This week, Time magazine named Elemental one of the top 25 blogs of the year. Tech writer Harry McCracken called it sometimes macabre (which is completely true) but also fascinating and informative.
I was – am -- both delighted and honored by the tribute. This is actually the second time that Elemental has been so recognized this year – the website Real Clear Science named it one of the ten best science blogs earlier this year. I was delighted and honored then, too. And I should note that my colleague here at Wired Science Blogs, Rhett Allain, was also cited for his blog, Dot Physics.
But as any science writer will tell you, it’s an extra thrill to be recognized beyond the borders of the science-literate-savvy-loving community. As the USA Today science writer Dan Vergano said recently in a Q&A at the Last Word on Nothing, one of our challenges is to break out of the “science ghetto.” We want to be part of everyone’s conversation, have the weight of every day life, not just be part of an intellectual exchange by those already in the know.
And that's because without science in the conversation, none of us appreciate - or even really see - the full beauty, complexity, and also the peril of life on this planet. And it's for that reason that I was also delighted to see Andy Revkin’s great Dot Earth blog, which focuses on environmental science, on Time's list.
I wrote to Time tech writer Harry McCracken to say thank you. And to thank him for highlighting some of my most chemistry-in-everyday-life posts, from dumb poisoners to the pesticide deaths of young children in India. But let me also emphasize that this isn't just about me, that good blogs thrive in just the right circumstances.
Wired Science Blogs is a great community, and I'm lucky in my editor, Betsy Mason, who brought me on board a year ago. I'm lucky in my talented blogging colleagues (all found here) who inspire me to keep up. In my professional colleagues, who tag me whenever there's an interesting poison murder. And I'm lucky in all the people who follow this blog, make it sharper with their comments, and send me - both here and by private email - amazing (and sometimes terrifying) ideas about blog topics.
So being on this list honors me. But also you.
Image: Test molecule/Los Angeles Mission College
