Sandra Blakeslee (born 1943) is an American science correspondent of over four decades for ''
The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
'' and
science writer
Science journalism conveys reporting about science to the public. The field typically involves interactions between scientists, journalists and the public.
Origins
Modern science journalism originated in weather and other natural history obs ...
, specializing in
neuroscience
Neuroscience is the scientific study of the nervous system (the brain, spinal cord, and peripheral nervous system), its functions, and its disorders. It is a multidisciplinary science that combines physiology, anatomy, molecular biology, ...
. Together with neuroscientist
V. S. Ramachandran, she authored the 1998 popular science book ''
Phantoms in the Brain: Probing the Mysteries of the Human Mind''.
Biography
Blakeslee is the third member of her family to specialize in science writing; her grandfather
Howard W. Blakeslee wrote for the
Associated Press
The Associated Press (AP) is an American not-for-profit organization, not-for-profit news agency headquartered in New York City.
Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association, and produces news reports that are dist ...
, and was awarded a
Pulitzer Prize for Reporting in 1937, and her father, Alton L. Blakeslee, also wrote for the AP.
Sandra Blakeslee was raised in
Port Washington, New York
Port Washington is a Hamlet (New York), hamlet and census-designated place (CDP) on the Cow Neck Peninsula in the North Hempstead, New York, Town of North Hempstead, in Nassau County, New York, Nassau County, on the North Shore (Long Island), No ...
.
She attended
Northwestern University
Northwestern University (NU) is a Private university, private research university in Evanston, Illinois, United States. Established in 1851 to serve the historic Northwest Territory, it is the oldest University charter, chartered university in ...
for two years, before transferring to the
University of California, Berkeley
The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California), is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Berkeley, California, United States. Founded in 1868 and named after t ...
, where she majored in political science, graduating in 1965.
She then joined the
Peace Corps
The Peace Corps is an Independent agency of the U.S. government, independent agency and program of the United States government that trains and deploys volunteers to communities in partner countries around the world. It was established in Marc ...
, serving in
Sarawak
Sarawak ( , ) is a States and federal territories of Malaysia, state of Malaysia. It is the largest among the 13 states, with an area almost equal to that of Peninsular Malaysia. Sarawak is located in East Malaysia in northwest Borneo, and is ...
,
Borneo
Borneo () is the List of islands by area, third-largest island in the world, with an area of , and population of 23,053,723 (2020 national censuses). Situated at the geographic centre of Maritime Southeast Asia, it is one of the Greater Sunda ...
, where she taught elementary school.
Blakeslee started at the ''New York Times''
United Nations
The United Nations (UN) is the Earth, global intergovernmental organization established by the signing of the Charter of the United Nations, UN Charter on 26 June 1945 with the stated purpose of maintaining international peace and internationa ...
bureau and city desk in 1967, before moving to the science desk in 1968. She later began writing for the ''Times'' on contract.
In the 1980s, she began to specialize in neuroscience.
She co-authored a series of books on marriage and divorce with psychologist
Judith Wallerstein.
Starting in 1995, Blakeslee began hosting a writing workshop with fellow ''Times'' writer
George Johnson at the
Santa Fe Institute
The Santa Fe Institute (SFI) is an independent, nonprofit theoretical research institute located in Santa Fe, New Mexico, United States and dedicated to the multidisciplinary study of the fundamental principles of complex adaptive systems, inc ...
, which awarded her a journalism fellowship in 2013.
Blakeslee lives in
Santa Fe. She has two children and five grandchildren.
Her son, Matt Blakeslee, is also a science writer, and her co-author on the 2007 book ''The Body Has a Mind of Its Own: How Body Maps in Your Brain Help You Do (Almost) Everything Better''.
Her daughter, Abi Blakeslee Kelleher, is a clinical psychologist.
Books
*''You Don't Have to Live with Cystitis! How to Avoid It—And What to Do About It'' (1986) with Larry Gillespie
*''Second Chances: Men, Women and Children a Decade After Divorce'' (1989) with
Judith Wallerstein
*''The Good Marriage: How and Why Love Lasts'' (1995) with Judith S. Wallerstein
*''Helping Your Kids Cope with Divorce the Sandcastles Way'' (1998) with Patricia Romanowski Bashe and Judith S. Wallerstein
*''
Phantoms in the Brain: Probing the Mysteries of the Human Mind'' (1998) with
V. S. Ramachandran
*''The Unexpected Legacy of Divorce: The 25 Year Landmark Study'' (2001) with Judith Wallerstein and Julia M. Lewis
*''What About the Kids?: Raising Your Children Before, During and After Divorce'' (2003)
*''
On Intelligence: How a New Understanding of the Brain will Lead to the Creation of Truly Intelligent Machines'' (2004) with
Jeff Hawkins
*''The Body Has a Mind of Its Own: How Body Maps in Your Brain Help You Do (Almost) Everything Better'' (2007) with Matthew Blakeslee
*''
Sleights of Mind: What the Neuroscience of Magic Reveals about Our Everyday Deceptions'' (2010) with
Stephen L. Macknik and
Susana Martinez-Conde
References
External links
Archived stories at the ''New York Times''Archived stories at ''Scientific American''*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Blakeslee, Sandra
The New York Times journalists
American science writers
American psychology writers
UC Berkeley College of Letters and Science alumni
Place of birth missing (living people)
1943 births
Living people
Santa Fe Institute people
American women science writers
American women non-fiction writers
21st-century American women