BOOK SCIENCE
Book Science is a podcast dedicated to celebrating science books and their authors. Through in-depth discussions and author interviews, we explore the stories, insights, and craftsmanship behind books that make science accessible and engaging for everyone. Our mission is to champion long form science communication, inspire readers, and support aspiring authors in sharing their passion for science with the world.
Episodes
Carl Zimmer, science journalist and author, discusses his fifteenth book, Air-Borne: 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.
Airborne documents the science of aerobiology and the historical refusal by public health institutions to recognize airborne disease transmission. Th...
In this epsiode I had the pleasure of talking with Chelsea Wood, an Associate Professor at the University of Washington and a dedicated parasitologist. We talk about her middle-grade book, Power to the Parasites. The book provides a comprehensive, scientifically rigorous look at the oft-misunderstood creatures living in, on, and around us. Wood shares how her academic focus shifted from marine conservation to parasi...
In this episode of the Book Science Podcast, I talk with science and environmental journalist Laura Poppick about her book, Strata: Stories from Deep Time (Illustrations by Sarah Gilman). We explore the geologic lens, a way of seeing the world that transforms ordinary landscapes into a 4.5-billion-year narrative. From the Great Oxygenation Event to the surprising role of mud in Earth history, Laura explains how geol...
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 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" w...
Join host Tripp Collins for a sweeping conversation with environmental historian and author Dan Flores about his award-winning book Wild New World: The Epic Story of Animals and People in America.
In this episode, Dan takes us on a 65-million-year journey through North America's natural history—from the Chicxulub asteroid impact that wiped out the dinosaurs to the present day. We explore the continent's lost me...
Season One Wrap-Up
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...
**Update: Audio Issues Fixed Aug. 19 2025**
I was in the local branch of my public library and I came across the title, Defining the Wind. I had never heard of the title, nor the author, Scott Huler. I was blown away by Scott's seemingly bottomless interest, his total commitment to investigation and understanding, and his equanimity when the universe doesn't deliver on expectations. I reached out to Scott with gratit...
Willard Bascom’s Waves and Beaches first appeared in 1964 and quickly became a classic of coastal and wave science. Favored by readers who wanted to dig deeper into the physics of waves, it has stood for decades as a clear and engaging introduction to the subject.
But the new third edition? It wipes out. The wave science remains largely outdated, and new sections insert climate commentary that doesn’t ref...
In this episode of Book Science, I'm joined by physicist, oceanographer, BBC presenter, and author Dr. Helen Czerski, a world-class communicator of science and an expert on all things ocean and bubble.
We talk about her most recent book, Blue Machine: How the Ocean Shapes Our World — a sweeping, human-centered tour through the ocean’s role as a planetary engine. We discuss how her background in physi...
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 invent...
In this episode of Book Science, I dive into Firmament: The Hidden Science of Weather, Climate Change, and the Air That Surrounds Us by Simon Clark. It’s a beautifully written, surprisingly compact book that unpacks the atmosphere we live in—something so ever-present and invisible that we often forget it exists at all. Clark brings both expertise and charisma to the subject: he’s a UK-based science...
For this conversation, I am joined by Tessa Hill, a UC Davis professor, and Eric Simons, a writer and educator, to discuss their co-authored book, At Every Depth, that intertwines indigenous knowledge with Western science to highlight the urgency of ocean conservation amidst climate change. The book emerges from a collaborative writing process, structured to reflect varying depths of ocean familiarity, aiming to bri...
Bruce Parker's book, The Power of the Sea, explores the critical role of prediction science in mitigating the impacts of natural disasters, emphasizing historical tragedies due to lack of warning. The Power of the Sea is a timely reminder that science organizations, like the NOAA in the US, are a tremendous benefit to society. NOAA is responsible for saving thousands of lives and billions of dollars in damages throu...
In the inaugural episode of the Book Science podcast, host Tripp Collins interviews Duane Hamacher, an Associate Professor of Cultural Astronomy in the ASTRO-3D Centre of Excellence and the School of Physics at the University of Melbourne, about his book, The First Astronomers: How Indigenous Elders Read the Stars, co-authored with Indigenous elders. Over 15 years, Duane’s journey revealed the significant scie...
Hello and welcome. I'm Tripp Collins and this is Book Science. Welcome to this very special introductory episode and teaser for season one of Book Science. In this episode you will discover what this podcast is all about, get to know me, your host, and towards the end we’ll tease the rest of Season 1. The mission of Book Science is to uncover the art of writing science books. We will discuss their significan...
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