Priscilla Long is the author of Crossing Over: Poems. Her two new books, both published in 2016, are a collection of essays, Fire and Stone: Where Do We Come From? Who Are We? Where Are We Going? and Minding the Muse: A Handbook for Painters, Composers, Writers, and Other Creators. Her essay “Genome Tome,” which appeared in our Summer 2005 issue, won the National Magazine Award for Feature Writing.
Priscilla Long
Ten Sights (I Wish I’d Seen)
Purple ocean’s majesty, the dodo, and other wonderful things
by Priscilla Long | Tuesday, September 03, 2019
What Killed My Sister?
The answer—schizophrenia—only leads to more perplexing questions
by Priscilla Long | Tuesday, March 11, 2014
How Chemistry Became Biology
And how LUCA, Earth’s first living cell, became Lucas, my adorable grandnephew
by Priscilla Long | Monday, December 07, 2015
Becoming a Poet
by Priscilla Long | Monday, August 29, 2016
Mars on My Mind
by Priscilla Long | Wednesday, April 04, 2012
Go Team!
by Priscilla Long | Wednesday, June 20, 2012
My Week in the Woods
by Priscilla Long | Wednesday, July 25, 2012
Remembering Steve
A tribute to my friend Stephen Jay Gould
by Priscilla Long | Wednesday, August 22, 2012
They Work Hard for their Honey
So you better treat them right
by Priscilla Long | Wednesday, September 26, 2012
My Kingdom for a Horse
Homo sapiens seeks equine companionship for work and pleasure
by Priscilla Long | Wednesday, October 10, 2012
Blood Lines
The who, what, when, where, and how of a fluid tissue
by Priscilla Long | Wednesday, October 31, 2012
Toilet Talk, Part 1
More than a matter of waste not, want not
by Priscilla Long | Wednesday, December 05, 2012
Galileo’s Spyglass
The telescope resulted from his improvements to a mere curiosity
by Priscilla Long | Wednesday, December 19, 2012
Science: Why Bother?
Let me (a onetime history major) count the whys
by Priscilla Long | Wednesday, February 06, 2013
Please Pass the Salt
Our bodies need sodium chloride—in moderation
by Priscilla Long | Wednesday, March 06, 2013
Those Other Ancestors
Neandertals were big, with bigger intellects than you might think
by Priscilla Long | Wednesday, May 08, 2013
How Flowers Changed the World
They still do, every spring
by Priscilla Long | Wednesday, May 22, 2013
How Mauve Was Her Garment
The effect of coal tar on Queen Victoria’s gown
by Priscilla Long | Wednesday, June 19, 2013
Remembering Steve
A tribute to my friend Stephen Jay Gould
by Priscilla Long | Wednesday, July 03, 2013
Endless Arms Most Beautiful
by Priscilla Long | Wednesday, September 28, 2011
The Moon
by Priscilla Long | Wednesday, September 14, 2011
The Red Room
by Priscilla Long | Wednesday, September 21, 2011
When Bugs Were Bigger
by Priscilla Long | Wednesday, October 05, 2011
Small Is Beautiful
by Priscilla Long | Wednesday, October 19, 2011
Coal Is a Rock That Burns
by Priscilla Long | Wednesday, October 12, 2011
Dogs and Us
by Priscilla Long | Wednesday, November 02, 2011
Beauty and the Blue Bottle Fly
by Priscilla Long | Wednesday, October 26, 2011
Our Life’s Purpose
by Priscilla Long | Wednesday, September 07, 2011
Ocean
by Priscilla Long | Wednesday, November 09, 2011
What Do Worms Want?
by Priscilla Long | Wednesday, November 16, 2011
Toba
by Priscilla Long | Wednesday, January 25, 2012
Poseidon’s Revenge
by Priscilla Long | Wednesday, May 30, 2012
Tetélestai
by Priscilla Long | Wednesday, February 01, 2012
Note to Fellow … Life Cycle
by Priscilla Long | Wednesday, February 15, 2012
Tunnel Work
by Priscilla Long | Wednesday, February 08, 2012
Habitat Me
by Priscilla Long | Wednesday, January 04, 2012
Farmers and Their Farms
by Priscilla Long | Wednesday, May 09, 2012
Our Mastodon
by Priscilla Long | Wednesday, March 21, 2012
Dream On
by Priscilla Long | Wednesday, April 25, 2012
Brilliant Old Brains
by Priscilla Long | Wednesday, March 07, 2012
Blue Notes
by Priscilla Long | Wednesday, February 22, 2012
A Bug Is Not a Beetle
by Priscilla Long | Wednesday, March 14, 2012
Life Among the Weeds
by Priscilla Long | Wednesday, February 29, 2012
Life
by Priscilla Long | Wednesday, January 11, 2012
Remembering Abraham Lincoln
by Priscilla Long | Wednesday, May 16, 2012
Fungus, Fried
by Priscilla Long | Wednesday, December 07, 2011
Creation Story
by Priscilla Long | Wednesday, April 18, 2012
Time to Milk the Cows
by Priscilla Long | Wednesday, March 28, 2012
The Book of Life, Hard Copy
by Priscilla Long | Wednesday, November 23, 2011
Crow
by Priscilla Long | Wednesday, June 13, 2012
Alone and Freezing Cold
by Priscilla Long | Wednesday, January 18, 2012
Reading Minds
by Priscilla Long | Wednesday, May 23, 2012
Doug-Fir Days
by Priscilla Long | Wednesday, June 27, 2012
Looking Up and Down
by Priscilla Long | Wednesday, April 11, 2012
Elementary, My Dear …
by Priscilla Long | Wednesday, December 21, 2011
Arachne’s Cobweb
by Priscilla Long | Wednesday, May 02, 2012
Head in Clouds
by Priscilla Long | Wednesday, June 06, 2012
Our Red Giant
