4. You have written a few biographies. One on Rachel Carson (Ferguson, 2000) and also Tim Berners-Lee, founder of the World Wide Web (Ferguson, 2000). Did you like these projects? Why or why not? How did they differ from your other science topics? Both Rachael Carson and Tim Berners-Lee are scientists, so writing these books was a lot of fun for me. I really enjoyed learning more about Rachel Carson. I read Silent Spring in high school, but I don't remember learning much about Ms. Carson as a person. When I came in contact with her for the second time, I felt a deep affinity toward her life and her work. She said: "I thought I had to be one or the other [a writer or a scientist]. It never occurred to me that I could combine the two careers. [Finally,] it dawned on me that by becoming a biologist, I had given myself something to write about." That's exactly how I felt when one of my college biology professors suggested that I become a writer. It was a great aha moment for me, as it was for Ms. Carson.
Writing about Tim Berners-Lee was more difficult because he is a living person and is very intent on protecting his personal privacy. You wouldn't believe how long it took me just to find out the names of his wife and two children. Because I couldn't write that much about his personality or personal life, I included a lot of information about how html works. I didn't know too much about computer science going into the book, so I had a lot to learn and I had several experts check the technical sections of the manuscript for mistakes. The book received a lot of critical praise, so I guess my strategy worked.
5. You have been so very successful with your writing career. On average how many projects are you juggling at one time? How do you organize a typical work week? Can you share any of your organizational strategies?
