Amanda Gefter (born 16 August 1980) is an American science writer, noteworthy for her 2014 book ''Trespassing on Einstein's Lawn''. The book won

Physics World ''Physics World'' is the membership magazine of the Institute of Physics, one of the largest physical societies in the world. It is an international monthly magazine covering all areas of physics, pure and applied, and is aimed at physicists in ...

's 2015 book of the year award.

Education and career

Amanda Gefter has a master's degree in the Philosophy and History of Science from the

London School of Economics , mottoeng = To understand the causes of things , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £240.8 million (2021) , budget = £391.1 millio ...

. For the academic year 2012–2013 she was a Knight Science Journalism Fellow at MIT. Her articles, specializing in cosmology and fundamental physics, have been published in

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

Nautilus The nautilus (, ) is a pelagic marine mollusc of the cephalopod family Nautilidae. The nautilus is the sole extant family of the superfamily Nautilaceae and of its smaller but near equal suborder, Nautilina. It comprises six living species in t ...

New Scientist ''New Scientist'' is a magazine covering all aspects of science and technology. Based in London, it publishes weekly English-language editions in the United Kingdom, the United States and Australia. An editorially separate organisation publishe ...

Scientific American ''Scientific American'', informally abbreviated ''SciAm'' or sometimes ''SA'', is an American popular science magazine. Many famous scientists, including Albert Einstein and Nikola Tesla, have contributed articles to it. In print since 1845, it i ...

Nature Nature, in the broadest sense, is the physics, physical world or universe. "Nature" can refer to the phenomenon, phenomena of the physical world, and also to life in general. The study of nature is a large, if not the only, part of science. ...

Sky and Telescope ''Sky & Telescope'' (''S&T'') is a monthly American magazine covering all aspects of amateur astronomy, including the following: *current events in astronomy and space exploration; *events in the amateur astronomy community; *reviews of astronomi ...

, and several other journals. She is a former co-director of the collaborative group NeuWrite Boston and a current co-host, with science journalist Dan Falk, of BookLab, a podcast about popular science books.

Personal life

The pattern of Amanda Gefter's life has been influenced by an inherited circadian rhythm disorder called

delayed sleep phase syndrome Delayed sleep phase disorder (DSPD), more often known as delayed sleep phase syndrome and also as delayed sleep–wake phase disorder, is a delaying of a person's circadian rhythm (biological clock) compared to those of societal norms. The diso ...

. She married Justin Smith in July 2017. Their relationship was dramatized in the Modern Love episode "The Night Girl Finds a Day Boy."

Awards

American Association for the Advancement of Science The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) is an American international non-profit organization with the stated goals of promoting cooperation among scientists, defending scientific freedom, encouraging scientific respons ...

Kavli Science Journalism Award, 2015 for "The Man Who Tried to Redeem the World with Logic," Nautilus Magazine

References

External links

BookLab podcastAmanda Gefter, "Trespassing on Einstein's Lawn" , Talks at Google, YouTube, 9 December 2014
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gefter, Amanda 1980 births Living people American science journalists American women journalists American women writers Alumni of the London School of Economics 21st-century American women