Science Writing for the General Reader
Thursday 17 June
10am - 11am
Science Writing for the General Reader
Science and serious non-fiction books have never been so popular: engaging and informative books on subjects from evolution to immunology have captured the public imagination, resulting in an enthusiastic audience for science fact. In this lively session, award-winning medical writer Gavin Francis, geographer Fraser MacDonald, author of Escape From Earth: A Secret History of the Space Rocket, and Ed Lake, joint publishing director of Profile Books, talk about the current trends in popular science writing and serious non-fiction, and how to make complex ideas accessible to the general reader.
Speakers:
Fraser MacDonald
Gavin Francis
Chair:
Ed Lake
Chair
Ed Lake
Co-Publishing Director, Profile Books
Ed Lake is joint publishing director at Profile Books, where he acquires serious nonfiction. His authors include Shoshana Zuboff, Matthew Cobb, Oliver Bullough, Guido Tonelli and Mark Solms. Before joining Profile in 2016, he was a journalist, and a founding editor at aeon.co.
Speakers
Fraser MacDonald
Author
Fraser MacDonald teaches historical geography at the University of Edinburgh. His book, Escape From Earth: A Secret History of the Space Rocket, was shortlisted for the Saltire Society First Book Award.
Gavin Francis
Author
Gavin Francis is the author of six books of non-fiction including Adventures in Human Being, which won Saltire Non-Fiction Book of the Year 2015, was the Observer’s Science Book of the Year, and was a winner in the BMA Book Awards. Shapeshifters: On Medicine & Human Change was a book of the year in the Sunday Times and the Scotsman. Intensive Care: a GP, a Community, & Covid-19 was published earlier this year. His books have been translated into 18 languages. He is a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh, and a Fellow of the Royal College of General Practitioners.
