Tom Siegfried

Tom Siegfried

Contributing Correspondent

Tom Siegfried is a contributing correspondent. He was editor in chief of Science News from 2007 to 2012, and he was the managing editor from 2014 to 2017. He is the author of the blog Context. In addition to Science News, his work has appeared in Science, Nature, Astronomy, New Scientist and Smithsonian. Previously he was the science editor of The Dallas Morning News. He is the author of four books: The Bit and the Pendulum (Wiley, 2000); Strange Matters (National Academy of Sciences’ Joseph Henry Press, 2002);  A Beautiful Math (2006, Joseph Henry Press); and The Number of the Heavens (Harvard University Press, 2019). Tom was born in Lakewood, Ohio, and grew up in nearby Avon. He earned an undergraduate degree from Texas Christian University with majors in journalism, chemistry and history, and has a master of arts with a major in journalism and a minor in physics from the University of Texas at Austin. His awards include the American Geophysical Union's Robert C. Cowen Award for Sustained Achievement in Science Journalism, the Science-in Society award from the National Association of Science Writers, the American Association for the Advancement of Science-Westinghouse Award, the American Chemical Society’s James T. Grady-James H. Stack Award for Interpreting Chemistry for the Public, and the American Institute of Physics Science Communication Award.

All Stories by Tom Siegfried

  1. Quantum Physics

    Quantum math makes human irrationality more sensible

    Vagaries of human decision making make sense if quantum math describes the way the brain works.

  2. Math

    Scientists’ grasp of confidence intervals doesn’t inspire confidence

    Confidence intervals are often misrepresented and are commonly misunderstood, even by researchers.

  3. Physics

    ‘Faraday, Maxwell, and the Electromagnetic Field’ is a biography of brilliance

    Authors Nancy Forbes and Basil Mahon show how two men’s work came together to change physics.

  4. Life

    Life began when algorithms took control

    Digital storage of molecular information is the key to defining life and understanding its origin, astrobiologists say.

  5. Particle Physics

    It’s almost time to get to know the Higgs boson better

    The next run of particle collisions at the Large Hadron collider will examine details about how the Higgs boson interacts with other particles to search for clues to new physics.

  6. Math

    If the world is a computer, life is an algorithm

    Cellular automata may offer the algorithmic power to mimic the laws of physics and the evolution of life.

  7. Science & Society

    Top 10 desert island books for science fans

    Some books that require your undivided attention offer substantial intellectual rewards.

  8. Quantum Physics

    Maybe classical clockwork can explain quantum weirdness

    Nobel laureate Gerard ’t Hooft proposes that a classical cause-and-effect reality underlies the probabilistic strangeness of quantum physics.

  9. Quantum Physics

    The least physics you need is a lot in ‘Quantum Mechanics’

    Leonard Susskind and Art Friedman walk readers through the basics needed to understand the quantum realm.

  10. Quantum Physics

    Nobel laureates offer new interpretations of quantum mysteries

    Two Nobel laureates offer novel interpretations to explain the mysteries of quantum mechanics.

  11. Science & Society

    Trust in gravity isn’t always the best astronomy policy

    Historical episodes involving Neptune, Mercury and gravity have implications for today’s dark matter and dark energy mysteries.

  12. Science & Society

    Top 10 things everybody should know about science

    Much of scientific knowledge can be condensed into a few basic principles that every educated person should know.