Science writer and blogger
Carl Zimmer
(born 1966) is a
popular science
writer,
blogger
,
columnist
, and
journalist
who specializes in the topics of
evolution
,
parasites
, and
heredity
. The author of many books, he contributes science essays to publications such as
The New York Times
,
Discover
, and
National Geographic
. He is a fellow at
Yale University
's
Morse College
and adjunct professor of molecular biophysics and biochemistry at Yale University. Zimmer also gives frequent lectures and has appeared on many radio shows, including
National Public Radio
's
Radiolab
,
Fresh Air
, and
This American Life
.
[1]
Zimmer describes his journalistic beat as "life" or "what it means to be alive".
[2]
He is the only science writer to have a species of
tapeworm
named after him (
Acanthobothrium zimmeri
).
[3]
Zimmer's father is
Dick Zimmer
, a Republican politician from
New Jersey
, who was a member of
U.S. House of Representatives
from 1991 to 1997.
Career
[
edit
]
Zimmer received a B.A. in English from Yale University in 1987.
[4]
In 1989, he started his career at
Discover
magazine, first as a
copy editor
and
fact checker
, eventually serving as a senior editor from 1994 to 1998.
[1]
[5]
[6]
Zimmer left
Discover
after ten years to focus on books and other projects. In 2004, he started a blog called "The Loom", in which he wrote about topics related to his books, but later expanded it into what he terms "a place where I could write about things I might not be turning into an article for a magazine, but were really interesting'.
[5]
The Loom has been hosted by
Discover
and
National Geographic
for many years, and has been invited to be part of Scienceblogs. It was transferred to Zimmer's personal website in 2018.
[7]
Zimmer writes a weekly column called "Matter" in
The New York Times
.
[8]
Zimmer and the
STAT
team have put out "Game of Genomes", a 13-part series that enlisted two dozen scientists, with the goal of exploring Zimmer's own genome.
[9]
He has given lectures at universities, medical schools, and museums.
[6]
In 2009, Zimmer was the keynote speaker at
Northeast Conference on Science and Skepticism
(NECSS). He also presented at NECSS 2011 and
CSICon
2018.
[10]
Zimmer has twice been a spotlight speaker at the
Aspen Ideas Festival
, in 2017 and 2018.
[11]
In 2009 and 2010 he was host of the periodic audio
podcast
"Meet the Scientist"
[12]
of the
American Society for Microbiology
. Zimmer's 2004 article "Whose Life Would You Save?"
[13]
was included in the 2005
The Best American Science and Nature Writing
series.
[6]
[14]
Zimmer has received a number of awards, including the 2007
National Academies Communication Award
, a prize for science communication
[15]
from the
United States National Academy of Sciences
, for his wide-ranging coverage of biology and evolution in newspapers, magazines, and his blog. In 2016
Yale University
appointed Zimmer Adjunct Professor of Molecular Biophysics and Biochemistry, stating that he is "a world-renowned science journalist and teacher, and his ability to make science, particularly biology, accessible to the general public is without peer". Zimmer has taught a science communication course at Yale since 2017 and participates in other molecular biophysics and biochemistry courses.
[16]
[17]
Opinions on science and skepticism
[
edit
]
Zimmer has publicly expressed his concerns about
science denial
, noting that attacks on science "are in a number of cases well-funded campaigns, and some politicians are backing some of them for their own political ends", where "climate change, evolution, and vaccines seem to top the list". He says that each case of science denial is concerning, and that some, e.g. spreading misinformation about vaccines to worried parents, lead to needless outbreaks of disease that even puts children at risk of death.
[
citation needed
]
Similarly, Zimmer considers global warming as one of the biggest societal issues of our time, as our children and their children will inherit not only our genes, but this planet too, and states that "We should think about tinkering with the future of genetic heredity, but I think we should also be doing that with our environmental heredity and our cultural heredity."
[18]
According to Zimmer there is a broader threat of these particular attacks on science, potentially eroding people's understanding of how science works in general: "If people come to see science as just someone else's opinion, rather than a powerful way of knowing based on evidence, then all sorts of trouble may arise."
