This episode of Conversations touches on epic stories, origin stories, weird science, physics, chemistry, women in STEM, female scientists, family dynamics, grief, sudden death, modern history, human innovation, technology, military technology, medical technology, medical advancements, radium, polonium, the elements, Pierre Curie, University of Paris, academia, war.Dava Sobel's book about Marie Curie is called The Elements of Marie Curie: how the glow of radium lit a path for women in science, and is published by Harper Collins.This episode of Conversations was recorded in front of a live audience at Adelaide Writers' Week.
Best-selling Science Writer Dava Sobel on blending science with storytelling—how to craft compelling narratives, navigate deep research, and bring historical figures to life. Plus insights on nonfiction publishing, overcoming creative roadblocks, and making complex ideas accessible to readers.*ABOUT DAVA SOBEL Dava Sobel is the bestselling author of The Elements of Marie Curie: How the Glow of Radium Lit a Path for Women in Science, Longitude, Galileo's Daughter, and The Glass Universe. A former New York Times science reporter, she has received numerous awards for her contributions to science writing and currently edits the “Meter” poetry column in Scientific American.*RESOURCES & LINKS
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How did Marie Curie's discoveries in radioactivity change our understanding of the natural world? Neil deGrasse Tyson and comedian Chuck Nice sit down with science writer Dava Sobel, author of a new book on Curie, to explore the enduring impact of her work on radioactivity.NOTE: StarTalk+ Patrons can listen to this entire episode commercial-free here: https://startalkmedia.com/show/the-elements-of-marie-curie-with-dava-sobel/Thanks to our Patrons Steven Dominie, MICHEAL EMANUELSON, Troy L Gilbert, Johnny Mac, Micheal Benvenuto, Keti Khukhunashvili, David Cashion, Lord Bane, Pat Dolloff, timothy jones, Amir Torabi, Catherine B, Lewis Z, Andrew Troia, Samurai_wolf_6, mike johnson, The Analytical Btch, Mark Petry, Radny Harbour, Garrett Gilbeau, Christopher Manning, Sulla, Jeremy Wong, P Soni, that one guy Kamaron, and Bisexualstardust for supporting us this week. Subscribe to SiriusXM Podcasts+ on Apple Podcasts to listen to new episodes ad-free and a whole week early.
Dava Sobel joins Heart of The East End Gianna Volpe on WLIW-FM to talk about her new book, The Elements of Marie Curie: How The Glow of Radium Lit A Path for Women in Science ahead her January 13 talk at the Southampton Arts CenterListen to the playlist on Apple Music
There are hundreds of atomic clocks in orbit right now, perched on satellites all over Earth. We depend on them for GPS location, Internet timing, stock trading ... and space navigation?Today on the show, hosts Emily Kwong and Regina G. Barber learn how to build a better clock. In order to do that, they ask: How do atomic clocks really work, anyway? What makes a clock precise? And how could that process be improved for even greater accuracy?For more about Holly's Optical Atomic Strontium Ion Clock, check out the OASIC project on NASA's website.For more about the Longitude Problem, check out Dava Sobel's book, Longitude. Listen to every episode of Short Wave sponsor-free and support our work at NPR by signing up for Short Wave+ at plus.npr.org/shortwave.Have questions or story ideas? Let us know by emailing shortwave@npr.org!Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy
90 years ago, the world lost the most famous woman in the history of science: Marie Curie. Shining the spotlight on this remarkable woman is Pulitzer Prize finalist and bestselling author Dava Sobel in her new book, THE ELEMENTS OF MARIE CURIE: How the glow of radium lit a path for women in science. Dava Sobel is the author of the international bestseller Longitude, the bestselling Pulitzer Prize finalist Galileo's Daughter, The Planets, A More Perfect Heaven, and other books.
When you consider someone's legacy in science, you might think about their biggest discovery, their list of publications, or their titles, awards, and prizes. But another kind of scientific legacy involves the students and colleagues that passed through a scientist's orbit over the course of a career.A new book, The Elements of Marie Curie: How the Glow of Radium Lit a Path for Women in Science, takes a look at the legacy of Madame Marie Curie, one of the most recognizable names in science history. But instead of looking only at Curie's own life, author Dava Sobel views her through the lens of some of the 45 women who trained in Curie's lab during her research into radioactivity.Ira Flatow talks with Sobel about her research into Curie's life, some of the anecdotes from the book, and how she interacted with some of her lab assistants and colleagues.Transcript for this segment will be available after the show airs on sciencefriday.com. Subscribe to this podcast. Plus, to stay updated on all things science, sign up for Science Friday's newsletters.
