Sam Kean

Sam Kean is the New York Times best-selling author of six books, including The Disappearing Spoon: And Other True Tales of Madness, Love, and the History of the World from the Periodic Table of the Elements; The Bastard Brigade: The True Story of the Renegade Scientists and Spies Who Sabotaged the Nazi Atomic Bomb; and The Icepick Surgeon: Murder, Fraud, Sabotage, Piracy, and Other Dastardly Deeds Perpetrated in the Name of Science.

NPR’s “Science Friday,” the Royal Society, and The Guardian have each named different titles of Kean’s among their top books of the year. His stories have appeared in The New Yorker, The Atlantic, and Slate, and his work has been featured on NPR’s “Radiolab,” “All Things Considered,” and “Fresh Air.” His podcast, The Disappearing Spoon, debuted at No. 1 on the science podcasts chart on iTunes and is now hosted by the Science History Institute.