Susan M. Gaines
Encyclopedia
Susan M Gaines is an American writer. She is the author of Best of the West (1992), Sacred Ground (1996), Carbon Dreams
(2001), and co-author with Geoffrey Eglinton
and Jurgen Rullkötter of Echoes of Life: What Fossil Molecules Reveal about Earth History
(2009). Her short stories have been nominated twice for the Pushcart Prize
. She is a former fellow of the Hanse Institute for Advanced Study in Germany.
in 1987. She has published peer-reviewed papers in The Journal of Organic Chemistry and the Journal of Chromatography A, as well as essays and short stories in an assortment of journals, literary magazines, and anthologies (Econ Papers, Nature
, and The North American Review).
Her novel Carbon Dreams
was published in 2001. Set in the early 1980s, it tells the story of a woman who discovers a way to study climate in the distant past that may have relevance for the climate of the future, and about the scientific, ethical and personal controversies that she inadvertently becomes embroiled in. Elizabeth Wilson writing in Chemical and Engineering News called it a "step forward in the evolution of science-in-fiction.... A remarkable job of conveying what it's really like to be a scientist, and to make scientific discoveries—not in the blink of an eye, as television or movies would have it, but with gradually shifting insight."
Echoes of Life: What Fossil Molecules Reveal about Earth History, published in 2009, is a work of non-fiction that provides an up-to-date survey of the interdisciplinary field of organic geochemistry, using the history of discovery, from early experiments in the 1930s to modern areas of research, to make the material accessible to students and scientists in different fields.
Carbon Dreams
Carbon Dreams is a highly regarded novel by Susan M. Gaines. It was published by Creative Arts Book Company in 2001 and is Gaines' first novel.-Reception:...
(2001), and co-author with Geoffrey Eglinton
Geoffrey Eglinton
Geoffrey Eglinton, FRS is a British chemist and Emeritus Professor and Senior Research Fellow in Earth Sciences at Bristol University....
and Jurgen Rullkötter of Echoes of Life: What Fossil Molecules Reveal about Earth History
Echoes of Life: What Fossil Molecules Reveal about Earth History
Echoes of Life: What Fossil Molecules Reveal about Earth History is a book written by Susan M. Gaines, Geoffrey Eglinton, and Jurgen Rullkotter concerning organic chemistry and, in particular, the links between the living and the material Earth...
(2009). Her short stories have been nominated twice for the Pushcart Prize
Pushcart Prize
The Pushcart Prize is an American literary prize by Pushcart Press that honors the best "poetry, short fiction, essays or literary whatnot" published in the small presses over the previous year. Magazine and small book press editors are invited to nominate up to 6 works they have featured....
. She is a former fellow of the Hanse Institute for Advanced Study in Germany.
Background
Gaines originally trained as a chemist and oceanographer, and received a master's degree from Scripps Institution of OceanographyScripps Institution of Oceanography
Scripps Institution of Oceanography in La Jolla, California, is one of the oldest and largest centers for ocean and earth science research, graduate training, and public service in the world...
in 1987. She has published peer-reviewed papers in The Journal of Organic Chemistry and the Journal of Chromatography A, as well as essays and short stories in an assortment of journals, literary magazines, and anthologies (Econ Papers, Nature
Nature
Nature, in the broadest sense, is equivalent to the natural world, physical world, or material world. "Nature" refers to the phenomena of the physical world, and also to life in general...
, and The North American Review).
Writing career
Gaines began publishing short stories in the early nineties. Her short story The Mouse was selected for The Best of the West 5, one in a series of annual anthologies of short stories, published annually from 1988 to 1992.Her novel Carbon Dreams
Carbon Dreams
Carbon Dreams is a highly regarded novel by Susan M. Gaines. It was published by Creative Arts Book Company in 2001 and is Gaines' first novel.-Reception:...
was published in 2001. Set in the early 1980s, it tells the story of a woman who discovers a way to study climate in the distant past that may have relevance for the climate of the future, and about the scientific, ethical and personal controversies that she inadvertently becomes embroiled in. Elizabeth Wilson writing in Chemical and Engineering News called it a "step forward in the evolution of science-in-fiction.... A remarkable job of conveying what it's really like to be a scientist, and to make scientific discoveries—not in the blink of an eye, as television or movies would have it, but with gradually shifting insight."
Echoes of Life: What Fossil Molecules Reveal about Earth History, published in 2009, is a work of non-fiction that provides an up-to-date survey of the interdisciplinary field of organic geochemistry, using the history of discovery, from early experiments in the 1930s to modern areas of research, to make the material accessible to students and scientists in different fields.