Sam Kean
Sam Kean

Sam Kean is the best-selling author of The Disappearing Spoon and The Violinist’s Thumb. His new book, Caesar’s Last Breath, about the secrets of the air, came out July 18.

Medical Examiner
July 24 2017 9:30 AMLessons on Flatulence From a Fart ArtistJoseph Pujol was once the highest-paid performer at the Moulin Rouge. His talent was … unusual.Sam Kean
Science
May 6 2014 11:32 PMPhineas Gage, Neuroscience’s Most Famous PatientEach generation revises his myth. Here’s the true story.Sam Kean
Human Genome
Oct. 3 2013 8:31 AMIs Junk DNA Really Junky?The delicious, religious debate over what most of our genome is good for.Sam Kean
Chromosomes
July 26 2012 6:01 AMBlogging the Human GenomeDid Lincoln have Marfan syndrome? Did Darwin have smoldering hepatitis? The strange allure of retro-diagnosis.Sam Kean
Chromosomes
July 24 2012 6:00 AMBlogging the Human GenomeHow Emiko inherited Mayumi’s cancer.Sam Kean
Chromosomes
July 20 2012 6:00 AMBlogging the Human GenomeChim-chim-cheroo. Why so many London chimney sweeps suffered scrotal cancer.Sam Kean
Chromosomes
July 18 2012 6:00 AMBlogging the Human GenomeHumans have long enjoyed nonhuman lovers—the proof is in our DNA.Sam Kean
Chromosomes
July 16 2012 6:00 AMBlogging the Human GenomePossible genetic proof that cannibalism was disturbingly common in our past.Sam Kean
Chromosomes
July 12 2012 6:00 AMBlogging the Human GenomeMuscular dystrophy, Cri du Chat, “immigration delay disease”: When DNA fails.Sam Kean
Chromosomes
July 10 2012 6:00 AMBlogging the Human GenomeWill men go extinct?Sam Kean
Chromosomes
July 9 2012 5:45 AMBlogging the Human GenomeGroucho, smurf, faint sausage, and other ridiculous gene names.Sam Kean
Culturebox
Aug. 17 2011 10:03 AMWhere Did Those Naked Ladies Come From?How the Chinese edition of my book about the periodic table got such a risqué cover.Sam Kean
Elements
June 6 2011 10:06 AMTungsten: Could It Solve Our Space Junk Problem?Sam Kean
Elements
Dec. 3 2010 5:53 PMArsenic and Old LifeSam Kean
Elements
Aug. 9 2010 7:13 AMUnunseptium: Ugly Name, Beautiful ElementSam Kean
Slate Plus
May 8 2014 3:09 PM“I Thought About Skipping the Phineas Gage Story”Sam Kean on why he decided to write about neuroscience’s most famous patient. Jeff Friedrich and Sam Kean
Science
April 6 2014 11:47 PMRIP, K.C.A man with amnesia taught us how memories become personal.Sam Kean
Chromosomes
July 27 2012 8:30 AMBlogging the Human GenomeAccording to his published DNA sequence, James Watson should be blind, deaf, and have a tiny head. Why doesn’t he?Sam Kean
Chromosomes
July 25 2012 6:00 AMBlogging the Human GenomeHow yam farming contributed to the rise of sickle-cell anemia.Sam Kean
Chromosomes
July 23 2012 6:00 AMBlogging the Human GenomeWhy a mother can’t give cancer to her fetus—usually.Sam Kean
Chromosomes
July 19 2012 6:00 AMBlogging the Human GenomeThe chromosomal evidence that mankind nearly went extinct.Sam Kean
Chromosomes
July 17 2012 6:00 AMBlogging the Human GenomeDid STDs help human beings evolve?Sam Kean
Chromosomes
July 13 2012 6:00 AMBlogging the Human GenomeHow a mutation on chromosome 16 gave Elizabeth Taylor her amazing double eyelashes.Sam Kean
Chromosomes
July 11 2012 6:00 AMBlogging the Human GenomeThe nasty fight between scientists that resulted in the sequencing of the human genome.Sam Kean
Chromosomes
July 9 2012 6:00 AMBlogging the Human GenomeHow genetics—and a very dirty diaper—nearly killed off Darwinism.Sam Kean
Books
Nov. 28 2011 7:14 AMThe Inventor in HollywoodRichard Rhodes explores Hedy Lamarr’s other career.Sam Kean
Elements
June 10 2011 7:18 AMThe Best Anagram Ever, and Other Silly Periodic Table GamesSam Kean
Elements
March 1 2011 10:19 AMThe Sort of Sad Death of the Mercury ThermometerSam Kean
Elements
Oct. 19 2010 11:34 AMBoron: It's What Makes the Hope Diamond BlueSam Kean
Elements
Aug. 6 2010 10:58 AMCarbon: The Source of Life—and of the Longest Word Ever To Appear in PrintSam Kean

READ MORE STORIES