Skoltech’s new book “Life and Other Stories” was presented at the International Non/fiction Intellectual Book Fair in Gostiny Dvor. The first day of the fair, November 30, marked the beginning of the book’s sales, and on December 2, the book was presented in the format of a public talk with Mikhail Gelfand, a bioinformatician, the director of the Skoltech’s Bio Center, and the vice president for biomedical research at Skoltech.

The conversations brought together 38 interviews with scientists who have achieved outstanding success in the life sciences. Some of them are engaged in the systematics of polychaete worms while scanning their fossil jaws with an almost atomic-level resolution on an electron microscope). Others reconstruct ecosystems of the past and try to understand the complex interrelationships of man and nature. Some heroes are looking for new approaches to the treatment of cancer or depression (what looks promising in this field is surprisingly the smell of pine needles). Scientific ideas, personal and family stories, philosophical reflections and a lot of life — this is what the new collaborative edition of Skoltech, the Russian Science Foundation, and the Paulsen publishing house brings to the table.

The presentation of the book caused a sensation and took place in the format of a public interview, where Skoltech Vice President for Biomedical Research, the scientific consultant and a hero of the media project Mikhail Gelfand answered the questions of readers, who were interested in how much science has advanced in understanding the origin of life on Earth, how we can improve ourselves, where we are standing now in the evolution process, and much more. For the best question, the audience received a prize — the book signed by the scientist.

Sales of the new edition began on the first day of the fair, November 30. It is already available for online orders on the publisher’s website. After the fair, the new book is expected to be available in the country’s leading book chains and online platforms.

“Life and Other Stories” continues the Skoltech’s book series, which includes collections of interviews, “Mathematical Walks/Mathematical walks +” and “The Forefront of Physics.” All editions were published by the Paulsen publishing house. The “Mathematical Walks” book became the winner of the “Educator 2017” award in the “informal” nomination, while its expanded edition “Mathematical Walks +” (2022) was included in the top list of the spring’s Non/fiction fair. This October, it was awarded with a second-grade certificate at the Commitment to Science national award in the special nomination named after Daniil Granin.