Jonathan Weiner (born November 26, 1953) is an American writer of non-fiction books based on his biological observations, focusing particularly on

evolution Evolution is change in the heritable characteristics of biological populations over successive generations. These characteristics are the expressions of genes, which are passed on from parent to offspring during reproduction. Variation ...

in the

Galápagos Islands The Galápagos Islands ( es, Islas Galápagos) are an archipelago of volcanic islands in the Eastern Pacific, located around the Equator west of the mainland of South America. They form the Galápagos Province of the Republic of Ecuador, with ...

, genetics, and the environment. His latest book is ''Long for This World: The Strange Science of Immortality'' (Ecco Press, July 2010) a look at the scientific search for the Fountain of Youth. He won the 1995 Pulitzer Prize for General Non-Fiction and the 1994

Los Angeles Times Book Prize Since 1980, the ''Los Angeles Times'' has awarded a set of annual book prizes. The Prizes currently have nine categories: biography, current interest, fiction, first fiction (the Art Seidenbaum Award added in 1991), history, mystery/thriller ...

for Science for his book ''

The Beak of the Finch ''The Beak of the Finch: A Story of Evolution in Our Time'' () is a 1994 nonfiction book about evolutionary biology, written by Jonathan Weiner. It won the 1995 Pulitzer Prize for General Non-Fiction. In 2014, a substantially unchanged 20th- ...

''. In 1999 he won the

National Book Critics Circle Award The National Book Critics Circle Awards are a set of annual American literary awards by the National Book Critics Circle (NBCC) to promote "the finest books and reviews published in English".Aventis Prize The Royal Society Science Books Prize is an annual £25,000 prize awarded by the Royal Society to celebrate outstanding popular science books from around the world. It is open to authors of science books written for a non-specialist audience, and ...

in 2000 for his book ''Time, Love, Memory'' about Seymour Benzer.

Biography

Weiner was born November 26, 1953 to a

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

family in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the U ...

, the son of Ponnie (née Mensch) and Jerome Harris Weiner, an engineer and mathematician.Jonathan Weiner Weds Deborah A. Heiligman
, ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'', May 30, 1982. Retrieved November 24, 2013 In 1976, he graduated from

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of high ...

. Weiner is the Maxwell M. Geffen Professor of Medical and Scientific Journalism at

Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism The Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism is located in Pulitzer Hall on the university's Morningside Heights campus in New York City. Founded in 1912 by Joseph Pulitzer, Columbia Journalism School is one of the oldest journalism s ...

, where he teaches writing about science and medicine. He has taught at

Princeton University Princeton University is a private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and one of the n ...

Arizona State University Arizona State University (Arizona State or ASU) is a public research university in the Phoenix metropolitan area. Founded in 1885 by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, ASU is one of the largest public universities by enrollment in t ...

and

Rockefeller University The Rockefeller University is a Private university, private Medical research, biomedical Research university, research and graduate-only university in New York City, New York (state), New York. It focuses primarily on the biological and medica ...

Personal life

In 1982, he married

Deborah Heiligman Deborah Heiligman is an American author of books for children and teens. Her work ranges from picture books to young adult novels and includes both fiction and nonfiction. Early life and education Heiligman grew up in Allentown, Pennsylvania. Sh ...

in a

ceremony in Allentown, Pennsylvania. Heligman is a children's writer whose focus is also nonfiction. They live in New York City with their two sons, Aaron and Benjamin. Deborah Heiligman's book about

Emma Darwin Emma Darwin (; 2 May 1808 – 2 October 1896) was an English woman who was the wife and first cousin of Charles Darwin. They were married on 29 January 1839 and were the parents of ten children, seven of whom survived to adulthood. Early lif ...

and her relationship with Charles, ''Charles and Emma: The Darwins' Leap of Faith'' (Henry Holt, January 2009)—"for Middle Readers and Young Adults"—won the inaugural YALSA Award for Excellence in Nonfiction for Young Adults from the American young-adult librarians, as the year's best nonfiction book. It was the runner-up among all young-adult books based on literary merit ( Printz Award), as well as for the

National Book Award The National Book Awards are a set of annual U.S. literary awards. At the final National Book Awards Ceremony every November, the National Book Foundation presents the National Book Awards and two lifetime achievement awards to authors. The N ...

Selected works

* ''Planet Earth'' (1986), the companion book to the 1986 PBS series of the same name. * ''The Next One Hundred Years: Shaping the Fate of Our Living Earth'' (1990) , * ''

: A Story of Evolution in Our Time'' (1994) , * '' Time, Love, Memory: A Great Biologist and His Quest for the Origins of Behavior'' (1999)
2014 ebook
* ''His Brother's Keeper: A Story from the Edge of Medicine'' (2004) * ''Long for this World: The Strange Science of Immortality'' (2010) ,

References

External links

*
Long for this World

"About Me" at Deborah Heiligman: Author
the official website of Weiner's wife * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Weiner, Jonathan 1953 births Living people Arizona State University faculty American science writers Jewish American writers Pulitzer Prize for General Non-Fiction winners Columbia University faculty Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism faculty Harvard University alumni 20th-century American non-fiction writers 21st-century American non-fiction writers 21st-century American Jews