This week on The Learning Curve, co-hosts Alisha Searcy of DFER and U-Arkansas Prof. Albert Cheng interview Dava Sobel, acclaimed author of The Elements of Marie Curie: How the Glow of Radium Lit a Path for Women in Science. Sobel delves into the life of Marie Curie, the “scientific Joan of Arc,” exploring her extraordinary […]
This week on The Learning Curve, co-hosts Alisha Searcy of DFER and U-Arkansas Prof. Albert Cheng interview Dava Sobel, acclaimed author of The Elements of Marie Curie: How the Glow of Radium Lit a Path for Women in Science. Sobel delves into the life of Marie Curie, the “scientific Joan of Arc,” exploring her extraordinary journey from clandestine education in Tsarist-controlled Poland to becoming the first woman to win two Nobel Prizes in different scientific disciplines. She highlights Madame Curie's groundbreaking discoveries of radium and polonium, with her husband Pierre Curie, and her pioneering work in radioactivity. Sobel also examines Marie Curie's role as a mentor to women scientists, her wartime contributions with mobile X-ray units, and her enduring legacy as a trailblazer for women in STEM. Through Madame Curie's story, Ms. Sobel reflects on the power of scientific curiosity and its profound societal impact. In closing, Sobel reads a passage from her book, The Elements of Marie Curie: How the Glow of Radium Lit a Path for Women in Science.
John J. Miller is joined by Dava Sobel to discuss Marie Curie's 'Treatise on Radioactivity.'
Dava Sobel is an American writer of popular expositions of scientific topics. Her books include Longitude, about English clockmaker John Harrison; Galileo's Daughter, about Galileo's daughter Maria Celeste; and The Glass Universe: How the Ladies of the Harvard Observatory Took the Measure of the Stars about the Harvard Computers. Taken from Wikipedia
Framed: Astonishing True Stories of Wrongful Convictions by John Grisham and Jim McCloskey John Grisham is known worldwide for his bestselling novels, but it's his real-life passion for justice that led to his work with Jim McCloskey of Centurion Ministries, the first organization dedicated to exonerating innocent people who have been wrongly convicted. Together they offer an inside look at the many injustices in our criminal justice system. A fundamental principle of our legal system is a presumption of innocence, but once someone has been found guilty, there is very little room to prove doubt. These ten true stories shed light on Americans who were innocent but found guilty and forced to sacrifice friends, families, and decades of their lives to prison while the guilty parties remained free. In each of the stories, John Grisham and Jim McCloskey recount the dramatic hard-fought battles for exoneration. They take a close look at what leads to wrongful convictions in the first place and the racism, misconduct, flawed testimony, and corruption in the court system that can make them so hard to reverse. Impeccably researched and told with page-turning suspense as only John Grisham can deliver, Framed is the story of winning freedom when the battle already seems lost and the deck is stacked against you. The Elements of Marie Curie by Dava Sobel For decades Marie Curie was the only woman in the room at international scientific gatherings, and despite constant illness she travelled far and wide to share the secrets of radioactivity, a term she coined. She is still the only person to win a Nobel Prize in two scientific fields. Her ingenuity extended far beyond the laboratory walls; grieving the death of her husband, Pierre, she took his place as professor of physics at the Sorbonne, devotedly raised two daughters, drove a van she outfitted with x-ray equipment to the front lines of World War I, befriended Albert Einstein and inspired generations of young women to pursue science as a way of life. Approaching Marie Curie from a unique angle, Sobel navigates her remarkable discoveries and fame alongside the women who became her legacy – from Norway's Ellen Gleditsch and France's Marguerite Perry, who discovered the element francium, to her own daughter, Irene, a Nobel Prize winner in her own right. The Elements of Marie Curie deftly illuminates the trailblazing life and enduring influence of one of the most consequential figures of our time. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Dava Sobel, preeminent science writer, acclaimed Pulitzer Prize finalist and New York Times bestselling author, joins John Williams to discuss the new book, “The Elements of Marie Curie: How the Glow of Radium Lit a Path for Women in Science.” Dava talks about why she wanted to write about Marie Curie, how women impacted advancements in […]
Dava Sobel, preeminent science writer, acclaimed Pulitzer Prize finalist and New York Times bestselling author, joins John Williams to discuss the new book, “The Elements of Marie Curie: How the Glow of Radium Lit a Path for Women in Science.” Dava talks about why she wanted to write about Marie Curie, how women impacted advancements in […]
Dava Sobel, preeminent science writer, acclaimed Pulitzer Prize finalist and New York Times bestselling author, joins John Williams to discuss the new book, “The Elements of Marie Curie: How the Glow of Radium Lit a Path for Women in Science.” Dava talks about why she wanted to write about Marie Curie, how women impacted advancements in […]
Even now nearly a century after her death Marie Curie remains the only female scientists most people can name. Dava Sobel writes that in her new book “The Elements of Marie Curie.” Which is a portrait of the sole Nobel two-time prize-winning woman decorated in two different fields of science, physics in 1903 with her husband Pierre and chemistry by herself in 1911.
Kevin Boston-Hill speaks with author Dava Sobel about her new book that chronicles the many accomplishments of Madame Marie Curie through the lens of the women, and men, she taught and tutored through the years. Madame Curie's “science coaching tree” is a marvel to behold and is a testament to her extensive influence.
