Marcia Bartusiak

Combining her training as a journalist with a master's degree in physics, Marcia Bartusiak has been covering the fields of astronomy and physics for four decades. She is Professor of the Practice Emeritus in the Graduate Program in Science Writing at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and has published in a variety of publications, including Science, Smithsonian, Discover, Technology Review, National Geographic, and Astronomy. She is the author of "Thursday's Universe," a guide to the frontiers of astrophysics; "Through a Universe Darkly," a history of astronomers' quest to discover the universe's composition; and "Einstein's Unfinished Symphony," a chronicle of the international attempt to detect cosmic gravity waves. All three were named notable books by the New York Times. She went on to write "Archives of the Universe," an anthology and commentary on the historic discovery papers in astronomy, and "The Day We Found the Universe," on the birth of modern cosmology, which won the Davis Prize from the History of Science Society. Her latest books are "Black Hole" and "Dispatches from Planet 3." Bartusiak is a three-time winner of the American Institute of Physics Science Writing Award and in 2006 garnered the AIP's prestigious Gemant Award for her "significant contributions to the cultural, artistic, or humanistic dimension of physics." In 2008 Bartusiak was elected a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, cited for "exceptionally clear communication of the rich history, the intricate nature, and the modern practice of astronomy to the public at large." Bartusiak lives with her husband, mathematician Steve Lowe, in a suburb of Boston.