January 2027
My Life as an Amateur Scientist
Description
Lawrence Souder tell stories about his explorations of science that began as show-and-tell in elementary school. These stories are the personal meditations of an amateur scientist on such natural phenomena as electricity, magnetism, electromagnetic waves, electrochemistry, gravity, and fluid mechanics. His stories include accounts of recreational electro-convulsive therapy, playdates in a toxic waste site, conversations with dead scientists, and a war on magnets. Along the way he interweaves travelogues of local sites of science and relevant events in the biography and the history of science.
Biography
Souder’s life as a show-and-tell artist began in elementary school. Since then he has become a life-long student of science and a 20-year veteran teacher and scholar of the rhetoric of science–the study of the ways in which scientists communicate with each other and with the public. As a professional show-and-tell artist, he has taught technical and science writing and editing to graduate and undergraduate students at Drexel University.