For East Hampton’s Dava Sobel, science writing is more than a passion — it is a way of life.
“It has been well onto 35 years and I’m still enjoying it,” says Sobel. A former staff reporter in the Science News department at the New York Times, Sobel has also written for magazines such as Omni, Discover and The New Yorker. She is the author of several books including the bestseller “Longitude,” about John Harrison and his chronometer, an 18th century invention critical for fixing ship positions at sea, and “Galileo’s Daughter” which was based on correspondence between the great Italian scientist and his daughter, a cloistered nun.
Though writing about science is a skill that comes naturally to Sobel, it was not always considered part of an accepted school curriculum.
“When I was in school, there was no designated career path in science writing. I didn’t even hear the term until after I was doing it … and it would’ve made my life easier,” says Sobel, who attended Bronx High School of Science and went on to earn her college degree in theater history. “I changed majors five times and schools three times. If someone had said there’s a way to combine an interest in writing and science, a lot of those moves could have been averted.”
While theater history seems an incongruous major for someone with an avid interest in science it has served Sobel well in her career — particularly in recent years.
“What do you do with theater history? It came in handy with ‘Galileo’s Daughter,’ where you do a lot of research,” she says. “I’m writing a play now, and finally making good on that theater degree.”
Sobel’s new play “An the Sun Stood Still” is about Nicolaus Copernicus, and if the life and times of a 16th century astronomer (albeit, a brilliant one) seems an odd subject for a theatrical piece, consider this — in 2002, Sir Arnold Wesker, a British playwright, penned a well-received play based on “Longitude.”
“‘Longitude’ started life as a failed magazine story,” confesses Sobel. “I was invited to a Harvard conference that sounded odd. I didn’t know anything about the longitude story, but I knew the person putting the symposium together, so I knew it would be good.”
Sobel, who was a full time freelance writer at the time, pitched the longitude story to several magazines but was turned down by all of them. Then, two days before the symposium was slated to begin, Harvard Magazine called to say they were interested in the story.
“I was never planning to write a book, and was glad to write the magazine article,” says Sobel.
That article was passed on to the owners of a publishing house in New York, where the tale of longitude found new life.
“They fell in love with the story and it changed my life,” notes Sobel.
When asked what traits help define a successful science writer, Sobel says, “You certainly have to understand it well before explaining it. My mother was a chemist, she always talked to me in an interesting way about it.”
“A lot of people are afraid of science and really don’t want to read it,” adds Sobel. “I try to be aware that there is a story to be told — and stick to it.”
Dava Sobel talks about science writing and narrative non-fiction tonight, January 21, at 6:30 p.m. as part of the John Jermain Memorial Library’s “Thursday Night Writes” series. The library is at 201 Main Street, Sag Harbor. Call 725-0049 to reserve.
Top: Dava Sobel (left) aboard the ship Auklet with researcher Brad Reynolds as he tracks Lingcod in Alaskan waters.
