7/6/98. Thanks to everyone for a great workshop. Before long we'll be posting details here about 1999.
6/29/98. Weather report: The last two days have broken records with the temperature hitting the high 90's. The saving graces are the almost complete lack of humidity, night-time temperatures down in the 50s, and a predicted cooling over the next few days to the mid 90s. See you all Tuesday evening.
6/24/98. Please take a look at the story in the current issue of The Nation attacking The New York Times's science coverage. Obviously some of us will have something to say about this at the workshop. I think there are several statements in the story that show the author to be quite skillful at the pick-and-choose journalism he tries to attack. -- George Johnson
6/24/98. Would everyone who wants their writing sample discussed in their group please bring along eight copies (plus the original for yourself)? This of course doesn't apply to the people who will be doing the press conference exercise.
We are still forwarding one copy of the writing sample you submitted and/or your introductory letter to your instructor.
6/23/98. We've posted two articles by Rick Weiss and the letters-to-the-editor that came in response. These will be discussed on Thursday morning of the workshop. Please read them and bring printouts (along with ones for Physical Laws Collide in a Black Hole Bet.
Charles Petit of U.S. News & World Report will be at the workshop to meet students and participate in some of the discussions.
6/22/98. Because of a last-second cancellation we now have one opening and a single room available.
6/15/98. We now have two spaces left.
If you didn't submit a writing sample, we assume you'll be covering the press conference. (See the FAQ if the previous sentence doesn't make sense.) Otherwise, the writing you submitted with your application will be forwarded to your instructor for critique. If you would like to submit something else, please contact Sandy Blakeslee (blakes AT nytimes DOT com) to make arrangements. We're looking forward to seeing you all.
6/11/98. Before coming to Santa Fe, please read Worlds Apart, How the Distance Between Science and Journalism Threatens America's Future, by Jim Hartz and Rick Chappell; published by the First Amendment Center, 1998. The chapters called "Scientists as Communicators" and "Science and the Fourth Estate" are especially germane to the workshop. And don't forget to read The End of Science Writing, by Jon Franklin.
There are now 4 (out of 40) spaces left.
5/29/98. We can take a few more people, especially if you don't need a single room (in which case you'd probably have to stay at a bed & breakfast instead of at Plaza Resolana).
5/28/98. Before coming to the workshop, please print out and read the story I will deconstruct: Physical Laws Collide in a Black Hole Bet. Stay tuned for information on Rick Weiss's offering.
5/21/98. I picked up the latest batch of applications today. Unless you just mailed yours, you should have heard from us by now. Let me know if you haven't. We still have a few openings.
5/6/98 We're now about three-quarters full.
4/27/98. Douglas Preston, who writes about archeology for The New Yorker, will be joining us on July 4 to talk about his work. In addition to his science writing, Preston is a successful author of novels with scientific themes. His books include the classic Dinosaurs in the Attic : An Excursion into the American Museum of Natural History and the novel Jennie, about a chimpanzee raised so closely with humans that she comes to believe she is one too. He is also the coauthor, with Lincoln Child, of three thrillers, Relic, Reliquary, and Mount Dragon, and two nonfiction books about the expeditions he and his family have taken in the Southwest: Talking to the Ground : One Family's Journey on Horseback Across the Sacred Land of the Navajo and Cities of Gold : A Journey Across the American Southwest in Coronado's Footsteps.
4/22/98. There is now a waiting list for people who want single rooms. For those who haven't been guaranteed a single (you can call Sue Rundstrom, 800 821-5145, if you are not certain) we suggest making a reservation at one of the nearby bed and breakfasts. Our FAQ has a link to a reservations site. Last year one couple stayed at Casa de la Cuma (888 366-1717), which is walking distance. Grant Corner Inn (505 983-6678), Spencer House (505 988-3024) and Territorial Inn (505 989-7737) are also quite near. There are many others. Anything near the Plaza is probably within an easy stroll. Ask the reservations clerk how far the inn is to Plaza Resolana, which is at the corner of Paseo de Peralta and Old Taos Highway, just north of the Plaza.
Most people are signing up for doubles with an assigned roommate.
