The Alchemy of Us #572
September 07, 2020
We live in a material world. Each piece of that stuff has a story behind it – from the inconspicuous glass and steel that fashions our built environments to the transistors in the tech that siphons up all our attention. In this week's conversation, host Carolyn Wilke speaks with scientist and science writer Ainissa Ramirez, author of "The Alchemy of Us: How Humans and Matter Transformed One Another", to pull back the curtain on the materials that have shaped society and the seemingly unlikely people behind them.
Guests:
- Ainissa Ramirez
Featured Book
The Alchemy of Us: How Humans and Matter Transformed One Another
Guest Bios
Ainissa Ramirez
Ainissa Ramirez, Ph.D. is a scientist and science communicator, who is the author of "The Alchemy of Us: How Humans and Matter Transformed One Another". A graduate of Brown and Stanford, she worked as a scientist at Bell Labs, and later as an associate professor of mechanical engineering at Yale. Ainissa Ramirez is passionate about making science fun and understandable to the general public and has written for Time, The Atlantic, Forbes, Scientific American, as well as authored the books "Newton's Football" and "Save Our Science". She speaks internationally to a wide range of audiences about the impact of science and technology, and gave a TED talk on the importance of STEM education. She also can be found explaining science on CBS, CNN, NPR, as well as the PBS program SciTech Now.