Dava Sobel is the internationally renowned author of Longitude and Galileo's Daughter. She was an award-winning former science reporter for the ‘New York Times' and writes frequently about science for several magazines, including the ‘New Yorker', ‘Audubon', ‘Discover', ‘Life' and ‘Omni'. On today's episode of Little Atoms she talks to Neil Denny about her latest book The Elements of Marie Curie: How the Glow of Radium Lit a Path for Women in Science. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
The Elements of Marie Curie by Dava Sobel takes a new look at the life and impacts of Marie Curie, focusing on the ways she fostered growth for other women in science. Sobel joins us to talk about why she wanted to tell Curie's story, her research process, the importance of continuing to analyze our history and more with cohost, Jenna Seery. This episode of Poured Over was hosted by Jenna Seery and mixed by Harry Liang. New episodes land Tuesdays and Thursdays (with occasional Saturdays) here and on your favorite podcast app Featured Books (Episode): The Elements of Marie Curie by Dava Sobel Longitude by Dava Sobel Galileo's Daughter by Dava Sobel
How the Glow of Radium Lit a Path for Women in Science.Get all the news you need by listening to WBZ NewsRadio 1030 on the free #iHeartRadio app! Or ask Alexa to play WBZ NewsRadio on #iHeartRadio.
Special Guest: Dava Sobel -- Pulitzer Prize finalist and Best-Selling Author discussed how how Marie Curie inspired generations of young women the world over to pursue science as a way of life Points covered Curie's influential career including being the first woman to ever be awarded a Nobel Prize How Curie befriended Albert Einstein and other luminaries of 20th century physics Biography Dava Sobel is a Pulitzer Prize finalist and bestselling author. Her new books is called: THE ELEMENTS OF MARIE CURIE: How the Glow of Radium Lit a Path for Women in Science. She is also the author of the international bestseller Longitude, the bestselling Pulitzer Prize finalist Galileo's Daughter, The Planets, A More Perfect Heaven, And The Sun Stood Still, and The Glass Universe, and coauthor of The Illustrated Longitude. She is the recipient of the Individual Public Service Award from the National Science Board, the Bradford Washburn Award, the Kumpke-Roberts Award from the Astronomical Society of the Pacific, and a Guggenheim Fellowship, among other honors. A former New York Times science reporter, and currently editor of the “Meter” poetry column in Scientific American. She Lives in Long Island, NY. Website https://www.davasobel.com/ https://www.amazon.com/stores/Dava-Sobel/author/B000AQ3J7K?ref=ap_rdr&isDramIntegrated=true&shoppingPortalEnabled=true Brought to you by the J.C. Cooley Foundation, "Equipping the Youth of Today for the Challenges of Tomorrow."#ItsYourLife #Talkshow #Podcast #Radio #DavaSobelSupport the show: http://www.cooleyfoundation.org/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Meet the best-selling author Dava Sobel who writes stories about science and the people who have unlocked the world's greatest mysteries. From her international hit “Longitude” to the Pulitzer Prize finalist “Galileo's Daughter” she has woven compelling tales about people, many of them women, who have changed our world for the better. Today it's a conversation about her newest project, “The Elements of Marie Curie: How the Glow of Radium Lit a Path for Women in Science.” Dava is a master storyteller as you're about to discover!
FFI Practitioner is pleased to share a conversation with science writer Dava Sobel, who is delivering the opening keynote at the 2024 FFI Global Conference, entitled “What Time Tells Us: A Lecture on the Theme of Time, from John Harrison's Sea Clocks to the Half-Lives of Marie Curie's Radioelements.” In conversation with podcast host Jordan … Continue reading Time, Science, and Storytelling: An Interview with Dava Sobel →
Season 2 comes out of the gate hot, with Charlotte learning about the Magna Carta through Sharon Kay Penman's Here Be Dragons, and Jo (18:50) enraptured by the visions of Nat Turner, Black Prophet, by Anthony E. Kaye and Gregory P. Downs. Then the special and wonderful Anna Fitzpatrick joins (29:00) to discuss boats, scurvy, informal autism diagnoses, radicalizing dads through reading recommendations, and David Grann's The Wager. Also discussed: Anna's Good Girl, Dava Sobel's Longitude, and Sarah Helm's Ravensbrück.Anna Fitzpatrick is the author of the novel Good Girl, a comedy about an aspiring slut with a panic disorder published by Flying Books. She is also the author of the children's book Margot and the Moon Landing.Send questions, requests, recommendations, and your own thoughts about any of the books discussed today to readingwriterspod at gmail dot com. Charlotte's most recent book is An Honest Woman: A Memoir of Love and Sex Work. Learn more at charoshane.comJo co-edits The Stopgap and their writing lives at jolivingstone.com. