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.
Priscilla Long
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
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
