It’s time for November’s Science Writer Tip-Jar picks. For those new to this, here’s the low-down:
Throughout the blogosphere, people produce fantastic writing for free. That’s great, but I believe that good writers should get paid for good work. To set an example, I choose ten pieces every month that were written for free and I donate £3 to the author. There are no formal criteria other than I found them unusually interesting, enjoyable and/or important.
I also encourage readers to support these writers through two buttons on the sidebar. There are two ways to help. Any donations via “Support Science Writers” are evenly distributed to chosen ten at the end of the month. Donations via the “Support NERS” button go to me; I match a third of the total figure and send that to the chosen writers too.
So without further ado, and in no particular order, here are the picks:
- David Tuller for this thorough piece on the tangled history of research into chronic fatigue syndrome.
- Shara Yurkiewicz for a beautiful post about a psychiatric interview.
- Carl Zimmer on whether teaching is a uniquely human behaviour, and on Svante Paabo’s remarkable work on Neanderthals
- Virginia Hughes for a personal take on peering into the minds of minimally conscious patients, and a story of the male birth control pill involving five decades, vitamin A, booze, bad jokes, and a potential compound called “Win”.
- Emily Finke for a wonderful post on finding the spectacular in your own backyard
- Steve Silberman for his story about Susan Kare, the iconic icon-designer who gave computing a human face.
- Patrick Clarkin for his methodical look at the links between poverty, inequality, and obesity
- David Dobbs for this clarion call: “I call on science writers everywhere, writing about behavioral genetics: Do Better.”
- Al Dove for his lovely story about how a baby turtle reaches the sea, featuring Robo-turtle and Blake
- Carin Bondar for her great idea of handing HD flip cameras to field biologists, editing them and shooting her own presenter segments.
December 5th, 2011 at 4:04 pm
I support David Tuller in this contest. He has been able to chronicle the truth about ME/CFS when no one else is willing to stick their neck out. He has given us hope that our illness will be taken seriously, as it is a very serious disease. He has taken up our cause and the research he does and the articles that he has written are excellent examples of Writing I’d be willing to pay for. Thank you David Tuller from the bottom of my very sick heart.
December 5th, 2011 at 6:14 pm
Not a contest…
December 10th, 2011 at 2:18 am
Thank you for recognizing Mr. Tuller’s excellent piece on CDC’s decades-long war on ME (“CFS”) science and patients! Incredibly important work.