
Tom Siegfried is a contributing correspondent. He was editor in chief of Science News from 2007 to 2012, and he was the managing editor from 2014 to 2017. He is the author of the blog Context. In addition to Science News, his work has appeared in Science, Nature, Astronomy, New Scientist and Smithsonian. Previously he was the science editor of The Dallas Morning News. He is the author of four books: The Bit and the Pendulum (Wiley, 2000); Strange Matters (National Academy of Sciences’ Joseph Henry Press, 2002); A Beautiful Math (2006, Joseph Henry Press); and The Number of the Heavens (Harvard University Press, 2019). Tom was born in Lakewood, Ohio, and grew up in nearby Avon. He earned an undergraduate degree from Texas Christian University with majors in journalism, chemistry and history, and has a master of arts with a major in journalism and a minor in physics from the University of Texas at Austin. His awards include the American Geophysical Union's Robert C. Cowen Award for Sustained Achievement in Science Journalism, the Science-in Society award from the National Association of Science Writers, the American Association for the Advancement of Science-Westinghouse Award, the American Chemical Society’s James T. Grady-James H. Stack Award for Interpreting Chemistry for the Public, and the American Institute of Physics Science Communication Award.

All Stories by Tom Siegfried
- Physics
New physics books don’t censor the math behind reality
Special Relativity and Classical Theory and The Physical World offer deep dives into physical reality’s mathematical foundations.
- Science & Society
An American astronomical evangelist coined the phrase ‘island universe’
Ormsby MacKnight Mitchel, a Civil War general nicknamed ‘Old Stars,’ first used ‘island universe’ in his monthly astronomy magazine.
- Quantum Physics
Quantum mysteries dissolve if possibilities are realities
Quantum mysteries can be avoided if reality encompasses possibilities as well as actualities, a new paper proposes.
- Science & Society
Debates on whether science is broken don’t fit in tweets
Amid debates over whether science is broken, many experts are proposing repairs.
- Astronomy
Eclipses show wrong physics can give right results
Math for making astronomical predictions doesn’t necessarily reflect physical reality.
- Quantum Physics
Modern-day Alice trades looking glass for wormhole to explore quantum wonderland
A new paper shows how the possibility of wormholes linking quantum-entangled black holes could be tested in the laboratory.
- Neuroscience
There’s a long way to go in understanding the brain
Neuroscientists offer multiple “perspectives” on how to plug gaps in current knowledge of the brain’s inner workings.
- Science & Society
This history book offers excellent images but skimps on modern science
For an accessible account of mostly pre-20th century science, check out The Oxford Illustrated History of Science.
- Quantum Physics
A quarter century ago, the qubit was born
The invention of the qubit a quarter century ago enabled the quantum information revolution.
- Science & Society
Top 10 discoveries about waves
Another gravitational wave detection reaffirms the importance of waves for a vast spectrum of physical processes and technologies.
- Science & Society
The first Cassini to explore Saturn was a person
Cassini, the spacecraft about to dive into Saturn, was named for the astronomical pioneer who first perceived the gap between the planet’s famous rings.
- Science & Society
Top 10 science anniversaries of 2017
2017 offers an abundance of scientific anniversaries to celebrate, from pulsars and pulsar planets to Einstein’s laser, Einstein’s cosmos and the laws of robotics.