Amanda Niehaus on the intersection of fact with fiction
"In writing quoll biology into my novel and a short story, I discovered that artists and writers seek truth as much as scientists do. They embed facts with experiences to give them context and meaning. And stories deal not only with what is true, but also with what is possible. Through fiction, I may discover something about sex and death that my research did not tell me."
- Amanda Niehaus
Stories make science more palatable and memorable, and seeing research through the lens of fiction can bring it fully to life. Eco-physiologist Niehaus, an American scientist currently working in Brisbane, Australia, argues that researchers would discover new things about their science if they processed it through creative writing.
We cannot recommend her short piece in Nature magazine highly enough.