Who He?
I have been a science writer, editor and reviewer since the early 1980s, with spells as a journalist, academic and publisher.
I now mainly write books, and take on other freelance commissions which are interesting or lucrative enough to divert me from that, or get me out of the house.
My most recent was a look at fifty years of heart disease research and therapy, written with Julie Clayton for the British Heart Foundation's anniversary in 2012.
Before that was The Rough Guide to the Future, published in Nov 2010, and shortlisted for the Royal Society's science book prize in 2011. It looks like this. Read the Preface here on my futures blog.
My next book will be a popular science treament of the human microbiome - now the focus of a heap of intriguing research. It is under contract from Icon Books and should appear in 2014, partly to catch research results between now and then.
LATEST - just published (March 2013) is a long essay Imagining Technology on science fiction and technological development for NESTA. This was a lot of fun! You can download it from here, and read some bits and pieces on the futures blog.
I am also editorial manager for the European Commission funded project Nanopinion, which kicked off in May 2012 and will have a website soon! The aim is to inform public debate about nanotechnology throughout Europe over the next 30 months. (It's a pretty ambitious project).
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In the past I have also lectured widely and created and taught science communication courses in several universities. And I have always enjoyed helping other people get their ideas into shape - whether through book editing, report writing, conference summaries, or consultancy.
I have an enduring fascination with social research related to science
and technology (my own main academic study once upon a time) and in the
way it informs the wider social conversation about science.
I enjoy writing and editing on assignment, especially around life science, science and society and policy issues. I'd be happy to do some for you, too. I have write for a wide range of audiences, producing everything from books to museum exhibition guides to school resources.
I have also edited a range of books, including Icon Books Revolutions in Science Series. And while at Penguin, and since then as a consulting editor, I have had a hand in editing books by (in no particular order) Brian Greene, Jared Diamond, Michio Kaku, John Gribbin, Jim Baggott, Peter Smith, and David Rothenberg. I also edit academic papers on occasion (though I cannot improve your data, I may be able to help with the presentation).
I live in Bristol, where my partner's academic career brought us a few years ago. As I said, I blog about futures and forecasting, here, where I also list occasional public appearances, and there is a link on the right to a separate blog about jazz in Bristol and the South West. You can follow me on twitter @jonWturney
The other pages here detail past work and writing for those who are
interested. As you can tell, I maintain this little website myself. So
expect clear words, but not cool design...
Contact
You can contact me at
(myname)(at)gmail.com
or call (UK) 0117 924 0877
(P.S. if you found your way here via the ABSW's list of
science writers' web pages, then thanks for checking near the bottom of
the list...)