Thor Hanson - Four Way Interview

Thor Hanson is a biologist whose research and conservation activities have taken him around the globe. His previous books include The Impenetrable Forest, Feathers (longlisted for the Samuel Johnson Prize) and The Triumph of Seeds. He has appeared on BBC Radio 4 and contributed to publications including BBC Wildlife and the Huffington Post. He lives on an island in the Pacific Northwest, USA. His latest book is Buzz.

Why history of science?
Simply put, curiosity. I can’t stop asking questions, and that habit led me naturally to a career in science, where questions are the coin of the realm. Writing books allows me to dive even more deeply into the topics that I find so fascinating, ferreting out stories that I hope will make others feel the same way!

Why this book?
I wanted to broaden our appreciation of bees beyond the one species we know best, the domestic honeybee. In an era when pollinators are experiencing widespread population declines, it behooves us to know, celebrate, and protect all the world’s 20,000 bee species, from honeybees and bumblebees to masons, miners, carpenters, leafcutters, cuckoos, and more.

What’s next?
I’m writing a book about the natural history of climate change - not the process itself, but how plants and animals are responding, and how we can measure adaptation and even evolution happening in real time all around us.

What’s exciting you at the moment?
At this precise moment, I’m excited by the Barred Owl perched in a willow tree outside of my window, napping placidly in spite of being dive-bombed by angry robins!

Photo: Kathleen Ballard Photography

Comments

Phenomena - Camille Juzeau and the Shelf Studio ****

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Rakhat-Bi Abdyssagin Five Way Interview

Rakhat-Bi Abdyssagin (born in 1999) is a distinguished composer, concert pianist, music theorist and researcher. Three of his piano CDs have been released in Germany. He started his undergraduate degree at the age of 13 in Kazakhstan, and having completed three musical doctorates in prominent Italian music institutions at the age of 20, he has mastered advanced composition techniques. In 2024 he completed a PhD in music at the University of St Andrews / Royal Conservatoire of Scotland (researching timbre-texture co-ordinate in avant- garde music), and was awarded The Silver Medal of The Worshipful Company of Musicians, London. He has held visiting affiliations at the Universities of Oxford, Cambridge and UCL, and has been lecturing and giving talks internationally since the age of 13. His latest book is Quantum Mechanics and Avant Garde Music . What links quantum physics and avant-garde music? The entire book is devoted to this question. To put it briefly, there are many different link...

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