by Priscilla Long | Wednesday, November 30, 2011
Family Matters
by Priscilla Long | Wednesday, December 14, 2011
Oxygen
by Priscilla Long | Wednesday, December 28, 2011
Going Viral
by Priscilla Long | Wednesday, July 11, 2012
Let It Shine
Light, from the Southwest’s high desert to the surface of Mars
by Priscilla Long | Wednesday, October 17, 2012
Nocturne
by Priscilla Long | Wednesday, July 18, 2012
Waste Not
by Priscilla Long | Wednesday, August 15, 2012
Jupiter and the Galilean Satellites
Our largest planet and its moons inspire shock and awe
by Priscilla Long | Wednesday, November 28, 2012
Geology My Way
Morton Gneiss is a Minnesota rock, not a rock star
by Priscilla Long | Wednesday, October 24, 2012
Dark and Stormy Month
Now is the winter of our discontent, made bearable by the promise of sun
by Priscilla Long | Wednesday, January 30, 2013
Dabbling in Darwin
The polymathic Victorian is good company on a winter’s evening
by Priscilla Long | Wednesday, January 02, 2013
I’m Going Native
Why my beautiful butterfly bush is no better than kudzu
by Priscilla Long | Wednesday, March 13, 2013
Science v. Poetry
Worlds apart, and yet alike in many ways
by Priscilla Long | Wednesday, December 12, 2012
Wake to Sleep
What happens in the brain when we drift off to dreamland
by Priscilla Long | Wednesday, September 19, 2012
Herschel and the Steelheads
It’s time to bust the sea-lion party and save some Seattle salmon
by Priscilla Long | Wednesday, January 09, 2013
Bugs’ Eyes and Our Eyes
by Priscilla Long | Wednesday, August 01, 2012
The Bad and the Beautiful
Botulism is deadly, but in minute quantities it smoothes wrinkles
by Priscilla Long | Wednesday, February 13, 2013
Ants in Your Pants
by Priscilla Long | Wednesday, August 08, 2012
Here, Kitty Kitty
For I will consider my cats Frisky, Buster, Snuffy, etc.
by Priscilla Long | Wednesday, September 05, 2012
The Lay of the Land
Through the eons with plate tectonics
by Priscilla Long | Wednesday, October 03, 2012
Valles Caldera
An ancient wonder is found not far from the atomic era’s birthplace
by Priscilla Long | Tuesday, November 06, 2012
Toilet Talk, Part 2
New technology can save water and combat killer diseases
by Priscilla Long | Wednesday, January 16, 2013
Black Holes
After some stars collapse, even light cannot escape
by Priscilla Long | Wednesday, November 14, 2012
The Higgs Boson
Elusive, long-sought, a defining moment of the 21st century
by Priscilla Long | Wednesday, February 20, 2013
Elephant: Not an Elegy
Big and bright, long-lived and loyal, they engage our imagination
by Priscilla Long | Wednesday, November 21, 2012
My Formerly Identical Twin
Genes are one thing, genetic switches another …
by Priscilla Long | Wednesday, January 23, 2013
Ode to (Silent) Spring
Rachel Carson, who died 49 years ago this month, made a difference
by Priscilla Long | Wednesday, April 17, 2013
Darwin’s Finches
In the Galápagos, a speed course on evolution
by Priscilla Long | Wednesday, June 05, 2013
Our Artful Brain
What it takes to take in, say, a Picasso
by Priscilla Long | Wednesday, May 29, 2013
Visit to a Small, Cold Planet
Ancient Romans named Mercury for their messenger of the gods
by Priscilla Long | Wednesday, April 24, 2013
Enchantment and Deception
Nabokov found both, in nature and in art
by Priscilla Long | Wednesday, March 27, 2013
Our National Raptor
The bald eagle makes a big impression, but its voice is small
by Priscilla Long | Wednesday, May 01, 2013
Saturn
How the sixth planet from the sun is like a rubber duck
by Priscilla Long | Wednesday, June 12, 2013
My Father
by Priscilla Long | Wednesday, May 15, 2013
Big as a VW, or Lost on a Pin
Jellyfish are pests with redeeming qualities
by Priscilla Long | Wednesday, April 03, 2013
Behold the Butterfly
Monarchs flit far afield; other species stick close to home
by Priscilla Long | Wednesday, March 20, 2013
Where There’s a Will …
Do we think, therefore we do—or is it the other way around?
by Priscilla Long | Wednesday, April 10, 2013
The Moon
by Priscilla Long | Thursday, August 25, 2011
Genome Tome
Twenty-three ways of looking at our ancestors
by Priscilla Long | Wednesday, June 01, 2005
Worked Well with Others
Discovering the structure of DNA was not Francis Crick's only important collaboration
by Priscilla Long | Thursday, June 01, 2006
The Peacock Problem
Does sexual selection really explain enough?
by Priscilla Long | Sunday, March 01, 2009
Interview with a Neandertal
What I always wanted to ask our distant cousins about love and death and sorrow and dinner
by Priscilla Long | Wednesday, March 02, 2011
Polymer Persons
How can we gaze upon the skinned, displayed bodies of the dead and not be revolted and mesmerized?
by Priscilla Long | Saturday, March 01, 2008
My Brain on My Mind
The ABCs of the thrumming, plastic mystery that allows us to think, feel, and remember
by Priscilla Long | Tuesday, December 01, 2009
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