The July 2013 issue of National Geographic magazine features two Santa Cruz local authors: science writer Rob Irion and novelist and seasonal resident Jonathan Franzen. Irion, director of UC Santa Cruz’s science communication program, describes the nascent phases of our solar system and recounts the advances that shaped our modern understanding of it. Franzen, a birding enthusiast who spends summers on the Westside, tracks the (often fatal) passage of migratory birds as they attempt to traverse the Mediterranean and explores the lowly state of conservation in regions where the birds seek refuge.
Irion begins his piece by calling to a time when the planet’s orbits were uncomplicated, and we were consoled by their seemingly simple trajectories. But he quickly reveals that research within the past decade suggests they had a tumultuous genesis. Irion’s article describes our solar system’s chaotic origins: devious planets, flying ice balls, and apocalyptic computer simulations, all in delightfully accessible prose. Join him at Bookshop Santa Cruz on July 10th, where he’ll discuss his article in person.
Franzen follows raptors, quail, geese, and even songbirds as they cross the Mediterranean in search of feeding and breeding grounds on their annual exhausting migration. But the journey is often their last, as Franzen reports in brutal detail, because insatiable poachers await their arrival in regions where conservation efforts are either poorly enforced or nonexistent. The author shares campgrounds with hunters in Albania and Egypt (two of the worst offenders), the frustrations of conservationists, and a grim outlook for this segment of the avian population.
Find both authors’ articles in the July 2013 issue of National Geographic.
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