Carl Zimmer, science journalist and author, discusses his fifteenth book, Airborne: The Hidden History of the Life We Breathe. Zimmer’s career includes two decades of science reporting for the New York Times and early editorial work at Discover magazine.
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Airborne documents the science of aerobiology and the historical refusal by public health institutions to recognize airborne disease transmission. The conversation highlights the neglected epidemiological research of William and Mildred Wells, the fragmented nature of atmospheric sciences, and how the complex realities of scientific validation collide with public policy during global health crises.

​Join me for a special one-year anniversary celebration of Book Science as I sit down with biologist and author Sönke Johnsen to discuss his beautiful new book, Into the Great Wide Ocean: Life in the Least Known Habitat on Earth.
In this episode, Sönke takes us on a journey into the pelagic zone—the open ocean that makes up the vast majority of living space on our planet. We explore why this "unbearably beautiful" world looks like it is lit by blue LEDs, the evolutionary marvels of transparency and bioluminescence, and the immense challenges of studying creatures that are effectively invisible.

Sönke shares his philosophy on science communication, explaining why he chose to weave his personal memoir—from his childhood in Pittsburgh to his time on research submersibles—into a text about marine biology. We discuss the "physical pain" of the writing process, why humanizing scientists is essential for public trust, his awesome illustrator Marlin Peterson, and the deep connection between artistic observation and biological discovery.

Plus: We dive into the "observer effect" of deep-sea research (and why trawling nets is like driving a bulldozer through a café), the spiritual awe of biodiversity, and why Sönke believes that conservation must be driven by love rather than shame.

Science Book

Fiction

More Books:

• ​Micrographia by Robert Hooke
• The Open Sea by Alister Hardy

​Welcome to season 2!  We are finally back in action, and no better way to kick it off then with an incredible interview with author Dan Flores. In this episode, I speak to Dan about his most recent book 'Wild New World: The Epic Story of Animals and People in America'. The conversation covers the sweeping, emotional narratives within the book that highlight the historical interactions between humans and animals in North America. Dan discusses his inspiration, the challenges of condensing 65 million years of history into a readable narrative, and how living in natural settings influences his writing. We touch upon significant topics like extinction events, the evolution of American wildlife, and the role of literature in shaping our understanding of nature. The episode also delves into Flores' perspective on conservation efforts, the cultural impact of recognizing human roles in extinction, and an intriguing discussion about the revival of ancient species through genetic engineering.

Full Transcript Here.
We’ve reached the end of Season One of Book Science! In this closing reflection, I look back on the challenges, the guests who made the season possible, and the growth—both personal and creative—that came from finally putting this project into the world.

From my very first conversation with Duane Hamacher to laughing it up with Scott Huler in Episode 8, this season has been full of experiments, stumbles, and a whole lot of learning.
Along the way, we explored:

• Episode 1: Duane Hamacher – The First Astronomer
• Episode 2: The Power of the Sea by Bruce Parker (solo)
• Episode 3: Tessa Hill & Eric Simons – At Every Depth
• Episode 4: Firmament by Simon Clark (solo)
• Episode 5: Lynne Kelly – The Knowledge Gene &n others
• Episode 6: Helen Czerski – Blue Machine & Storm in a Teacup
• Episode 7: Waves and Beaches by Willard Bascom and Kim McCoy (deep dive)
• Episode 8: Scott Huler – Defining the Wind & Delicious Country

I’m deeply grateful to every guest who took a chance on this unknown show, and to everyone who has listened. Thank you for being part of this first season. With your support, this small but mighty club of science book aficionados will only keep growing. See you in Season Two.

Looking Ahead: Season Two launches this October! Guests include Carl Zimmer (Airborne), Dan Flores (Wild New World), Laura Poppick (Strata), Rebecca Lexa (Everyday Naturalist), Kevin Walsh (Planets of the Known Galaxy), Sönke Johnsen (Into the Great Wide Ocean), and Chelsea Wood (Power to the Parasites).

Links & Extras

• Website: TrippCollins.com
• Show notes & transcripts: https://www.trippcollins.com/episodes
• Instagram: @booksciencepodcast
• Patreon (support the show): patreon.com/bookscience
• BookShop.org Book Science Season 1 Collection

Author Websites

• Scott Huler
• Helen Czerski
• Tessa Hill
• Eric Simons
• Duane Hamacher
• Lynne Kelly
• Simon Clark
• Bruce Parker​

The original figure is a classic conceptual representation of the ocean’s wave energy spectrum, first produced by Walter Munk in 1951. It’s a single continuous curve plotted against timescales from hours down to seconds. Bascom labeled each section according to the type of water wave that corresponds to that period: tides at the hour mark, wind-generated ripples at the second mark. The y-axis reads “relative amount of energy present.” This isn’t a measured spectrum, but a conceptual one, the height of line represents the relative importance of different kinds of wave motions. There’s a clear peak for swell and sea, reflecting the fact that wind waves dominate ocean surface energy in most places most of the time.

The fact that the line is continuous is conceptually important. It shows that ocean waves form a spectrum across scales. While there may be a separation in scales between ripples and tides, there is often no clear difference between wind seas and swell. The categories of wind sea and swell are just convenient labels; there are no sharp boundaries in nature. 

Now, compare this to the updated figure in the third edition. Instead of a continuous curve, we get a series of discrete bubbles. The y-axis is labeled “change in sea level,”. What does “change” even mean here? Is it absolute change, variation, or something else? The units of the y-axis are in terms of length [m]. But a wave spectrum isn’t a plot of raw heights, it’s a distribution of variance with frequency or period, and its proper units are variance density, typically [m²/Hz]. This isn’t a trivial detail, the caption still calls this a “wave spectrum,” which it clearly is not. This shows a fundamental misunderstanding of what a spectrum represents.

