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The Far Out Journal Club invites you to join us for an online conversation with esteemed author Dava Sobel
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From the outer limits of the Milky Way, the Alachua Astronomy Club has started the Far Out Journal Club. Produced by Rich Russin and hosted by past president Terry Smiljanich, the goal is to have a personal, in-depth visit with the authors, artists, musicians, curators, and other cultural icons who bring us the vast world of cultural science and science fiction.
Get ready for a special evening as we host Dava Sobel for an online conversation about her career and the critically acclaimed books she has written. Her stories take readers on a trip back in time, placing you squarely in the center of major discoveries as they unfold. Backed by masterful research, she brings you the story behind the story.
Dava Sobel
Author | Historian | Biographer
Self Portrait:
"I have spent my entire professional life writing, including two years as a staff reporter in the Science News department of The New York Times.
New York City born and raised, I grew up within walking distance of the Bronx Zoo and the Botanical Gardens, and attended the Bronx High School of Science (class of 1964). I was a lost soul in college (several changes of majors at three different schools). Fortunately for me, no one around me thought it odd or ill-fated for a girl to be interested in science.
Working freelance for a variety of magazines kept me busily employed until the publication of Longitude in 1995—and its unexpected success—allowed me to write books that require years of research. (I should add that I enjoy that part.)"
Biography:
Dava Sobel is the author of Longitude (Walker 1995, Bloomsbury 2005), Galileo's Daughter (Walker 1999 and 2011), The Planets (Viking 2005, Penguin 2006), A More Perfect Heaven (Walker/Bloomsbury 2011 and 2012), And the Sun Stood Still (Bloomsbury 2016), The Glass Universe (Viking 2016, Penguin 2017) and The elements of Marie Curie (Grove/Atlantic 2024). She has also co-authored six books, including Is Anyone Out There? with astronomer Frank Drake, and currently edits the “Meter” poetry column in Scientific American.
Awards:
2001 Individual Public Service Award from the National Science Board “for fostering awareness of science and technology among broad segments of the general public.”
2001 Bradford Washburn Award from the Boston Museum of Science for her “outstanding contribution toward public understanding of science, appreciation of its fascination, and the vital roles it plays in all our lives.”
2004 Harrison Medal from the Worshipful Company of Clockmakers, London, in recognition of her contribution to increasing awareness of the science of horology by the general public.
2008 Klumpke-Roberts Award from the Astronomical Society of the Pacific for “increasing the public understanding and appreciation of astronomy.”
2014 Cultural Award from the Eduard Rhein Foundation of Germany “for using her profound scientific knowledge and literary talent to combine facts with fiction by merging scientific adventures and human stories in order to give the history of science a human face.”
Books:
The Far Out Journal Club highly recommends you check out one of her excellent books to further enhance your enjoyment of the episode.
https://groveatlantic.com/book/the-elements-of-marie-curie/
“There is a very short list of biographers whose books you’ll read regardless of who the subject happens to be. And there is, perhaps, an even shorter list of brilliant science communicators who can make complex subjects both accessible and fascinating. At the center of that Venn diagram is Dava Sobel. The Elements of Marie Curie may be her best book yet. I am absolutely scandalized by how little I actually knew about this extraordinary, accomplished, and inspiring woman. What a deeply satisfying read!”
— Susan Tunis, bookseller at Bookshop West Portal, San Francisco
Join Zoom Meeting:
Http://bit.ly/FarOutJournalClub
https://sfcollege.zoom.us/j/91733146162?pwd=Ib7KD0Sd1UKU8cbeUR0u7bxbOzmSOj.1
