Dorion Sagan
Dorion Sagan (born 1959) is an American science writer, essayist, and theorist from Madison, Wisconsin. He has written and co-authored many books on culture, evolution, and the history and philosophy of science, most recently The Sciences of Avatar: from Anthropology to Xenology and Death and Sex, which won first place at the 2010 New York Book Show in the general trade nonfiction category. His book Into the Cool, co-authored with Eric D.Schneider, is about the relationship between non-equilibrium thermodynamics and life.
Sagan is the son of astronomer Carl Sagan and biologist Lynn Margulis. He has four siblings. His brother Nick Sagan is a science fiction writer.
Bibliography
- Books
- Biospheres: Metamorphosis of Planet Earth (1990) ISBN 0-07-054426-3
- Cooking with Jesus: From the Primal Brew to the Last Brunch (2001) ISBN 1-58898-160-6
- Notes from the Holocene: A Brief History of the Future (2007) ISBN 1-933392-32-0
- Death and Sex (second part of two-in-one book with Tyler Volk, 2009) ISBN 1-60358-143-X
- The Sciences of Avatar: From Anthropology to Xenology (2010) ASIN B004089DDI
- Lynn Margulis: The Life and Legacy of a Scientific Rebel (2012, Sciencewriters Books) ISBN 1603584463
- Cosmic Apprentice, or Dispatches from the Edges of Science (2013) ISBN 978-0-8166-8135-8
Co-written with Lynn Margulis
- Microcosmos: Four Billion Years of Evolution from Our Microbial Ancestors (1986) ISBN 0671441698
- Origins of Sex : Three Billion Years of Genetic Recombination (1986)
- Garden of Microbial Delights: A Practical Guide to the Subvisible World (1988)
- Biospheres from Earth to Space (1989)
- Mystery Dance: On the Evolution of Human Sexuality (1991)
- What Is Sex? (1995)
- What Is Life? (1995) ISBN 0684810875
- Slanted Truths: Essays on Gaia, Symbiosis, and Evolution (1997)
- Acquiring Genomes: A Theory of the Origins of Species (2002) ISBN 0465043925
- Dazzle Gradually: Reflections on the Nature of Nature (2007) ISBN 1933392312
Co-written with Eric D. Schneider
- Into the Cool: Energy Flow, Thermodynamics, and Life (2005) ISBN 0226739368
Co-written with others
- Up From Dragons: The Evolution of Human Intelligence (2002 - with John Skoyles)
- Within the Stone: Nature's Abstract Rock Art (2004 - partial text to book of photographs by Bill Atkinson)
- Heretics (2003 - foreword to book by W. Sumner Davis)
- Atheist Universe: The Thinking Person's Answer to Christian Fundamentalism (2006 - foreword to book by David Mills)
- Darwin's Unfinished Business: The Self-Organizing Intelligence of Nature (2011 - with Simon G Powell)
- The New Science of Growing Old---And What It Means for Staying Young (2015 --with Josh Mitteldorf)
- Essays
- "Metametazoa: Biology and Multiplicity" (1992 - In Incorporations: Fragments for a History of the Human Body, Jonathan Crary and Sanford Kwinter, editors, Zone, pp. 362–385)
- "Partial closure: Dorion Sagan reflects on Carl" (1997 - Whole Earth, summer, pp. 34–37)
- "Gender Specifics: Why Women Aren't Men" (1998 - The New York Times )
- "The Beast with Five Genomes" (2001 - with Lynn Margulis - Natural History June, pp. 38–41)
- "The Postman Already Always Rings Twice: Fragments for an Understanding of the Future" (2004 Cabinet: A Quarterly of Art and Culture, pp. 23–27)
- "Gradient-Reduction Theory: Thermodynamics and the Purpose of Life" (2004 - with Jessica H. Whiteside. In Scientists Debate Gaia: The Next Century MIT Press)
- "A Brief History of Sex" (2007 - Cosmos [Australia], June/July, pp. 50–55)
- "Evolution, Complexity, and Energy Flow" (2008 - Back to Darwin: A Richer Account of Evolution John B. Cobb Jr., Editor, William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, pp. 145–156)
- "What is the Cultural Relevance of Bacteria?" (2009 - Sputnik Observatory)
- Short Stories
- "The New Age Witch" (1993) - After Hours, #19, summer, pp. 36–45
- "Love’s Strangers" (2006) Meat for Tea: The Northampton Review, summer, Vol. 1, Issue 3, "Flesh," pp. 3–10
- "Semi-Naked" (2006) Meat for Tea: The Northampton Review, winter, Vol. 1, Issue 1, "Gristle," pp. 5–24
Awards and honors
- First place, Silent Mora Ring 122 International Brotherhood of Magicians - 1974
- EdPress Excellence in Educational Journalism Award, Nonprofit National - 1986
- Humana Scholarship - Centre College Danville, Kentucky (2003)
- Lindisfarne Fellowship - Lindisfarne (2008 –)
- Advisory Board - Sputnik Inc (2009 –)
References
- "Dorion Sagan." (June 15, 2005). Contemporary Authors Online. Retrieved May 20, 2007.
External links
- Dorion Sagan at Wordpress
- Into the Cool website (as archived in 2014)
- Dorion Sagan at the Internet Movie Database
- Sputnik Observatory Interviews
- Amazon author page
- Biography page, The Edge Foundation
- Online audio interview with Lynn Margulis and Dorion Sagan
- "Second Nature" (article)
- Letters (discussing "Turing Gaia," the natural basis of teleology) to Olivia Judson “Wild Side” column, topic “Heavy Weather,” The New York Times