Jim Ottaviani (Author of Primates)

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Jim Ottaviani

欧宝娱乐 Author

Born

in The United States

Website

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Genre

Comics & Graphic Novels, Science

Member Since

April 2012

URL

/jim_ottaviani

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I've worked at news agencies and golf courses in the Chicagoland area, nuclear reactors in the U.S. and Japan, and libraries in Michigan. When I'm not staying up late writing comics about scientists, I'm spraining my ankles and flattening my feet by running on trails. Or I'm reading. I read a lot. ...more

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I was raised in a fundamentalist home, literally taught the story of "The Flood" as science/history in the school I attended, and am now trying to educate myself about science as a 40-something. Could you recommend some good, basic texts with which to start? (Reading your books helped sparked my interest to try this, btw; thank you!)

Jim Ottaviani Hi Gwynfor,

Thanks for the note, and how exciting that you've decided to open the doors to this world!

(Also, I'm delighted that books I've written are 鈥辞谤别Hi Gwynfor,

Thanks for the note, and how exciting that you've decided to open the doors to this world!

(Also, I'm delighted that books I've written are how you got interested in learning more...thank you for the compliment, since this is the best possible result of making them, from my perspective.)

Where to start, then? There are many right answers, and I don't know what will work best for you. But since you asked me 鈥� ask other people too! 鈥� I'm going to offer a couple books I have in my own library that are written for non-specialists, and most (though not all) have a strong biographical arc to them. None are hardcore science books. Think narrative as the main course, with science as both the sides and dessert!

If any of these pique your interest, you'll find more to read in these books' bibliography and/or you can head over to your local community college to go deep.

Natural history/evolution
"The Beak of the Finch" by Jonathan Weiner
"Why Fish Don't Exist" by Lulu Miller
"An Immense World" by Ed Yong

Physics
"Einstein" by Walter Isaacson
"In Search of Schrodinger's Cat" by John Gribbin

Math
"How Not to Be Wrong: The Power of Mathematical Thinking" by Jordan Ellenberg
"Men of Mathematics" by E.T. Bell (dated title, and written in 1937, but a good introduction nonetheless)

Astronomy/Cosmology/Space
"Galileo's Daughter" by Dava Sobel
"The Universe in a Nutshell" by Stephen Hawking
"Packing for Mars" by Mary Roach (everything by her is fun to read)

Chemistry
"Bright Earth" by Philip Ball

General/Science and Society
"Seeing Further" by Bill Bryson (ed)
"The Making of the Atomic Bomb" by Richard Rhodes

Comics
Anything and everything by Jay Hosler
The "Science Comics" series published by First Second
(note: Jay's a friend, and First Second has published many of my books, so I'm probably biased. But I've bought many with my own money, so I'm the opposite of a paid advertiser :)

I could go on and on here, but I hope this is enough to help get you started. And...thanks again!

Jim(less)

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Who are the other scientists whose biography you plan to cover in the times to come?

Jim Ottaviani Thanks for asking: I'm working on a book about scientists who study water 鈥� oceans, lakes, and more 鈥� right now!鈥辞谤别Thanks for asking: I'm working on a book about scientists who study water 鈥� oceans, lakes, and more 鈥� right now!(less)

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Jim Ottaviani鈥檚 books

Average rating: 3.78 · 20,247 ratings · 2,707 reviews · 23 distinct works 鈥� Similar authors

	Primates: The Fearless Science of Jane Goodall, Dian Fossey, and Birut茅 Galdikas (Primates, 1) by Jim Ottaviani (欧宝娱乐 Author), Maris Wicks (Illustrator) 3.84 avg rating — 7,243 ratings — published 2013 — 10 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Feynman by Jim Ottaviani (欧宝娱乐 Author), Leland Myrick (Illustrator) 3.81 avg rating — 7,010 ratings — published 2011 — 26 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Imitation Game by Jim Ottaviani (欧宝娱乐 Author), Leland Purvis 3.61 avg rating — 1,843 ratings — published 2014 — 10 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Astronauts: Women on the Final Frontier by Jim Ottaviani (欧宝娱乐 Author), Maris Wicks (Illustrator) 4.04 avg rating — 810 ratings — published 2020 — 4 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Hawking by Jim Ottaviani (欧宝娱乐 Author), Leland Myrick (Illustrator) 3.53 avg rating — 721 ratings — published 2019 — 12 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	T-Minus: The Race to the Moon by Jim Ottaviani (欧宝娱乐 Author), Zander Cannon (Illustrator), Kevin Cannon (欧宝娱乐 Author) (Illustrator) 3.73 avg rating — 551 ratings — published 2009 — 3 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Naturalist by Jim Ottaviani (欧宝娱乐 Author) (Adapter), Edward O. Wilson, C.M. Butzer (Illustrations) 3.92 avg rating — 327 ratings — published 2020 — 3 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Suspended In Language: Niels Bohr's Life, Discoveries, And The Century He Shaped by Jim Ottaviani (欧宝娱乐 Author), Leland Purvis (Illustrator), Roger Langridge (欧宝娱乐 Author) (Illustrator) 3.81 avg rating — 302 ratings — published 2004 — 11 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Fallout: J. Robert Oppenheimer, Leo Szilard, and the Political Science of the Atomic Bomb by Jim Ottaviani (欧宝娱乐 Author), Janine Johnston, Jeffrey Jones (Artist) 3.50 avg rating — 301 ratings — published 2001 — 6 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Einstein by Jim Ottaviani (欧宝娱乐 Author), Jerel Dye (Illustrator) 3.65 avg rating — 210 ratings — published 2022 — 7 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

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Place Names Matter

A round of recent executive orders manages to add insult to real injuries by proposing name changes that disrespect鈥verything.

The insult brought to mind the following from a lovely (and freely available; click on the title) book about Glacier National Park that I read not long after visiting. Because names matter, I鈥檝e used the modern and factually correct 鈥楴ative American鈥� in place of the old wo

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Polls

Let's pick a book to read in September! Our theme is informative / biographical.

This poll will close to votes at 11:59 pm Eastern time on Wednesday, 8/31/16.

The Ukrainian and Russian Notebooks: Life and Death Under Soviet Rule by Igort

2 votes, 50.0%

Paleo: The Complete Collection by Jim Lawson

1 vote, 25.0%

Feynman by Jim Ottaviani

1 vote, 25.0%

Escape to Gold Mountain: A Graphic History of the Chinese in North America by David H.T. Wong

0 votes, 0.0%

The 9/11 Report by Sid Jacobson

0 votes, 0.0%

4 total votes

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Topics Mentioning This Author

topics	posts	views	last activity
Nothing But Readi...: Level 3 of the Serious Readers Challenge for 2011	167	290	Jan 01, 2012 08:27PM
Wild Things: YA G...: Reading Challenge #16 - Report Points Here	124	110	Jul 06, 2013 09:38PM
The Seasonal Read...: Fall Challenge 2013: Completed Tasks (DO NOT DELETE POSTS)	2481	636	Nov 30, 2013 09:01PM
2025 Reading Chal...: Karina's 101 in '14	13	76	Apr 27, 2014 02:15AM
Reading with Style: Su 2015 RwS Completed Tasks - Summer 2015	1153	114	Aug 31, 2015 09:01PM
Young Adult Book ...: A-Z Reading Challenge 2015	156	823	Dec 31, 2015 06:41PM
Reading with Style: SP 2016 RwS Completed Tasks Spring 2016	1188	100	May 31, 2016 09:01PM
Monthly Challenges: July 2017 Completed Tasks	70	13	Jul 31, 2017 08:09PM

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“Reading begets reading.”
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