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William J. Broad
William J. Broad is a best-selling author and a senior writer at The New York Times. In more than thirty years as a science journalist, he has written hundreds of front-page articles and won every major journalistic award in print and film. His reporting shows unusual depth and breadth -... show more

William J. Broad is a best-selling author and a senior writer at The New York Times. In more than thirty years as a science journalist, he has written hundreds of front-page articles and won every major journalistic award in print and film. His reporting shows unusual depth and breadth - everything from exploding stars and the secret life of marine mammals to the spread of nuclear arms and why the Titanic sank so fast. The Best American Science Writing, a yearly anthology, has twice featured his work. He joined The Times in 1983 and before that worked in Washington for Science, the magazine of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.Broad has won two Pulitzer Prizes with Times colleagues, as well as an Emmy and a DuPont. He won the Pulitzers for coverage of the space shuttle Challenger disaster and the feasibility of antimissile arms. In 2002, he won the Emmy (PBS Nova) for a documentary that detailed the threat of germ terrorism. He was a Pulitzer finalist in 2005 for articles written with Times colleague David E. Sanger on nuclear proliferation. In 2007, he shared a DuPont Award (The Discovery Channel) from the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism for the television documentary, "Nuclear Jihad: Can Terrorists Get the Bomb?" Broad is the author or co-author of eight books, most recently The Science of Yoga: The Risks and the Rewards (Simon & Schuster, 2012), a New York Times bestseller. His books have been translated into dozens of languages. His other titles include Germs: Biological Weapons and America's Secret War (Simon & Schuster, 2001), a number-one New York Times bestseller; The Universe Below: Discovering the Secrets of the Deep Sea (Simon & Schuster, 1997); Teller's War: The Top-Secret Story Behind the Star Wars Deception (Simon & Schuster, 1992); and Betrayers of the Truth: Fraud and Deceit in the Halls of Science (Simon & Schuster, 1982). Broad's reporting has taken him to Paris and Vienna, Brazil and Ecuador, Kiev and Kazakhstan. In December 1991, he was among the last Westerners to see the Soviet hammer and sickle flying over the Kremlin. Broad's media appearances include Larry King Live, The Charlie Rose Show, The Discovery Channel, Nova, The History Channel, and National Public Radio. His speaking engagements have ranged from the U.S. Navy in Washington, to the Knickerbocker Club in New York, to the Monterey Aquarium in California. He has also given talks at the Corcoran Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. and the Council on Foreign Relations in New York City. Broad earned a masters degree in the History of Science from the University of Wisconsin at Madison. He has three adult children and lives with his wife in the New York metropolitan area.
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Community Reviews
hpagano
hpagano rated it 12 years ago
I can understand why this was such a controversial book. I appreciated the more scientific approach to understanding the practice of yoga. I did not appreciate Broad's journalistic style (distracting obsession with who, what, when, where; taking a publication's view for a community's view; forcing...
VeganCleopatra
VeganCleopatra rated it 13 years ago
This book was not poorly written, however, I found it somewhat tedious to read. The author spent far too much time discussing the history of yoga and various individuals involved with it past and present. Such things do not interest me in the least otherwise I would have picked up a book titled "The...
auntieannie
auntieannie rated it 13 years ago
Nice overview. A little too much faith in science in some ways -- but also gave plenty of reasons to have faith in yoga as well.Pointed me to Relief is in the stretch by Loren Fishman. I will add that to my to-read list.
Minor Characters
Minor Characters rated it 16 years ago
Fascinating.This book is, for the most part, exactly what it says on the tin: a study of the science behind the Oracle of Delphi, specifically the huge inroads made by a team investigating in spurts over the last fifteen years. The Oracle explores how a century's worth of derision was overcome by ...
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