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the culture of science in fiction & fact

Articles by Kirk Smith

• Review

  Adventures in cognitive science

  Radiant Cool by Dan Lloyd
  Kirk Smith 4 February 2017
• Review

  From alchemists to mad scientists: Part III

  Writers wrestling with the Bomb
  Kirk Smith 27 February 2016
• Review

  From alchemists to mad scientists: Part II

  Scientists in Victorian lit and beyond
  Kirk Smith 16 September 2015
• Review

  From alchemists to mad scientists: Part I

  From Faust to Strangelove by Roslynn D. Haynes
  Kirk Smith 11 August 2015
• Essay

  A passion for physics

  Mitchell Wilson: Forgotten lab lit novelist
  Kirk Smith 22 March 2015
• Review

  Scientists at work — on Mars

  Rescue Mode by Ben Bova and Les Johnson
  Kirk Smith 15 February 2015
• Review

  Falling theory, failing family

  The Falling Sky by Pippa Goldschmidt
  Kirk Smith 14 July 2013
• Review

  Creation energy

  The God Patent by Ransom Stephens
  Kirk Smith 31 March 2013
• Essay

  The hunt for fiction about science

  An unabashedly personal account of my search for an elusive genre
  Kirk Smith 18 November 2012

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• Coming soon...

  • Scenes through a picture window

    New science poetry from Peter Roberts

  • Interviews

    New short fiction from João Ramalho-Santos

  • The science of coincidence

    New short fiction from Gavin Milnthorpe

  • Life reimagined, by Alex and Noah

    The next story in our "Young Authors" series!

  • The sample

    Our next exciting episode of "A Momentary Lapse of Reason"!

• Past highlights

  • Needs must: The great pipette tip caper

    New humorous fiction from Julia RIchards

  • After the Delhi rapes, a female scientist from India speaks out

    Professional women in India have to work in fear - when will it change?

  • Live long and prosper: a brief encounter with Aubrey de Grey

    Akshat Rathi meets the man who wants to abolish aging

  • A lab wager goes horribly wrong: The 50% Sleeper by Tal Yarkoni

    Humorous fiction from the LabLit short story series

  • The flying laboratory: stalking the shrinking ice of Antarctica

    Scientist Seelye Martin reports live from an airborne mission

  • Stardom

    Interview with Neil deGrasse Tyson

  • The day after today

    Interview with Kim Stanley Robinson

• In the news

  • "LabLit.com founder and editor, Jenny Rohn, is prone to getting excited over 'hard-core lab scenes.' "

    LabLit.com picks another great crop of beach reads for NPR

  • "These summer reads have scientists at their heart"

    Interview of LabLit.com's editor on NPR

  • "It's a great venue for aspiring authors to publish their fiction about scientists"

    Interview of LabLit.com's editor on 3M Champions of Science podcast

  • Novels about scientists highlight passion and (sometimes) failure

    Interview of LabLit.com's editor on NPR

  • Lab lit - a lesser-known literary genre that tries to portray scientists realistically, beyond the classic lab coat stereotypes

    Science in fiction featured in Nature Physics

  • Scientists in space - and beyond

    Jenny talks lab lit fiction with Mariella Frostrup on Open Book, BBC Radio 4

  • The untapped niche is rich in opportunities for originality

    Piece about lab lit fiction in Nature

  • Lab Lit Revealed: LabLit.com's editor interviewed by Robert Crease

    Piece in Physics World

  • "Lab lit? What’s that? Not to be confused with science fiction, lab lit refers to novels with scientists as central characters"

    NPR discusses LabLit.com and the genre - or lack thereof

  • "[R]research developments have been featuring in novels that depict the world as we know it now."

    Piece on LabLit in Oxford Today

  • "[A] genre of serious fiction with a snappy new name: lab lit...the webzine LabLit.com...has “Lab Lit Lists” for dozens of novels, films, plays and TV shows

    The New York Times likes LabLit.com

  • 'Lab lit' is a chance to show what we're really like

    The New Scientist talks to Jenny

  • Light reading

    LabLit helps judge Diamond's science short story competition

  • Dedicated to "writing about the science environment, stories that take place in the lab"

    51stories.com recommends Lablit.com

  • "A clever website...LabLit.com breaks new ground in its portrayal of science and scientists"

    BioTechniques Webwatch recommends us

  • "Another example of 'lab lit' is Experimental Heart...which I’ll put on my 'to read' list"

    - The Boston Globe gets into science novels

  • "[Scientists] are usually cast as troublemakers and hardly ever get to be true Hollywood heroes"

    Jenny dissects the science behind the movie 'Splice' for BBC News

  • "Science is a great topic for a novel"

    Interview of LabLit's editor in Lab Times

  • A lab lit renaissance?

    Jenny's essay in Nature about why science in fiction seems on the rise

  • "The loveliness of the Lab Lit List"

    Author Michael Byers recommends our collection of science novels

  • "Science is only one side of the story"

    Jenny from LabLit interviews Billy Bragg for Nature news

  • "[Lab lit novels] are not just entertaining tales of biologists at work; they also make the reader think about the unique issues"

    Nature Methods recommends LabLit.com

  • "[One of] 20 great websites that every scientist, engineering, or geek-at-heart ought to know about"

    Baltimore Science News Examiner on LabLit.com

  • "[C]heck out [LabLit.com] for more reasons to welcome science to literature"

    Cell

  • "[W]here literary scientists...can find like-minded people"

    Chemistry World on LabLit.com

  • What is LabLit.com?

    Learn more on the Guardian's 'Science Weekly' podcast

  • "It's a wonderful venture, and a topic of the most resonant importance"

    novelist Richard Powers on LabLit.com

  • "FUN: Still life, with test tube"

    Science magazine recommends LabLit

  • "A light touch and some panache"

    LabLit reviewed by The Biochemist

  • more »