// science writer

About the photo

The image that appears in the left column of this website is what’s left of the S.S. Atlantus, a concrete ship built as part of a fleet during the World War I steel shortage. The Atlantus was retired in the 1920s and was to be used as part of a dock for a ferry planned to run between Cape May, New Jersey and Lewes, Delaware. Instead, the ship broke loose during a storm and ended up just off the coast of Sunset Beach, New Jersey, where its fragments remain to this day. A series of photos showing the progression of its demise can be found here.

I love science and technology, but as we all know, “the best laid plans...” ...well, to be fair, plans that result in the creation of a ship essentially guaranteed to break apart and sink probably weren’t of the best variety. Perhaps we should go with, “The best intentioned plans of mice and men often go awry.” That’s an aspect of human life that I am particularly interested in exploring, and often do so in my writing: when we solve one problem, how often do we create another? Can we ever really be aware of all possible consequences of new technology? When antibiotics found their way into widespread usage, could anyone have foreseen the eventual rise of MRSA and drug-resistant TB?

I don’t know. But I plan to keep exploring.