4/20/98. I'll be going down to Plaza Resolana today to pick up the latest batch of applications and will respond to them in a day or so.
4/3/98. John Padgett, a University of Chicago political scientist, will be joining Geoffrey West at the press conference. Both study how simple units (be they stars in a galaxy, cells in an organism, or people in a political state) interact to form complex systems. West recently collaborated on a new model explaining how biological organisms arrange themselves into tree-like patterns -- circulatory systems, for example. Padgett is studying how the first city-states emerged in Renaissance Florence. Question-and-answer sessions will follow.
4/2/98. During the workshop, we will deconstruct an article of mine, which is scheduled to be published Tuesday , April 7, in the science section of the Times. I've saved all my drafts and notes and will publicly bare all. (Rick Weiss has promised to subject himself to similar embarassment.) This will be during a session Thursday morning with everybody in the workshop, not just those in our individual classes. Please try to get a paper copy of the 4/7 Science Times and bring it with you this summer. For those who don't have access to the paper, you can read it on publication day at www.nytimes.com. I'll later post a link to an archived version. -- George Johnson
3/31/98. Geoffrey West, a physicist at Los Alamos, will be one of the scientists at the press conference held on the first full day of the workshop. (Students who chose the beginning track will base their assigments on these presentations.) For a headstart, please see an article about West in the Santa Fe Institute Bulletin and a press release from Los Alamos.
3/24/98. We'll be picking up the latest batch of applications this week. Please bear with us if you've recently applied and are awaiting a response.
3/23/98. We've posted an FAQ.
3/21/98. Please note an addition to the schedule on Thursday afternoon: "The Art and Craft of Feature Writing." Natalie Angier. Also the title of New York Times science editor Cory Dean's opening address on Tuesday evening has been expanded: "A Journalist's Adventures in Antarctica (and on 43rd Street)."
3/16/98. Please take a look at the tentative schedule.
2/16/98. Another tentative addition to the schedule:
"The Story of a Story." Natalie Angier and Rick Weiss will each deconstruct one of their own stories from the Times or Post, recreating the saga of how it came to be: the source of the idea, the strategic details of researching and writing, the give-and-take of the editing process, et cetera.
2/8/98. Here is an article about Jon Franklin from The Times.
2/7/98. In addition to the nuts-and-bolts basics covered in sessions with your individual instructor, here are some of the broader topics we have tentatively scheduled. (These talks will be open to everyone.) To get a sense of how all this will come together, please see the schedules for 1997 and 1996.
"The End of Science Writing," Jon Franklin. The discussion will pick up from a provocative talk Jon gave last year at the University of Tennessee. Please read it on the Web and start thinking about the issues.
"Overcoming Journalistic Laryngitis," Natalie Angier, Sandra Blakeslee, Jon Franklin, George Johnson, Rick Weiss. How much of yourself should you put into your stories? How do you walk the line between being the journalistic fly-on-the-wall and a human being with something to say?
"The Love-Hate Relationship Between Scientists and Science-Writers," Natalie Angier, Rick Weiss. All science writers soon learn that a few of their subjects disdain the art of popularization. How do you deal with these people? How much of the problem is our own fault?
"A Journalist's Adventures in Antarctica," Cory Dean on her January visit to the South Pole.
"Finding Literature in the Laboratory," Jon Franklin. Finding and writing short stories, nonfiction and novellas with a twist of science.
"Writing About Bioethics," Rick Weiss. The inherent difficulties of mixing one's coverage of facts (the science) and opinions (the ethics).
"Science Writing and the Internet: Literature in Electrons," Jon Franklin, Tom Johnson. Possible futures of science writing (and writing) in cyberspace.
more to come . . . . (We're always open to suggestions.)
2/7/98. We recommend that everyone coming to the workshop start reading A Field Guide for Science Writers, edited by Deborah Blum and Mary Knudson. This can be ordered from the National Association of Science Writers.
2/7/98. Jon Franklin asks those accepted into his section to read his book Writing for Story, which is in paperback and at most libraries, and the nonfiction novel Something Attached to the Soul, which is on his "*bylines* site for $1.99. Optional reading: Guinea Pig Doctors, a collection of short stories, also on the *bylines* site for $1.99.