Priscilla Long

Priscilla Long’s latest book is Dancing with the Muse in Old Age. She is also the author of two books of poetry, a collection of essays, and the how-to guides Minding the Muse: A Handbook for Painters, Composers, Writers, and Other Creators and The Writer’s Portable Mentor.

We Ain’t Seen Nothin’ Yet

After Covid-19, what might be next?

by Priscilla Long | Thursday, June 01, 2023

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

Till We Meet Again

And thanks for dropping by

by Priscilla Long | Wednesday, June 26, 2013

Remembering Steve

A tribute to my friend Stephen Jay Gould

by Priscilla Long | Wednesday, July 03, 2013

Our Life’s Purpose

by Priscilla Long | Wednesday, September 07, 2011

The Moon

by Priscilla Long | Wednesday, September 14, 2011

The Red Room

by Priscilla Long | Wednesday, September 21, 2011

Endless Arms Most Beautiful

by Priscilla Long | Wednesday, September 28, 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

Ocean

by Priscilla Long | Wednesday, November 09, 2011

What Do Worms Want?

by Priscilla Long | Wednesday, November 16, 2011

The Book of Life, Hard Copy

by Priscilla Long | Wednesday, November 23, 2011

Our Red Giant

by Priscilla Long | Wednesday, November 30, 2011

Fungus, Fried

by Priscilla Long | Wednesday, December 07, 2011

Elementary, My Dear …

by Priscilla Long | Wednesday, December 21, 2011

Family Matters

by Priscilla Long | Wednesday, December 14, 2011

Oxygen

by Priscilla Long | Wednesday, December 28, 2011

Habitat Me

by Priscilla Long | Wednesday, January 04, 2012

Life

by Priscilla Long | Wednesday, January 11, 2012

Alone and Freezing Cold

by Priscilla Long | Wednesday, January 18, 2012

Toba

by Priscilla Long | Wednesday, January 25, 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

Blue Notes

by Priscilla Long | Wednesday, February 22, 2012

Brilliant Old Brains

by Priscilla Long | Wednesday, March 07, 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

Our Mastodon

by Priscilla Long | Wednesday, March 21, 2012

Time to Milk the Cows

by Priscilla Long | Wednesday, March 28, 2012

Looking Up and Down

by Priscilla Long | Wednesday, April 11, 2012

Dream On

by Priscilla Long | Wednesday, April 25, 2012

Creation Story

by Priscilla Long | Wednesday, April 18, 2012

Arachne’s Cobweb

by Priscilla Long | Wednesday, May 02, 2012

Farmers and Their Farms

by Priscilla Long | Wednesday, May 09, 2012

Remembering Abraham Lincoln

by Priscilla Long | Wednesday, May 16, 2012

Reading Minds

by Priscilla Long | Wednesday, May 23, 2012

Poseidon’s Revenge

by Priscilla Long | Wednesday, May 30, 2012

Head in Clouds

by Priscilla Long | Wednesday, June 06, 2012

Crow

by Priscilla Long | Wednesday, June 13, 2012

Doug-Fir Days

by Priscilla Long | Wednesday, June 27, 2012

Going Viral

by Priscilla Long | Wednesday, July 11, 2012

Nocturne

by Priscilla Long | Wednesday, July 18, 2012

Bugs’ Eyes and Our Eyes

by Priscilla Long | Wednesday, August 01, 2012

Ants in Your Pants

by Priscilla Long | Wednesday, August 08, 2012

Waste Not

by Priscilla Long | Wednesday, August 15, 2012

Here, Kitty Kitty

For I will consider my cats Frisky, Buster, Snuffy, etc.

by Priscilla Long | Wednesday, September 05, 2012

Venus

As our twin turns

by Priscilla Long | Wednesday, September 12, 2012

Wake to Sleep

What happens in the brain when we drift off to dreamland

by Priscilla Long | Wednesday, September 19, 2012

The Lay of the Land

Through the eons with plate tectonics

by Priscilla Long | Wednesday, October 03, 2012

Let It Shine

Light, from the Southwest’s high desert to the surface of Mars

by Priscilla Long | Wednesday, October 17, 2012

Geology My Way

Morton Gneiss is a Minnesota rock, not a rock star

by Priscilla Long | Wednesday, October 24, 2012

Valles Caldera

An ancient wonder is found not far from the atomic era’s birthplace

by Priscilla Long | Tuesday, November 06, 2012

Black Holes

After some stars collapse, even light cannot escape

by Priscilla Long | Wednesday, November 14, 2012

Elephant: Not an Elegy

Big and bright, long-lived and loyal, they engage our imagination

by Priscilla Long | Wednesday, November 21, 2012

Jupiter and the Galilean Satellites

Our largest planet and its moons inspire shock and awe

by Priscilla Long | Wednesday, November 28, 2012

Science v. Poetry

Worlds apart, and yet alike in many ways

by Priscilla Long | Wednesday, December 12, 2012

Dabbling in Darwin

The polymathic Victorian is good company on a winter’s evening

by Priscilla Long | Wednesday, January 02, 2013

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

Toilet Talk, Part 2

New technology can save water and combat killer diseases

by Priscilla Long | Wednesday, January 16, 2013

My Formerly Identical Twin

Genes are one thing, genetic switches another …

by Priscilla Long | Wednesday, January 23, 2013

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

The Bad and the Beautiful

Botulism is deadly, but in minute quantities it smoothes wrinkles

by Priscilla Long | Wednesday, February 13, 2013

The Higgs Boson

Elusive, long-sought, a defining moment of the 21st century

by Priscilla Long | Wednesday, February 20, 2013

A Great Event

From the Sun to the supper table

by Priscilla Long | Wednesday, February 27, 2013

I’m Going Native

Why my beautiful butterfly bush is no better than kudzu

by Priscilla Long | Wednesday, March 13, 2013

Behold the Butterfly

Monarchs flit far afield; other species stick close to home

by Priscilla Long | Wednesday, March 20, 2013

Enchantment and Deception

Nabokov found both, in nature and in art

by Priscilla Long | Wednesday, March 27, 2013

Big as a VW, or Lost on a Pin

Jellyfish are pests with redeeming qualities

by Priscilla Long | Wednesday, April 03, 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

Ode to (Silent) Spring

Rachel Carson, who died 49 years ago this month, made a difference

by Priscilla Long | Wednesday, April 17, 2013

Visit to a Small, Cold Planet

Ancient Romans named Mercury for their messenger of the gods

by Priscilla Long | Wednesday, April 24, 2013

Our National Raptor

The bald eagle makes a big impression, but its voice is small

by Priscilla Long | Wednesday, May 01, 2013

My Father

by Priscilla Long | Wednesday, May 15, 2013

Our Artful Brain

What it takes to take in, say, a Picasso

by Priscilla Long | Wednesday, May 29, 2013

Darwin’s Finches

In the Galápagos, a speed course on evolution

by Priscilla Long | Wednesday, June 05, 2013

Saturn

How the sixth planet from the sun is like a rubber duck

by Priscilla Long | Wednesday, June 12, 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

Ode to Joy

What makes us happy?

by Priscilla Long | Wednesday, December 01, 2010

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