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Hi friends, we're still on a brief summer break. We'll have a new episode for you later in August. In the meanwhile, enjoy this pick from our archives! ---- [originally aired September 21, 2022] If your podcast listening habits are anything like mine, you might be out for a walk right now. Maybe you're wandering the neighborhood, just blocks from home, or maybe you're further afield. In either case, I'm guessing you're finding your way without too much trouble—you're letting some intuitive sense steer you, track how far you've gone, tell you where to go next. This inner navigator of yours is doing all in the background, as your mind wanders elsewhere, and magically it gets it all right. Most of the time, anyway. But how is it doing it? What allows us to pull this off? My guest today is Dr. Hugo Spiers, Professor of Cognitive Neuroscience at University College London. His lab studies how our brains "remember the past, navigate the present, and imagine the future.” In recent years Hugo and his group have used a wide variety of methods—and some astonishingly large datasets—to shed light on central questions about human spatial abilities. Here, Hugo and I do a quick tour of the neuroscience of navigation—including the main brain structures involved and how they were discovered. We talk about research on a very peculiar population, the London taxi driver. We discuss the game Sea Hero Quest and what it's teaching us about navigation abilities around the world. We also touch on what GPS might be doing to us; whether the hippocampus actually resembles a seahorse; the ingenious layout of our brain's inner grids; navigation ability as an early sign of Alzheimer's; how “place cells” actually map more than just place; and how the monarch butterfly finds its way. Super excited to share this one folks—this is an episode that's been on our wish list for some time. For mobile organisms like us, navigation is life or death—it's as basic as eating or breathing. So when we dig into the foundations of these spatial abilities, we're really digging into some of the most basic foundations of mind. So let's get to it. On to my conversation with Dr. Hugo Spiers. Enjoy! A transcript of this episode is available here. Notes and links 4:00 – A brief documentary about a person with developmental topographical disorder. 8:00 – There have been a slew of popular articles about the question of whether GPS is undermining our navigation abilities—see here and here. 12:00 – A classic academic article about path integration in mammals. 14:00 – The classic academic article by Edward Tolman on the idea of “cognitive maps.” 16:00 – A side-by-side comparison of a human hippocampus and seahorse. The resemblance is indeed striking. 18:00 – A classic academic article reporting “place cells” in rats. 21:00 – A research article on seasonal changes in hippocampus size across different species. 22:00 – A recent academic article on interactions between the hippocampus and the striatum in navigation. 23:30 – An article reviewing the first decade of research on “grid cells.” A video showing the activity of grid cells in a rat. 26:00 – The long struggle to calculate longitude is subject of a much-beloved book by Dava Sobel. 27:00 – The press release announcing the Nobel prize for the discovery of grid cells and place cells. 31:00 – A popular article about ‘The Knowledge'—a famed test for London taxi drivers. 33:30 – The celebrated original study by Eleanor Maquire and colleagues on structural changes in the brains of London taxi drivers. The (also-celebrated) follow-up study that Dr. Spiers was part of, comparing London taxi and bus drivers. 37:00 – More about the Taxi Brains project can be found here. 41:00 – A recent paper by Dr. Spiers' team, led by Eva-Maria Griesbauer, reviews the cognitive neuroscience studies on London taxi drivers and dives deep into the learning techniques the drivers use. 44:30 – A paper by Dr. Spiers and team providing an overview of Sea Hero Quest and the studies it has been used for to date. A video demo of the game, and a popular article describing its motivation. Dr. Spiers developed the idea for the game in collaboration with Michael Hornberger. 50:00 – A recent research article looking at the value of Sea Hero Quest in detecting those at risk for Alzheimers. 53:00 – One of the first studies by Dr. Spiers and colleagues using Sea Hero Quest to test a vast sample and examine effects of variables like age, gender, and nationality. 54:30 – A more recent paper by Dr. Spiers and colleagues examining the effect of growing up in cities that are more or less “griddy.” 57:00 – A study by Dr. Spiers and colleagues showing a relationship between real-world navigation ability and navigation performance in Sea Hero Quest. 1:04:00 – The website of the International Orienteering Foundation. A video showing the sport. 1:06:00 – A review paper by Dr. Spiers and colleagues about the potential roles of cognitive maps in navigation and beyond. 1:07:00 – A review of “concept cells”, aka “Halle Berre cells.” 1:08:00 – A recent opinion piece by Dr. Spiers on the question of how many maps—and of what kind—the hippocampus implements. 1:10:30 – A recent research article on “time cells” in the hippocampus. 1:14:30 – A recent review article about monarch butterfly navigation. Dr. Spiers recommends: Human Spatial Navigation, by Ekstrom, Spiers, Bohbot, and Rosenbaum ‘The Cognitive Map in Humans: Spatial Navigation and Beyond,' by Epstein, Patai, Julian, and Spiers You can read more about Dr. Spiers work on his website and follow him on Twitter. Many Minds is a project of the Diverse Intelligences Summer Institute (DISI) (https://disi.org), which is made possible by a generous grant from the Templeton World Charity Foundation to UCLA. It is hosted and produced by Kensy Cooperrider, with help from Assistant Producer Urte Laukaityte and with creative support from DISI Directors Erica Cartmill and Jacob Foster. Our artwork is by Ben Oldroyd (https://www.mayhilldesigns.co.uk/). Our transcripts are created by Sarah Dopierala (https://sarahdopierala.wordpress.com/). You can subscribe to Many Minds on Apple, Stitcher, Spotify, Pocket Casts, Google Play, or wherever you like to listen to podcasts. **You can now subscribe to the Many Minds newsletter here!** We welcome your comments, questions, and suggestions. Feel free to email us at: manymindspodcast@gmail.com. For updates about the show, visit our website (https://disi.org/manyminds/), or follow us on Twitter: @ManyMindsPod.
