It’s a timeless question, asked by every kid that’s ever lived: where do babies come from? It turns out even the great scientific minds of the Enlightenment didn’t really have an answer. While navigators and cartographers seemed to have mastered the heavens and the Earth, other scientists were conducting bizarre experiments to put their finger on how exactly humans create life. Science writer Edward Dolnick joins us to tell the story of 250 years of searching and the meandering ways of scientific discovery. (Rebroadcast)
Edward Dolnick is the former chief science writer for The Boston Globe and the author of a number of books, including The Forger's Spell and The Clockwork Universe. His new book is called The Seeds of Life: From Aristotle to da Vinci, from Shark's Teeth to Frog's Pants, the Long and Strange Quest to Discover Where Babies Come From. [Indie bookstores|Amazon|Audible]