Scientific Conversations : Interviews From The New York Times - 01 edition

''There is no format that makes science and scientists more digestible than a 'conversation' with an intelligent interlocutor who is intrigued with the subject. And there few journalists who are able to get scientists talking about their work with more lucidity than Claudia Dreifus.''Orville Schell, Dean of the Graduate School of Journalism, University of California, Berkeley ''Claudia Dreifus is the generation's answer to Oriana Fallaci, a savvy . . . interviewer who creates gorgeous dramas out of real-life conversations. This is a journalist who is also an artist.''Nadine Strossen, President, ACLU ''Claudia Dreifus gives readers the luxury of great conversation, and the necessity of personal bridges into the scientific world. Rarely has learning been so pleasurable.''Gloria Steinem ''Claudia Dreifus is a nonpareil of interviewers.''Studs Terkel ''Gathered here are nearly 40 interviews with not only widely recognized author-scientists such as Martin Rees and Stephen Jay Gould but also researchers rarely sought out by reporters. Disdainful of the interview candidates pushed on her by university flacks, Dreifus (among other approaches) would instead attend scientific conferences; one yielded a talk with an enthusiastic expert in birdsongs. Dreifus also seeks out lesser-known women scientists. If not always well represented in science, they are increasingly populating its disciplines, examples of whom, such as the director of the National Science Foundation (microbiologist Rita Colwell), recall, at Dreifus' prompting, the rampant sexism they have encountered and overcome. Although Dreifus does not have a science background, she is meticulous about doing preparatory work for each interview and often picks people who have not arrived in science along conventional routes, such as former cocktail waitress and NIH immunologist Polly Matzinger. A lively reprise from the paper's science section.''Gilbert Taylor,Booklist

Foreword by Natalie Angier Introduction

SKYRIDERS
1) Sir Martin Rees
2) Sir Arthur C. Clarke
3) F. Story Musgrave
4) Freeman J. Dyson
5) Robert Zubrin

EARTH PEOPLE
6) Tanya Atwater
7) John McPhee
8) Michael Balick
9) Martin Wells
10) Luis Baptista

DARWIN'S PROGENY
11) Stephen Jay Gould
12) Francisco Ayala
13) Birute Galdikas
14) Emily Sue Savage-Rumbaugh
15) Anne Fausto-Sterling

CYBRENETICISTS
16) Marvin L. Minsky
17) Anne Foerst
18) Michael Dertouzos
19) John Maeda

COMMUNICATORS
20) Shawn Carlson
21) John Horgan.
22) Ira Flatow

MATH WHIZZES
23 ) Sir Roger Penrose
24 ) Leon M. Lederman
25) Charles Brenner

HEALERS
26) Nancy Padian
28) Nawal M. Nour
29) John Bancroft
30) Susie Orbach
31) Rudolph E. Tanzi fs20
32) Polly Matzinger
33) Benjamin S. Carson

POLICY MAKERS/POLICY CHANGERS
34) Rita Colwell
35) Jeff Getty
36) Stephen Straus
37) Rush Holt
38) Eleanor Baum
39) George E. Brown, Jr. An Idiosyncratic
Bibliography to Science
Reading for the Novice