The x-axis still represents periods with units of time (note the axis has been flipped), but now runs from fractions of a second to millennia. There are little bubbles for capillary, ripples, chop, sea, swell, etc. To me, this implies that these should be separate, discrete phenomena, which is wrong. Beyond tides, we have “seasons,” “El Niño,” "sunspot cycle" (what!?), and even a bubble labeled “industrialization.” If I’m generous, I’d interpret that last one as sea level rise from post-industrial warming, but the figure gives no explanation. In fact, since the y-axis begins with msl (mean sea level) you might assume we are talking about variations in reference to the mean sea level, but anything beyond tsunami is variations of the mean sea level. Then we have Milankovitch cycles on scales off 100k years? Even if these are periodic phenomena, they are not ocean waves (if this needs to be stated), and on these scales the ocean basins and sea levels change, rendering msl meaningless.

What was once an elegant conceptual diagram showing the continuous nature of ocean waves has been replaced with a careless hodgepodge that reveals a fundamental misunderstanding of what water waves are and what a spectrum represents.

Climate change is real, important, and worthy of serious discussion, but climate is not a wave. A book like Waves and Beaches exists to define and explain physical phenomena in the natural world with clarity and accuracy. When that mission is abandoned, when metaphor is confused with mechanism, and sloppy language replaces careful explanation, it does more than misinform. It undermines public understanding of science at a time when precision and trust matter most. That is the real failure of this new edition.

Helen Czerski is an Associate Professor at the Department of Mechanical Engineering at University College London and her research focus is the physics of breaking waves and bubbles at the ocean surface. Since 2011 she has presented a wide range of science documentaries for the BBC on the physics of everyday life, and atmospheric and ocean science. She currently co-hosts BBC Radio 4's flagship climate and environment show, Rare Earth. She is also a central member of the Cosmic Shambles Network. 

Helen is also a science writing hero of mine. I read and loved both Storm in a Teacup: The Physics of Everyday Life (2016) and Blue Machine: How the Ocean Shapes our World (2023).

Blue Machine in particular is a masterclass in science writing. It is epic in scope, the prose is beautiful, the tone is inviting, and it gets the science storytelling balance right: not getting bogged down in details and not flying over the important bits. 

The comparison that comes to mind is Rachael Carson's The Sea Around Us. These days, Carson is remembered for Silent Spring, which jump started the environmental movement in the United States by exposing the detrimental impact of synthetic pesticides such as DDT. But before Silent Spring, Carson wrote not one but three books about the ocean. The Sea Around Us was her oceanic magnum opus, covering all of oceanography that was known up unto the point of publication 1951, which had recently bloomed in the post-war era. This was an ambitious project pulled off with Carson’s signature panache. I see The Blue Machine as the heir to Carson's throne in this tradition. Czerski really pulled off something amazing, a book with elegant prose, ambitious scope, bubbling enthusiasm, and in the end inspirational, simply put this is oceanic storytelling at its finest.

What if memory wasn’t just a skill—but a superpower embedded in our genes? 

In this episode, I talk with science writer and memory expert Lynne Kelly about her remarkable new book, The Knowledge Gene. We explore the evolution of human creativity, the deep science of memory, and how ancient oral cultures used storytelling, song, and ceremony as sophisticated memory systems—long before the invention of writing. 
We discuss the genetic clues behind memory and neurodivergence, the science of mnemonic techniques like memory palaces, and how understanding these systems can reshape how we think about education, knowledge, and even what it means to be human. 

Plus: Stonehenge, songlines, memory championships, and a case for putting music and art back at the center of learning. 

​This is a wide-ranging and mind-expanding conversation. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did. 

Full Transcript Here
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00:00–05:00

• Introduction to Lynne Kelly’s work on memory and oral cultures.
• Discussion of early fascination with memory palaces and the connection between space, memory, and storytelling.

05:00–10:00

• How oral cultures embed knowledge in performance, art, song, and landscape.
• Comparison of modern and ancient memory techniques and their educational value.

10:00–15:00

• Insights into the use of mnemonic systems in Indigenous knowledge systems.
• Lynne reflects on validating Indigenous practices through research.

​15:00–20:00

• Reimagining Neolithic monuments (like Stonehenge) as memory palaces.
• The transition from mobile to agricultural societies and its implications for memory systems.

20:00–25:00

• Discussion of songlines as external memory palaces embedded in landscape.
• The fusion of place, performance, and learning in traditional knowledge systems.

25:00–30:00

• How writing displaced oral mnemonic techniques.
• The loss of embodied memory and the undervaluing of arts in modern education.

30:00–35:00

• The Knowledge Gene concept: exploring genetic roots of memory and creativity.
• Introduction to the NF1 gene and its links to neurodivergence and memory challenges.

35:00–40:00

• The evolutionary case for preserving neurodiversity in human populations.
• Discussion of ADHD, autism, and savant abilities as part of a broader cognitive spectrum.

40:00–45:00

• Lynne’s collaboration with geneticists and interdisciplinary research methods.
• The importance of embracing diverse ways of knowing and learning.

45:00–50:00

• Reflections on early human cognition and creativity predating written language.
• Discussion of embodied learning and the richness of sensory-based memory.

50:00–55:00

• How performance, art, and storytelling have been integral to knowledge transmission.
• Reframing education to re-integrate traditional memory practices and the arts.

55:00–End

• A hopeful call for the fusion of science and the arts in education.
• Lynne’s vision for reclaiming ancient knowledge systems to meet modern challenges.

Lynne Kelly's Website