Chapter 1:Summary of Longitude"Longitude" by Dava Sobel is a non-fiction book that tells the story of the search for a reliable method to determine longitude at sea. The book follows the struggles of John Harrison, an English clockmaker, who dedicated his life to inventing a marine chronometer that could accurately measure time at sea. Harrison's invention ultimately solved the problem of determining longitude and revolutionized navigation, leading to greater safety and efficiency in maritime travel. Sobel's book provides a fascinating account of Harrison's achievements and the historical implications of his work.Chapter 2:The Theme of LongitudeKey plot points:1. The main focus of the book is the search for a reliable method of determining longitude at sea, a problem that plagued sailors and explorers for centuries.2. The book follows the story of John Harrison, a self-educated clockmaker who dedicated his life to creating accurate marine timepieces known as chronometers.3. Harrison faces numerous challenges and setbacks in his quest to build a reliable chronometer, but eventually succeeds in creating the H4, which revolutionizes navigation at sea.Character development:1. John Harrison is portrayed as a determined and innovative individual who overcomes adversity to achieve his goal. He is shown to be passionate about his work and committed to creating a device that will solve the longitude problem.2. Other characters in the book, such as Astronomer Royal Nevil Maskelyne and King George III, are depicted as skeptical of Harrison's methods but ultimately come to recognize the value of his invention.Thematic ideas:1. The importance of perseverance and dedication in the face of obstacles is a central theme in the book. Harrison's unwavering commitment to his goal serves as an inspiring example of what can be achieved through hard work and determination.2. The book also explores the intersection of science, technology, and society, highlighting how advancements in one field can have far-reaching implications for others. Harrison's chronometers not only revolutionized navigation but also played a significant role in shaping the course of history.Overall, Longitude delves into the fascinating history of maritime navigation and the individuals who played a crucial role in solving one of the most challenging scientific problems of their time. Through the story of John Harrison, readers are able to gain a deeper understanding of the importance of accurate timekeeping in navigating the seas and the impact of technological advancements on human progress.Chapter 3:Meet the Writer of LongitudeDava Sobel's writing style in "Longitude" is clear, concise, and engaging. She employs a straightforward narrative structure that helps to convey complex scientific concepts in a compelling and easy-to-understand manner. Sobel's use of language is precise and evocative, as she describes the challenges faced by John Harrison and other historical figures in their quest to solve the problem of determining longitude at sea.Sobel skillfully uses a combination of historical anecdotes, scientific explanations, and personal insights to bring the story of longitude to life. She effectively conveys the frustration, perseverance, and ultimate triumph of the individuals involved in this important endeavor. Through her writing, Sobel captures the emotions of discovery and the sense of accomplishment that Harrison and others experienced as they worked towards finding a solution to the longitude problem.Overall, Dava Sobel's writing skills and language style play a crucial role in conveying the emotions and meanings of "Longitude." Her approachable prose and engaging storytelling techniques make the subject matter accessible to a wide audience, while still providing a thorough and...
In the late 19th century, astronomy was a growing field. At the time, Edward Pickering, the director of the Harvard College Observatory, was working to create a classification system for stars by capturing the light from these distant celestial objects onto photographic glass plates. A team of women assistants and astronomers meticulously maintained and analyzed these delicate negatives. In her new book, The Glass Universe: How the Ladies of the Harvard Observatory Took the Measure of the Stars, Dava Sobel shares the stories of these “human computers” and how their work helped to advance the field of astronomy and the role of women in science.This team of astronomers included Williamina Fleming, who was once Pickering's maid but eventually became a supervisor to the group and went on to identify hundreds of variable stars. And Henrietta Swan Leavitt's observations about the luminosity of stars would shape later ideas about the expanding universe.To stay updated on all things science, sign up for Science Friday's newsletters. The transcript for this segment is available on sciencefriday.com. To stay updated on all things science, sign up for Science Friday's newsletters.
CONTENT The guest today is Kim Read a former member of the "stay behind" Special OP Troop. This unit was tasked with conducting operations against the Soviet Army if they had crossed the inner German border during the Cold War when they would engage the enemy with the long range guns of the British Army. We covered a bit about the school on pod #005 but a few listeners have requested more detail. So here it is. DESERT ISLAND DITS BOOK CHOICES Most of our book recommendations can be bought via the Unconventional Soldier Bookshop. 10% of each purchase supports the pod and helps independent book stores on line sales. My choice was Longitude by Dava Sobel and Kim's was Mawson's Will by Lennard Bickel . "BUY ME A COFFEE" If you want to support the podcast you can buy me a coffee here. SOCIAL MEDIA Check out our blog site on Wordpress Unconventional Soldier Follow us on social media and don't forget to like, share and leave a review. Instagram @the_unconventional_soldier_pod. Facebook @lateo82. Twitter @TheUCS473. Download these and other platforms via Link Tree. Email us: unconventionalsoldier@gmail.com. This episode brought to you in association with ISARR a veteran owned company.
