We Are All Stardust: Scientists Who Shaped Our World Talk about Their Work, Their Lives, and What They Still Want to Know

Synopsis

A sterling roster of natural and social scientists in conversation with top-flight journalist Stefan Kleinshedding new light on their work, their lives, and what they still hope to discover When acclaimed science writer Stefan Klein asks Nobel Prizewinning chemist Roald Hoffmann what sets scientists apart, Hoffmann says, First and foremost, curiosity. In this collection of intimate conversations with nineteen of the worlds best-known scientists (including three Nobel Laureates), Klein lets us listen in as todays leading minds reveal what they still hope to discoverand how their paradigm-changing work entwines with their lives outside the lab. From the sports car that physicist Steven Weinberg says helped him on his quest for the theory of everything to the jazz musicians who gave psychologist Alison Gopnik new insight into raising children, these scientists explain how they find inspiration everywhere. Hear from renowned scientists including: evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins on selfishness, anthropologist Sarah Hrdy on motherhood, primatologist Jane Goodall on animal behavior, neuroscientist V. S. Ramachandran on consciousness, geographer Jared Diamond on chance in history, and many other luminaries.