Earth, Oceans and Skies is a book that sets itself apart by deviating from predominant models of presenting scientists. Most such accounts are staged from the author’s perspective, resulting in the creation of often highly colored, larger-than-life personas, obscuring the excitement of scientific discovery. These stories take us to the center of the scientific enterprise, submerging us in a world far more immediate than we would have imagined. While the selection of the scientists featured in this book was informal, effort was taken to ensure a thorough, demographically, geographically and disciplinary representative nomination and winnowing process.

The scientists featured in Earth, Oceans and Skies include pathbreakers and torchbearers; the rebels and the daring; the down-to-earth and the sky-reachers; the prominent and the gems under the radar; the risk-takers and the judicious. The list is composed of astronomers, entomologists, geologists, chemists, climatologists, crop and animal specialists, medical and health researchers, among others.

These narratives, categorized into the five chapters below, will inspire and challenge in equal measure. Chapter 1: Agriculture, food security and climate change, consists of stories of six scientists. Chapter 2: Health, features eight scientists. Three of them: form a nexus around malaria, with research on the development of a vaccine, the disease’s immunology and its impact on neonatal mortality. Chapter 3: Earth, Oceans and Skies features six scientists. Chapter 4: Materials science, consists of the stories of three scientists. Two of them are exploring humankind’s fascination with light.