Chapter 1 What's the Book Longitude aboutThe book "Longitude: The True Story of a Lone Genius Who Solved the Greatest Scientific Problem of His Time" is a non-fiction work written by Dava Sobel. Published in 1995, it tells the captivating story of John Harrison, an English clockmaker who invented a chronometer capable of accurately determining longitude at sea. During the 18th century, sailors faced great challenges in navigating the open oceans since they had no reliable method to measure their longitudinal position. As a result, ships often got lost or encountered disasters due to inaccurate calculations. The problem of finding longitude was so significant that the British government established the Longitude Prize, a substantial reward for anyone who could devise a practical solution. Sobel's book explores the life and struggles of John Harrison, who dedicated several decades to perfecting his timekeeping devices, known as marine chronometers. He overcame numerous obstacles, including skepticism from the scientific community and repeated attempts to undermine his achievements. Finally, Harrison succeeded, creating a highly accurate marine timepiece that revolutionized navigation and provided a precise method for determining longitude. "Longitude" not only delves into the technical aspects of Harrison's invention but also paints a vivid historical context, showcasing the political, social, and economic implications of accurate navigation. Sobel skillfully brings to life the characters involved in this pursuit and highlights the impact of Harrison's breakthrough on the maritime world. Overall, "Longitude" is a fascinating account of human ingenuity, perseverance, and the triumph of technological advancement. It presents a compelling narrative that combines history, science, and biography, making it an enjoyable read for those interested in the intersection of exploration, invention, and the quest for knowledge.Chapter 2 Is Longitude A Good Book"Longitude" by Dava Sobel is generally regarded as a highly acclaimed book. It tells the fascinating story of John Harrison's quest to solve the problem of accurately determining longitude at sea, which had significant implications for navigation and maritime exploration. Many readers appreciate the book for its engaging narrative style, historical insights, and its exploration of the intersection between science, technology, and human ambition. Ultimately, whether you find it to be a good book will depend on your interests and preferences.Chapter 3 Summary of Longitude In this article, we delve into the fascinating world of longitude and the monumental journey towards achieving precise navigation at sea. Inspired by Dava Sobel's renowned book "Longitude: The True Story of a Lone Genius Who Solved the Greatest Scientific Problem of His Time," we explore the historical context, key figures, and the captivating tale behind the breakthrough in timekeeping that forever changed maritime exploration. Join us as we unravel the story of how accurate longitude measurement revolutionized seafaring and shaped the course of human history.Chapter 4 Longitude the AuthorDava Sobel is an American author known for her popular science books. She was born on June 15, 1947, in the Bronx, New York City. Sobel initially worked as a science journalist before transitioning to writing books. One of Sobel's most famous works is "Longitude: The True Story of a Lone Genius Who Solved the Greatest Scientific Problem of His Time" (1995). This...
Dava Sobel has written about science for her entire career. Now, she's letting others do the writing. She's editing a column in Scientific American magazine featuring poetry about science.
Starting in the late 19th century, a group of women at the Harvard Observatory pored over hundreds of thousands of glass photographic plates bearing images of billions of stars. It was the beginning of a revolution in understanding what stars are made of and how far away they are.
¿Cuáles son los libros de astronomía que muchos recordamos? ¿cómo han cambiados los libros de astronomía en las últimas décadas? ¿cuáles son los tipos de libros de astronomía que podemos encontrar y leer en bibliotecas y librerías? ¿cuáles son los mejores libros de astronomía para iniciarse en el tema? ¿se justifica todavía leer libros de astronomía en físico o las aplicaciones y las publicaciones electrónicas los han desplazado completamente? Realizado por: Jorge Zuluaga (Ph.D. en física, Profesor titular de Astronomía y Física de la Universidad de Antioquia, Medellín, Colombia), Antonio Bernal (autor, divulgador de astronomía del Observatorio Fabra de Barcelona) Producido por: Jhossua Giraldo, Pregrado de Astronomía (U. de A.) Libros recomendados en el episodio: Para una lista completa vayan a este enlace https://bit.ly/3thUmx6. Guías del cielo: Observar el Cielo I y II, Robert Burnham y otros (1998). https://bit.ly/3EbKprx. Observar el Cielo, Adriana Rigutti, Editorial Tikal (2010). https://bit.ly/3EeBWE1. Libros de ensayo: El Universo en tu mano, Christophe Galfard (2015). https://bit.ly/3hqpNTx. Cosmos, Carl Sagan (1981). https://bit.ly/3fOg210. El universo inteligente, Fred Hoyle (1984). https://bit.ly/3TotsOS. Los tres primeros minutos del universo, Steven Weinberg (1980). https://amzn.to/3NPyl2m. Historia: Galileo, Kepler y Descartes: creadores del pensamiento moderno. Blanca Inés Marquez. http://bit.ly/3DPHaVh. Galileo, watcher of the skies, David Wotton (2013). https://amzn.to/3WHNyXk. Los sonámbulos, Arthur Koestler (1959). https://bit.ly/3FV7hgc. La hija de Galileo. Dava Sobel (2012). Un cielo pluscuamperfecto. Dava Sobel (2012). https://amzn.to/3WL0MCr. El universo de cristal. Dava Sobel (2017). https://bit.ly/3TlXPFH. Maestros del Universo. Helge Kragh (2014). https://bit.ly/3TkN8mS. El instante luminoso. Alonso Sepúlveda (2012). https://bit.ly/3FVTVAn. Textos académicos: De la Tierra al Universo. David Galadi-Enriquez, Jordi Gutiérrez Cabello (2021). https://bit.ly/3WIVgjS. Libros clásicos: Guía del cielo para la observación de estrellas y planetas, Enrique y Pedro Velasco (2022). https://bit.ly/3UF6nZq. Astronomía Popular. Simon Newcomb (1947). https://bit.ly/3zZaZS5. Breve Historia del Tiempo, Stephen Hawking (1988). https://bit.ly/3UnvTCO. Secretos del Cosmos, Colin A. Ronan (1969). https://bit.ly/3hqCnBX. Estrellas y planetas, Colin A. Ronan (1969). https://bit.ly/3WHil6D.
