The ratio of scientists to cattle in Runge, Texas, is one to thousands, Shelley DuBois writes. That one scientist is her father. In this remarkable tribute, Shelley tells the story of how her father went from wrangling cattle in the South Texas desert to researching cancer and traveling the world.
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Interview: Carl Zimmer, Stories From the Parasite Hole
Story Collider's Ben Lillie talks with well-known science writer Carl Zimmer about the story he told on our stage in September, the role of storytelling in science, and how to talk about parasites on a date.
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Innocence
When David Dickerson returns to grad school at the age of thirty-one, he has high hopes for his love life because "science is on his side." His pursuit of romance leads him to a dark ocean at 3 a.m. for a moment he'll never forget. Presented in stunning illustrated form by artist Joe Wierenga.
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When Science Eases the Mind, If Not the Heart
A mother embarks on a mission of scientific discovery after tragedy strikes her family. But will her findings bring her the comfort she's seeking?
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A Very Sad Story
Sometimes you can look at a child and say, "Man, he was meant to be a basketball star." That's what people used to say about me too, except instead of basketball star, they said lawyer.
No, seriously.
I was born in a matching sweater set and shiny Mary Jane shoes on February 26, 1988. Rumor has it I climbed down a stack of reference books to accept the birth certificate. I have spent more recess hours in a library—more hours in a library in general—than probably most members of Congress. I have, on occasion, very politely argued my way out of paying for school milk (where else do state tax dollars go?). I started making study flash cards long before my teachers recommended it. When I became the only member of my rather large family to require a nice, thick pair of glasses, everyone just said, "Of course."
Read MorePassing
I arrived in Jersey City with my mother and brother on a dark night in January 1986. Mom had fallen in love and had dragged us along to her new life with her new husband. We were transplants from Southern California, where our hometown had experienced a cold snap just a few months before. Temperatures had plummeted to fifty degrees. But this was worse. Even in my warmest coat, I shivered. My bare ears stung.
A few days later, my brother and I enrolled in our new school, PS 23. In California, our schools were named after mountains and fruit trees, but in Jersey City the education system had opted for utilitarian numbers. It made me feel like a number myself.
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