[
citation needed
]
In his keynote talk at
Rockefeller University
on September 6, 2017, he noted that democracy, science and journalism are "three valuable institutions that have made life...far better than it would have been without them." He stated however that we should not take it for granted that they are free from corruption, and urged to keep them that way. Specifically, he stated that "We can look back through history and see how in different places and in different times, each of these pillars cracked and sometimes fell. We should not be smug, when we look back at these episodes. We should not be so arrogant, as to believe that we are so much smarter or nobler that we're somehow immune from this disasters."
[
citation needed
]
Zimmer is critical of politicians' negative influence on science. He has been critical of Trump's anti-science stance, specifically his denial of human-caused climate change. Similarly, he is critical of Trump's appointment of science-deniers to lead crucial U.S. environmental agencies, such as
National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)
, the
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
, and the
Department of Energy
. Zimmer is also critical of Putin's influence on Russian science, specifically his "friendly take-over" of a Russian science magazine, Putin being the "hands-off chairman" of the
Russian Geographical Society
.
[
citation needed
]
After publishing
She Has Her Mother's Laugh: The Powers, Perversions, and Potential of Heredity
, Zimmer was asked for his opinion about
genome editing
and
CRISPR
. While Zimmer thought that some gene-editing procedures, especially for conditions caused by single gene mutations, might provide simple ways to battle serious diseases, he urged for caution about intervention at the embryonic stage. However, he further pointed out the complexity of the issue and the need to address other countries' practices.
[19]
[20]
[21]
Fellowships
[
edit
]
Honors
[
edit
]
- 1994: Everett Clark/Seth Payne Award for Young Science Journalists, awarded "to encourage young science writers by recognizing outstanding reporting and writing in any field of science."
[25]
- 1997:
American Institute of Biological Sciences
' Media Award that "recognizes outstanding reporting on biology to a general audience."
[26]
- 1999: The
Pan American Health Organization
's Award for Excellence in International Health Reporting
[4]
- 2004, 2009, 2012:
American Association for the Advancement of Science
's Science Journalism Award, awarded to honor "professional journalists for distinguished reporting on the sciences, engineering, and mathematics".
[27]
[28]
- 2007:
National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine
's Science Communication Award, awarded to "recognize excellence in reporting and communicating science, engineering, and medicine to the general public", in the category Newspaper/magazine/internet
[29]
- 2015:
National Association of Biology Teachers
' (NABT) Distinguished Service Award, awarded to "recognize teachers for their expertise in specific subject areas, for contributions to the profession made by new teachers, and to recognize service to NABT, life science teaching, or leadership in learning communities."
[30]
- 2016:
Society for the Study of Evolution
's The
Stephen Jay Gould
Prize, awarded "to recognize individuals whose sustained and exemplary efforts have advanced public understanding of evolutionary science and its importance in biology, education, and everyday life in the spirit of Stephen Jay Gould."
[31]
- 2017: Online News Association's Online Journalism Award, awarded in the explanatory reporting category.
[32]
- 2019:
Science in Society Journalism Awards
from the
National Association of Science Writers
for his book,
She Has Her Mother's Laugh: The Powers, Perversions, and Potentials of Heredity
.
[33]
- 2021: Asteroid
212073 Carlzimmer
, discovered by astronomers with the
Mount Lemmon Survey
in 2005, was named in his honor. The
naming
was announced by the
International Astronomical Union
on 16 June 2021.
[34]
Bibliography
[
edit
]
Books
[
edit
]
- Zimmer, Carl (1998).
At the water's edge : macroevolution and the transformation of life
. New York: Free Press.
- — (1999).
At the water's edge : fish with fingers, whales with legs, and how life came ashore but then went back to sea
(First Touchstone ed.). New York: Touchstone.
- — (2000).
Parasite rex : inside the bizarre world of nature's most dangerous creatures
. New York: Free Press.
- — (2001).
Evolution : the triumph of an idea
.
- — (2004).
Soul made flesh
. Free Press.
- — (2005).
Smithsonian intimate guide to human origins
. New York: Smithsonian Books.
- — (2005).
Where did we come from? An intimate guide to the latest discoveries in human origins
. Sydney: ABC Books for the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.
- The Descent of Man: The Concise Edition.