Do you ever feel like Italy is just showing off just a bit? It's literally got the best of both worlds, surrounded by the sea and graced with mountains (hello, Italian Alps, Dolomites, and Apennines), woodlands, and hills, including the famous seven of Rome. The climate is ideal for growing lovely things like figs, almonds, olives, grapes, and... romance. What's more romantic than sweethearts riding a Vespa under the moonlight? Or a spritz sipped under a beach umbrella on the Italian Riviera? A dip in the Adriatic, a stroll in the Tuscan sunshine, a run down a slope in the Italian Alps — these are the things of which dreams are made. Which leads us to this fact: Italy has the third highest life expectancy in Europe: 83.5 years of living la dolce vita, the sweet life. The food, the wine, the weather, the language, the history; it's an embarrassment of riches, and we're all the better for it. In this episode, we discuss everything that makes Italy one of the most enchanting places on Earth. We get curious about the world's largest rock band and a possibly cursed village, daydream about eating pasta carbonara in Rome, and cross the sea to Sicily. Then we recommend great books that took us there on the page: The Invitation by Lucy Foley - https://bit.ly/3QYEd9l Trieste and the Meaning of Nowhere by Jan Morris - https://bit.ly/3QZu7Fp Cinnamon and Salt: Ciccheti in Venice by Emiko Davies - https://bit.ly/3xFjJvI Galileo's Daughter: A Drama of Science, Faith and Love by Dava Sobel - https://bit.ly/3Lv5nDz Still Life by Sarah Winman - https://bit.ly/3Sf2jxG A Room with a View - https://bit.ly/3DOFhd5 For more on the books we recommend, plus the other cool stuff we talk about, visit show notes at http://strongsenseofplace.com/podcasts/2022-09-26-italy Do you enjoy our show? Do you want access to awesome bonus content? Please support our work on Patreon! Every little bit helps us keep the show going and makes us feel warm and fuzzy inside - https://www.patreon.com/strongsenseofplace As always, you can follow us at: Our web site at Strong Sense of Place Patreon Twitter Instagram Facebook
If your podcast listening habits are anything like mine, you might be out for a walk right now. Maybe you're wandering the neighborhood, just blocks from home, or maybe you're further afield. In either case, I'm guessing you're finding your way without too much trouble—you're letting some intuitive sense steer you, track how far you've gone, tell you where to go next. This inner navigator of yours is doing all in the background, as your mind wanders elsewhere, and magically it gets it all right. Most of the time, anyway But how is it doing it? What allows us to pull this off? My guest today is Dr. Hugo Spiers, Professor of Cognitive Neuroscience at University College London. His lab studies how our brains "remember the past, navigate the present, and imagine the future.” In recent years Hugo and his group have used a wide variety of methods—and some astonishingly large datasets—to shed light on central questions about human spatial abilities. Here, Hugo and I do a quick tour of the neuroscience of navigation—including the main brain structures involved and how they were discovered. We talk about research on a very peculiar population, the London taxi driver. We discuss the game Sea Hero quest and what it's teaching us about navigation abilities around the world. We also touch on what GPS might be doing to us; whether the hippocampus actually resembles a sea horse; the ingenious layout of our brain's inner grids; navigation ability as an early sign of Alzheimer's; how “place cells” actually map more than just place; and how the monarch butterfly finds its way. Super excited to this share one folks—this is an episode that's been on our wish list for some time. For mobile organisms like us, navigation is life or death—it's as basic as eating or breathing. So when we dig into the foundations of these spatial abilities we're really digging into some of the most basic foundations of mind. So let's get to it. On to my conversation with Dr. Hugo Spiers. Enjoy! A transcript of this episode will be available soon. Notes and links 4:00 – A brief documentary about a person with developmental topographical disorder. 8:00 – There have been a slew of popular articles about the question of whether GPS is undermining our navigation abilities—see here and here. 12:00 – A classic academic article about path integration in mammals. 14:00 – The classic academic article by Edward Tolman on the idea of “cognitive maps.” 16:00 – A side-by-side comparison of a human hippocampus and seahorse. The resemblance is indeed striking. 18:00 – A classic academic article reporting “place cells” in rats. 21:00 – A research article on seasonal changes in hippocampus size across different species. 22:00 – A recent academic article on interactions between the hippocampus and the striatum in navigation. 