Sam Kean

Sam Kean is the New York Times bestselling author of The Icepick Surgeon, The Bastard Brigade, Caesar’s Last Breath, The Disappearing Spoon, The Dueling Neurosurgeons, and The Violinist’s Thumb. The Bastard Brigade was an NPR Science Friday book of the year, while Caesar’s Last Breath was the Guardian science book of the year in 2017 and a runner-up for book of the year from the National Academies of Science. In addition, The Disappearing Spoon was a runner-up for the Royal Society of London's book of the year for 2010, and The Violinist’s Thumb and The Dueling Neurosurgeons were nominated for the PEN/E.O. Wilson award for literary science writing in 2013 and 2015, as well as the AAAS/Suburu prize. He also won the 2021 national Grady-Stack award for outstanding scientific communication. Kean edited the 2018 edition of Best American Nature and Science Writing, and his work has appeared in The New Yorker, The Atlantic Monthly, the New York Times Magazine, Psychology Today, and Slate, among other publications, and he has been featured on NPR’s “Radiolab,” “Science Friday,” “All Things Considered,” and “Fresh Air.” His books have been translated into twenty-four languages around the world. One of his books even appeared in an iPhone commercial. Finally, his podcast, The Disappearing Spoon, debuted at #1 on the iTunes charts for science podcasts.

He has given talks on his books in ten different countries, and in forty different states. His books have been translated into twenty-four languages around the world.