Dorion Sagan

Dorion Sagan (b. 1959 in Madison, Wisconsin) is an American science writer, essayist, and theorist. He has written and co-authored many books on culture, evolution, and the history and philosophy of science, most recently "The Sciences of Avatar: from Anthropology to Xenology" and "Death and Sex," which won first place at the 2010 New York Book Show in the general trade nonfiction category. His Into the Cool, co-authored with Eric D.Schneider, is about the relationship between non-equilibrium thermodynamics and life.

Sagan is the son of astronomer Carl Sagan and biologist Lynn Margulis. His younger brother is Jeremy Sagan and his half-brother is Nick Sagan.

Bibliography

Books

• Biospheres: Metamorphosis of Planet Earth (1990)
• Cooking with Jesus: From the Primal Brew to the Last Brunch (2001)
• Notes from the Holocene: A Brief History of the Future (2007)
• Death and Sex (second part of two-in-one book with Tyler Volk, 2009)
• The Sciences of Avatar: From Anthropology to Xenology (2010)

Co-written with Lynn Margulis

• Microcosmos: Four Billion Years of Evolution from Our Microbial Ancestors (1986)
• Origins of Sex : Three Billion Years of Genetic Recombination (1986)
• Garden of Microbial Delights: A Practical Guide to the Subvisible World (1988)
• Biospheres from Earth to Space (1989)
• Mystery Dance: On the Evolution of Human Sexuality (1991)
• What Is Sex? (1995)
• What Is Life? (1995)
• Slanted Truths: Essays on Gaia, Symbiosis, and Evolution (1997)
• Acquiring Genomes: A Theory of the Origins of Species (2002)
• Dazzle Gradually: Reflections on the Nature of Nature (2007)

Co-written with Eric D. Schneider

• Into the Cool: Energy Flow, Thermodynamics, and Life (2005)

Co-written with others

• Up From Dragons: The Evolution of Human Intelligence (2002 - with John Skoyles)
• Within the Stone: Nature's Abstract Rock Art (2004 - partial text to book of photographs by Bill Atkinson)
• Heretics (2003 - foreword to book by W. Sumner Davis)
• Atheist Universe: The Thinking Person's Answer to Christian Fundamentalism (2006 - foreword to book by David Mills)

Essays

• "Metametazoa: Biology and Multiplicity" (1992 - In Incorporations: Fragments for a History of the Human Body, Jonathan Crary and Sanford Kwinter, editors, Zone, pp. 362-385)
• "Partial closure: Dorion Sagan reflects on Carl" (1997 - Whole Earth, summer, pp. 34-37)
• "Gender Specifics: Why Women Aren't Men" (1998 - The New York Times [1])
• "The Beast with Five Genomes" (2001 - with Lynn Margulis - Natural History June, pp. 38-41) [2]
• "The Postman Already Always Rings Twice: Fragments for an Understanding of the Future" (2004 "Cabinet: A Quarterly of Art and Culture", pp. 23-27)
• "Gradient-Reduction Theory: Thermodynamics and the Purpose of Life" (2004 - with Jessica H. Whiteside. In Scientists Debate Gaia: The Next Century MIT Press)
• "A Brief History of Sex" (2007 - Cosmos [Australia], June/July, pp. 50-55)
• "Evolution, Complexity, and Energy Flow" (2008 - Back to Darwin: A Richer Account of Evolution [John B. Cobb Jr., Editor], William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, pp. 145-156)
• "What is the Cultural Relevance of Bacteria?" (2009 - Sputnik Observatory) [3]

Short Stories

• "The New Age Witch" (1993) - After Hours, #19, summer, pp. 36-45
• "Love’s Strangers" (2006) Meat for Tea: The Northampton Review, summer, Vol. 1, Issue 3, "Flesh," pp. 3-10
• "Semi-Naked" (2006) Meat for Tea: The Northampton Review, winter, Vol. 1, Issue 1, "Gristle," pp. 5-24

Awards and honors

• First place, Silent Mora Ring 122 International Brotherhood of Magicians - 1974
• EdPress Excellence in Educational Journalism Award, Nonprofit National - 1986
• Humana Scholarship - Centre College Danville, Kentucky (2003)
• Lindisfarne Fellowship - Lindisfarne (2008 –)
• Advisory Board - Sputnik Inc (2009 –)

References

• "Dorion Sagan." (June 15, 2005). Contemporary Authors Online. Retrieved May 20, 2007.

External links

• Sputnik Observatory Interviews
• Amazon author page
• Biography page, The Edge Foundation
• Online audio interview with Lynn Margulis and Dorion Sagan
• Into the Cool website
• "Second Nature" (article)
• Letters (discussing "Turing Gaia," the natural basis of teleology) to Olivia Judson “Wild Side” column, topic “Heavy Weather,” The New York Times

Persondata
Name	Sagan, Dorion
Alternative names
Short description	American science writer, essayist and theorist
Date of birth	1959
Place of birth	Madison, Wisconsin
Date of death
Place of death