This is the official text for the National Association of Science Writers. In the eight years since the publication of the first edition of A Field Guide for Science Writing, much about the world has changed. Some of the leading issues in today's political marketplace - embryonic stem cell research, global warming, health care reform, space exploration, genetic privacy, germ warfare - are informed by scientific ideas. Never has it been more crucial for the lay public to be scientifically literate. That's where science writers come in. And that's why it's time for an update to the...

Foreword by Dr. Benjamin Spock

As the parent of a premie, you're probably wondering, what do all those tubes, monitors, and lights in the intensive care unit mean? What are the special medical problems I might face during these crucial first months? How can I talk to my premie? How will he or she respond? Can I breastfeed? Where can I find premie-size diapers and clothes?

In simple, honest terms, this book will answer all your questions during that important first year--from the very moment you give birth in the hospital until your baby blows out the candles on that...

This charming history of Gregor Mendel vividly evokes a little-known chapter in science and takes readers back to the birth of genetics, a field that continues to make headlines.

Even as humanity reels beneath the assault of AIDS, epidemiologists are gearing themselves up for the plague's successor. It might be dengue fever, whose carrier, the Asian tiger mosquito, has recently appeared in the United States, or Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, which has been transmitted by contaminated human growth hormone. The next pandemic might be caused by any of a dozen viruses that were once confined to other species or territories but now place human beings at risk as we increasingly cross their boundaries.
Updated to include the latest research and developments, this fascinating...

This is the highly acclaimed book by Robin Marantz Henig about the early days of in vitro fertilization (IVF) and the ethical and legal battles waged in the 1970s, as well as the scientific advances that eventually changed the public perception of "test tube babies." Published in paperback for the first time, this timely and provocative book brilliantly presents the scientific and ethical dilemmas in the ongoing debate over what it means to be human in a technological age.