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, the how-to guides Minding the Muse: A Handbook for Painters, Composers, Writers, and Other Creators and The Writer’s Portable Mentor, as well as Where the Sun Never Shines: A History of America’s Bloody Coal Industry.

Imperiled Planet

The ecological havoc we’ve wrought

By Priscilla Long | Tuesday September 3, 2024

We Ain’t Seen Nothin’ Yet

After Covid-19, what might be next?

By Priscilla Long | Thursday June 1, 2023
A picture of the moon

Ten Sights (I Wish I’d Seen)

Purple ocean’s majesty, the dodo, and other wonderful things

By Priscilla Long | Tuesday September 3, 2019

Becoming a Poet

By Priscilla Long | Monday August 29, 2016

How Chemistry Became Biology

And how LUCA, Earth’s first living cell, became Lucas, my adorable grandnephew

By Priscilla Long | Monday December 7, 2015

What Killed My Sister?

The answer—schizophrenia—only leads to more perplexing questions

By Priscilla Long | Tuesday March 11, 2014

Remembering Steve

A tribute to my friend Stephen Jay Gould

By Priscilla Long | Wednesday July 3, 2013

Till We Meet Again

And thanks for dropping by

By Priscilla Long | Wednesday June 26, 2013

How Mauve Was Her Garment

The effect of coal tar on Queen Victoria’s gown

By Priscilla Long | Wednesday June 19, 2013

Saturn

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

By Priscilla Long | Wednesday June 12, 2013

Toilet Talk, Part 2

By Priscilla Long | Wednesday January 16, 2013

Herschel and the Steelheads

By Priscilla Long | Wednesday January 9, 2013

Dabbling in Darwin

By Priscilla Long | Wednesday January 2, 2013

Galileo’s Spyglass

By Priscilla Long | Wednesday December 19, 2012

Science v. Poetry

By Priscilla Long | Wednesday December 12, 2012

Toilet Talk, Part 1

By Priscilla Long | Wednesday December 5, 2012

Jupiter and the Galilean Satellites

By Priscilla Long | Wednesday November 28, 2012

Elephant: Not an Elegy

By Priscilla Long | Wednesday November 21, 2012

Black Holes

By Priscilla Long | Wednesday November 14, 2012

Valles Caldera

By Priscilla Long | Tuesday November 6, 2012

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