Local astrobiologist and 7th Street rocker David Grinspoon speaks at Loyalty Books on Wednesday the 24th
/Petworth has many cool residents, and I’m particularly fond of Dr. David Grinspoon, who lives in our neighborhood and is a world-renowned astrobiologist and writer. He’ll be reading and doing a Q&A about his latest book, Chasing New Horizons: Inside the Epic First Mission to Pluto on Wednesday, July 24th at 7pm at Loyalty Books (827 Upshur St NW).
The event is free, you just need to RSVP. You can also pre-order his book from Loyalty Books and have Dr. Grinspoon sign it for you after the reading and Q&A.
About the Doc
Dr. Grinspoon is a Senior Scientist at the Planetary Science Institute and Adjunct Professor of Astrophysical and Planetary Science at the University of Colorado, and researches climate evolution on Earth-like planets and potential conditions for life elsewhere in the universe. Cool, right?
Eric Emmanuel Smith and David Grinspoon make up the duo of “7th Street Rockers”
He’s been involved with several interplanetary spacecraft missions for NASA, the European Space Agency and the Japanese Space Agency. In 2013 he was appointed as the inaugural Chair of Astrobiology at the U.S. Library of Congress where he studied the human impact on Earth systems and organized a public symposium on the Longevity of Human Civilization. His technical papers have been published in Nature, Science, and numerous other journals, and he has given invited keynote talks at conferences around the world.
His popular writing has appeared in Slate, Scientific American, Natural History, Nautilus, Astronomy, Seed, the Boston Globe, the Los Angeles Times, The New York Times and Sky & Telescope Magazine, where he is a contributing editor and writes the quasi-monthly “Cosmic Relief” column.
His book Earth in Human Hands was named a Best Science Book of 2016 by NPR’s Science Friday. His previous book Lonely Planets: The Natural Philosophy of Alien Life won the PEN Center USA Literary Award for Nonfiction. Grinspoon has been recipient of the Carl Sagan Medal for Public Communication of Planetary Science by the American Astronomical Society, and has been honored with the title “Alpha Geek” by Wired Magazine. He lectures widely, and appears frequently as a science commentator on television, radio and podcasts, including as a frequent guest on StarTalk Radio and host of the new spinoff StarTalk All Stars. Also a musician, he currently plays with the 7th Street Rockers at bars around Petworth.
