Dava Sobel Biography

Dava Sobel (b. 1947), a former New York Times science reporter, is the author of Longitude, Galileo's Daughter and The Planets. In her thirty years as a science journalist she has written for many magazines, including Audubon, Discover, Life and The New Yorker, served as a contributing editor to Harvard Magazine and Omni, and co-authored five books, including Is Anyone Out There? with astronomer Frank Drake.

The PBS science program “NOVA” produced a television documentary called “Lost At Sea — The Search for Longitude,” which was based on Ms. Sobel's book. Granada Films of England created a dramatic version of the story, “Longitude,” starring Jeremy Irons and Michael Gambon, which aired on A&E as a four-hour made-for-TV movie. A two-hour “NOVA” documentary based on Galileo's Daughter, called “Galileo¹s Battle for the Heavens,” first aired on public television in October 2002, and won an Emmy in the category of historical programming.

Lecture engagements have taken Ms. Sobel to speak at The Smithsonian Institution, The Explorers' Club, NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, The Folger Shakespeare Library, The New York Public Library, The Hayden Planetarium, The Royal Geographical Society (London), and the American Academy in Rome. She has been a frequent guest on National Public Radio programs, including "All Things Considered," "Fresh Air," and "The Diane Rheem Show." Her television appearances include C-SPAN's "Booknotes" and "TODAY" on NBC.

She contributes an occasional column to Discover Magazine called "Field Notes," describing what scientists actually do when they are "doing research."

A 1964 graduate of the Bronx High School of Science, Sobel attended Antioch College and the City College of New York before receiving her Bachelor of Arts degree from the State University of New York at Binghamton in 1969. She holds honorary doctor of letters degrees from the University of Bath, in England, and Middlebury College, Vermont, both awarded in 2002.

Sobel is the editor of the collection Best American Science Writing 2004. She lives with her husband and two children in East Hampton, New York.

About This Biography
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