The Edge of Physics: Crafting a Non-Fiction Narrative that Combines Science with Travel Writing

Anil Ananthaswamy is the author of The Edge of Physics, a popular science book that's written as a travelogue to some of the most inaccessible and extreme places on Earth, from Siberia to the South Pole. Using the genre of a travelogue, The Edge of Physics, which was published in 2010, tells the story of modern cosmology. UK's Physics World called it, "The ultimate physics-adventure travelogue". New Scientist magazine said it was "a remarkable narrative that combines fundamental physics with high adventure".

In this talk, Ananthaswamy will discuss the writing of the book, the challenge of combining two different genres of non-fiction to create a coherent narrative without short-changing either the travel aspect or the science, and the reasons why he chose this format for the book.