Books@Stones event: The Best Australian Science Writing 2024

Join co-editor Carl Smith, contributor Dr Amanda Niehaus and Books@Stones host Bianca Millroy in-conversation on Thursday 12 December to celebrate the 14th edition of The Best Australian Science Writing 2024

What lurks in a house of slime hidden in the middle of a forest? Why are AI scientists talking about the formula p(doom) – and what does it mean for humanity? Is there a place for psychedelics in our medicine cabinets?

The best science writing doesn’t just answer questions, it cracks them open. It dissects them, probes them and solves their mysteries. It takes you on a journey of discovery.

Science is a deeply human endeavour and the stories we tell about it can be powerful, lifechanging forces for good. At times they can also be worrying glimpses of what might lie ahead. They can show us the climate models that are predicting our future, how emojis might empower a new generation of Kaytetye language speakers, as well as how scientists create your favourite chip flavour.

This much-loved anthology – now in its fourteenth year – selects the most riveting, entertaining, poignant and fascinating science stories from Australian writers, poets, and scientists.

With a foreword by DeadlyScience founder Corey Tutt OAM, this anthology covers an extraordinary year filled with major moments in science.

Carl Smith is a science journalist working for ABC’s Science Unit and Radio National. He makes audio documentaries, podcasts and written features with original photography. He’s won a Young Walkley Award for Longform Journalism and jointly won a Eureka Prize for Science Journalism. Carl’s been an ABC News cadet, a geneticist, a reporter on Behind the News, a ‘journalist in residence’ in Germany and an animated presenter on the ABC Education series Minibeast Heroes. His most recent audio series are Strange Frontiers and Pacific Scientific. He also co-writes and cohosts the ethics podcast for kids, Short & Curly.

Dr Amanda Niehaus is an award-winning scientist-turned-writer and co-founder of the literary journal Science Write Now, which publishes creative writing inspired by science. Her first novel, The Breeding Season (Allen & Unwin, 2019), explores love and loss through the strange sex lives of northern quolls. Her essays and stories have been published in Griffith Review, Overland, The Guardian, Creative Nonfiction, Best Australian Essays, and more. Her essay 'Dog People' (published in Griffith Review 82) was selected for The Best Australian Science Writing 2024.

Bianca Millroy is an emerging Australian writer, editor and podcaster, whose work appears in Science Write Now, Visible Ink and Writing Queensland. Bianca’s unpublished manuscript, ‘The Looming’, was a finalist in the Queensland Literary Awards in 2020. Bianca has edited several novels and anthologies, including Brisbane Bookshops (2023). She is perilously undertaking her PhD, a creative nonfiction project titled “Cognitive conversations: Science-informed storytelling" at The University of Queensland.