Carl Zimmer, Charles Darwin and Frans DeWaal, 2007
ISBN
1101213523
(electronic book)
- Microcosm: E. coli and the New Science of Life
London : William Heinemann Ltd., 2008
ISBN
0434016241
- The Tangled Bank: An Introduction to Evolution.
Roberts, 2009,
ISBN
1936221446
- Brain Cuttings: Fifteen Journeys Through the Mind.
Independent Publishers Group, 2010,
ISBN
1935622145
- More Brain Cuttings: Further Explorations of the Mind.
New York : Scott & Nix, Inc., 2011
ISBN
1935622293
- A Planet of Viruses
(2011)
ISBN
0-226-98335-8
- Science Ink: Tattoos of the Science Obsessed
(2011)
ISBN
978-1-4027-8360-9
- Science Ink: Tattoos of the Science Obsessed.
Reprint. Sterling: New York, 2014.
ISBN
1454912405
- A Planet of Viruses.
2nd ed. University of Chicago Press: Chicago, 2015.
ISBN
022629420X
- Evolution: Making Sense of Life.
co-authored with
Douglas Emlen
. Roberts and Company; Greenwood Village, Colorado, 2016
ISBN
1936221365
- She Has Her Mother's Laugh: The Powers, Perversions, and Potential of Heredity.
Dutton: New York, New York, 2018
ISBN
1101984597
[35]
- Life's Edge: The Search for What It Means to Be Alive
New York: Dutton, 2021.
Essays and chapters
[
edit
]
Critical studies and reviews of Zimmer's work
[
edit
]
- She has her mother's laugh
- Flannery, Tim
(March 7?20, 2019). "Our twisted DNA".
The New York Review of Books
.
66
(4): 38?39.
References
[
edit
]
- ^
a
b
c
d
Zimmer, Carl
.
"Bio"
.
Personal website
.
Archived
from the original on February 28, 2019
. Retrieved
December 22,
2018
.
- ^
Viskontas, Indre
(February 4, 2013).
"Viruses and other little things"
.
Point of Inquiry
. Center for Inquiry.
Archived
from the original on February 28, 2019
. Retrieved
September 15,
2016
.
- ^
Zimmer, Carl
(8 July 2009).
"A tapeworm to call my own"
.
The Loom
. National Geographic. Archived from
the original
on July 9, 2013
. Retrieved
15 September
2016
.
- ^
a
b
c
d
e
Zimmer, Carl
.
"Curriculum Vitae"
(PDF)
.
Carl Zimmer
.
Archived
(PDF)
from the original on February 28, 2019
. Retrieved
February 24,
2019
.
- ^
a
b
Josh Romero (February 2007).
"Backgrounder: John Rennie and Carl Zimmer"
. Bullpen (
NYU
Department of Journalism).
Archived
from the original on February 28, 2019
. Retrieved
June 1,
2011
.
- ^
a
b
c
"Carl Zimmer"
.
Penguin Random House Speakers Bureau
. Penguin Random House.
Archived
from the original on February 28, 2019
. Retrieved
December 25,
2018
.
- ^
"The Loom Ends. The Loom Lives!"
.
ScienceBlogs
. Science 2.0.
Archived
from the original on February 28, 2019
. Retrieved
December 22,
2018
.
- ^
"Recent and archived work by Carl Zimmer for The New York Times"
.
The New York Times
.
Archived
from the original on February 28, 2019
. Retrieved
February 25,
2019
.
- ^
"Game of Genomes"
.
STAT
. STAT.
Archived
from the original on February 28, 2019
. Retrieved
February 24,
2019
.
- ^
Gerbic, Susan
(31 May 2018).
"On Tapeworms and Laughter"
.
Skeptical Inquirer
.
Archived
from the original on February 28, 2019
. Retrieved
November 27,
2018
.
- ^
"Aspen Ideas Festival | Engaging Ideas that Matter"
.
The Aspen Ideas Festival
. The Aspen Institute.
Archived
from the original on February 28, 2019
. Retrieved
December 25,
2018
.
- ^
Zimmer, Carl
.
"Meet the Scientists"
.
Meet the Scientists
. American Society for Microbiologists
. Retrieved
September 16,
2016
.
[
permanent dead link
]
- ^
Zimmer, Carl
.
"Whose Life Would You Save?"
.