23:30 – An article reviewing the first decade of research on “grid cells.” A video showing the activity of grid cells in a rat. 26:00 – The long struggle to calculate longitude is subject of a much-beloved book by Dava Sobel. 27:00 – The press release announcing the Nobel prize for the discovery of grid cells and place cells. 31:00 – A popular article about ‘The Knowledge'—a famed test for London taxi drivers. 33:30 – The celebrated original study by Eleanor Maquire and colleagues on structural changes in the brains of London taxi drivers. The (also-celebrated) follow-up study that Dr. Spiers was part of, comparing London taxi and bus drivers. 37:00 – More about the Taxi Brains project can be found here. 41:00 – A recent paper by Dr. Spiers' team, led by Eva-Maria Griesbauer, reviews the cognitive neuroscience studies on London taxi drivers and dives deep into the learning techniques the drivers use. 44:30 – A paper by Dr. Spiers and team providing an overview of Sea Hero Quest and the studies it has been used for to date. A video demo of the game, and a popular article describing its motivation. Dr. Spiers developed the idea for the game in collaboration with Michael Hornberger. 50:00 – A recent research article looking at the value of Sea Hero Quest in detecting those at risk for Alzheimers. 53:00 – One of the first studies by Dr. Spiers and colleagues using Sea Hero Quest to test a vast sample and examine effects of variables like age, gender, and nationality. 54:30 – A more recent paper by Dr. Spiers and colleagues examining the effect of growing up in cities that are more or less “griddy.” 57:00 – A study by Dr. Spiers and colleagues showing a relationship between real-world navigation ability and navigation performance in Sea Hero Quest. 1:04:00 – The website of the International Orienteering Foundation. A video showing the sport. 1:06:00 – A review paper by Dr. Spiers and colleagues about the potential roles of cognitive maps in navigation and beyond. 1:07:00 – A review of “concept cells”, aka “Halle Berre cells.” 1:08:00 – A recent opinion piece by Dr. Spiers on the question of how many maps—and of what kind—the hippocampus implements. 1:10:30 – A recent research article on “time cells” in the hippocampus. 1:14:30 – A recent review article about monarch butterfly navigation. Dr. Spiers recommends: Human Spatial Navigation, by Ekstrom, Spiers, Bohbot, and Rosenbaum ‘The Cognitive Map in Humans: Spatial Navigation and Beyond,' by Epstein, Patai, Julian, and Spiers You can read more about Dr. Spiers work on his website and follow him on Twitter. Many Minds is a project of the Diverse Intelligences Summer Institute (DISI) (https://disi.org), which is made possible by a generous grant from the Templeton World Charity Foundation to UCLA. It is hosted and produced by Kensy Cooperrider, with help from Assistant Producer Urte Laukaityte and with creative support from DISI Directors Erica Cartmill and Jacob Foster. Our artwork is by Ben Oldroyd (https://www.mayhilldesigns.co.uk/). Our transcripts are created by Sarah Dopierala (https://sarahdopierala.wordpress.com/). You can subscribe to Many Minds on Apple, Stitcher, Spotify, Pocket Casts, Google Play, or wherever you like to listen to podcasts. **You can now subscribe to the Many Minds newsletter here!** We welcome your comments, questions, and suggestions. Feel free to email us at: manymindspodcast@gmail.com. For updates about the show, visit our website (https://disi.org/manyminds/), or follow us on Twitter: @ManyMindsPod.
"To be, or not to be..." Poetry, sure, but also the dilemma faced by Schrodinger's cat. Meet Dava Sobel, who curates a magazine column where poetry blends with science. (Both poetry and science have met Don and John, but they won't admit it...)
Menù del giorno: - TEATRO DI CENERE di Manuel Moyano - 3 CANZONI DA NON PERDERE A SANREMO 2022 (con Fabrizio Biasin) 2' 06'' - THE EMPTY MAN (con Stanlio Kubrick - i 400 calci) 10' 51'' - WESTWORLD (con Massimiliano Chiesa) 26' 17'' - LONGITUDINE di Dava Sobel (con Federico Pani) 36' 55'' - La lista dell'attesa n° 29 (Il primo giorno della mia vita, Three Thousand Years of Longing, Station Eleven) 48' 50'' - RESIDENT EVIL: WELCOME TO RACCOON CITY (con il Dr Freudstein) 50' 27'' ATTENZIONE: Contiene anche Anthony Hopkins, una "creatura" di David Fincher, l'anti Mad Max, Paolo Genovese e una serie post pandemia. Link: - I 400 CALCI: http://www.i400calci.com
This week on “The Learning Curve,” Cara and Gerard are joined by Dava Sobel, a former New York Times science reporter, and author of Longitude, Galileo's Daughter, and Letters to Father. Dava describes what inspired her interest in some of the most gifted mathematicians and astronomers in history, including Copernicus and Galileo, and the tensions between religion and science. Source
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