Charles Seife is an American author, journalist, and professor at

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private university, private research university in New York City, New York, United States. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded in 1832 by Albert Gallatin as a Nondenominational ...

. He has written extensively on scientific and mathematical topics.

Career

Seife holds a mathematics degree from

Princeton University Princeton University is a private university, private Ivy League research university in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial ...

(1993), Greenwood, Katherine Federici (13 October 2010)
Numbers can mislead - Charles Seife ’93 reveals mischief behind data
'' Princeton Alumni Weekly'' an M.S. in mathematics from

Yale University Yale University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701, Yale is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Stat ...

and a M.S. in

journalism Journalism is the production and distribution of reports on the interaction of events, facts, ideas, and people that are the "news of the day" and that informs society to at least some degree of accuracy. The word, a noun, applies to the journ ...

from

Columbia University Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...

.Journalism at NYU - Faculty
Seife wrote for ''Science'' magazine and ''

New Scientist ''New Scientist'' is a popular science magazine covering all aspects of science and technology. Based in London, it publishes weekly English-language editions in the United Kingdom, the United States and Australia. An editorially separate organ ...

'' before joining the Department of Journalism at New York University where he became a professor.

Books

His first and best-known published book is '' Zero: The Biography of a Dangerous Idea'' (Viking, 2000). Another well-known book from Seife is ''Proofiness: How You're Being Fooled By the Numbers'' (Penguin, 2010). Here, Seife focuses on how much propaganda uses numbers worded in such a way that they confuse people and can be misinterpreted. Other books by Seife are: *'' Alpha & Omega: The Search for the Beginning and End of the Universe'', Penguin Putnam, 2003. *'' Decoding the Universe'', Penguin, 2007. *''Sun in a Bottle: The Strange History of Fusion and the Science of Wishful Thinking'', Viking, 2008. *''Virtual Unreality: Just Because the Internet Told You, How Do You Know It's True?'', Penguin Putnam, 2014. *''Hawking Hawking: The Selling of a Scientific Celebrity'', Basic Books, 2021.

Other writing

Seife's freelance work has appeared in ''

The Philadelphia Inquirer ''The Philadelphia Inquirer'', often referred to simply as ''The Inquirer'', is a daily newspaper headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Founded on June 1, 1829, ''The Philadelphia Inquirer'' is the third-longest continuously operating da ...

'', ''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'', locally known as ''The'' ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'' or ''WP'', is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., the national capital. It is the most widely circulated newspaper in the Washington m ...

'', ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'', ''

Scientific American ''Scientific American'', informally abbreviated ''SciAm'' or sometimes ''SA'', is an American popular science magazine. Many scientists, including Albert Einstein and Nikola Tesla, have contributed articles to it, with more than 150 Nobel Pri ...

'', and ''

The Economist ''The Economist'' is a British newspaper published weekly in printed magazine format and daily on Electronic publishing, digital platforms. It publishes stories on topics that include economics, business, geopolitics, technology and culture. M ...

'', among others. Throughout his career, he has written many book reviews, especially of books which focus on mathematics.

Professional associations

Seife is a member of

PEN PEN may refer to: * (National Ecological Party), former name of the Brazilian political party Patriota (PATRI) * PEN International, a worldwide association of writers ** English PEN, the founding centre of PEN International ** PEN America, located ...

, the National Association of Science Writers, and the D.C. Science Writers Association.

Awards

*2001

/Martha Albrand Award for First Nonfiction for ''Zero: The Biography of a Dangerous Idea''

References

External links

Article on edge.org

DC Science Writers Association websiteHomepageLeonard Lopate interview with Charles Seife
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Seife, Charles American science writers Mathematics writers Mathematics popularizers Year of birth missing (living people) Living people Princeton University alumni Yale University alumni Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism alumni New York University faculty American journalism academics 21st-century American academics