Discover
. Kalmbach Media
. Retrieved
February 24,
2019
.
- ^
Balbach, Stephen.
"Online Index to The Best American Science and Nature Writing Series"
.
Archived
from the original on February 28, 2019
. Retrieved
February 24,
2019
.
- ^
O'Leary, Maureen (October 1, 2007).
"National Academies press release"
.
United States National Academy of Sciences
.
Archived
from the original on February 28, 2019
. Retrieved
November 1,
2007
.
- ^
"World-renown science journalist, Carl Zimmer, to join MB&B as Adjunct Professor"
.
Yale School of Medicine
.
Archived
from the original on February 28, 2019
. Retrieved
December 23,
2018
.
- ^
"Carl Zimmer Professor Adjunct"
.
Yale School of Medicine
.
Archived
from the original on February 28, 2019
. Retrieved
December 23,
2018
.
- ^
Peikoff, Kira (September 9, 2018).
"Carl Zimmer: Genetically Editing Humans Should Not Be Our Biggest Worry"
.
Leapsmag
. Leapsmag.
Archived
from the original on February 28, 2019
. Retrieved
February 26,
2019
.
- ^
Ball, Philip
(August 11, 2018).
"Carl Zimmer: 'We shouldn't look to our genes for a quick way to make life better'
"
.
The Guardian
.
Archived
from the original on February 28, 2019
. Retrieved
December 23,
2018
.
- ^
"Maybe DNA can't answer all our questions about heredity"
.
Wired
. May 28, 2018.
Archived
from the original on March 14, 2019
. Retrieved
February 26,
2019
.
- ^
"A Science Writer Explores The 'Perversions And Potential' Of Genetic Tests"
.
KUNC
. KUNC. 11 June 2018.
Archived
from the original on February 28, 2019
. Retrieved
February 26,
2019
.
- ^
"Carl Zimmer"
.
John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation
. John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation.
Archived
from the original on February 28, 2019
. Retrieved
February 24,
2019
.
- ^
"Osher Fellows"
.
California Academy of Sciences
. California Academy of Sciences.
Archived
from the original on February 28, 2019
. Retrieved
February 24,
2019
.
- ^
"Grants"
.
Alfred P. Sloan Foundation
. Alfred P. Sloan Foundation.
Archived
from the original on February 28, 2019
. Retrieved
February 24,
2019
.
- ^
"Evert Clark/Seth Payne Award for Young Science Journalists"
.
Council for the Advancement of Science Writing
. CASW.
Archived
from the original on February 28, 2019
. Retrieved
June 6,
2018
.
- ^
"AIBS Media award"
.
American Institute of Biological Sciences
.
Archived
from the original on February 28, 2019
. Retrieved
December 27,
2018
.
- ^
"AAAS Science Journalism Award Recipients"
.
aaas.org
.
Archived
from the original on February 28, 2019
. Retrieved
October 23,
2015
.
- ^
"Congratulations to Carl Zimmer - NCSE"
.
ncse.com
. November 14, 2012.
Archived
from the original on February 28, 2019
. Retrieved
October 23,
2015
.
- ^
"News from the National Academies"
.
News
. National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine.
Archived
from the original on February 28, 2019
. Retrieved
September 15,
2016
.
- ^
"2015 Award Recipients"
.
The National Association of Biology Teachers
.
Archived
from the original on February 28, 2019
. Retrieved
December 27,
2018
.
- ^
"The Stephen Jay Gould Prize"
.
Society for the Study of Evolution
.
Archived
from the original on February 28, 2019
. Retrieved
December 25,
2018
.
- ^
"Major Awards for STAT"
.
STAT
.
Archived
from the original on February 28, 2019
. Retrieved
December 27,
2018
.
- ^
"Carl Zimmer wins NASW Science Book Award"
.
Skeptical Inquirer
.
44
: 9. January?February 2020.
- ^
"WGSBN Bulletin Archive"
.
Working Group Small Body Nomenclature
. 16 June 2021
. Retrieved
17 June
2021
.
(
Bulletin #3
)
- ^
"A fascinating history of heredity research reveals the field's highs and lows"
.
Science Magazine
.
- ^
Fibrodysplasia Ossificans Progressiva
.
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