author
Hal Hellman
b. 1927
A lively popular science writer, he turned big ideas and famous intellectual clashes into clear, entertaining stories for general readers. His books often explore how science, medicine, and technology move forward through argument, ambition, and discovery.
1 Audiobook
Lasers
by Hal Hellman
About the author
Born in 1927, Hal Hellman was an American writer known for making science approachable and dramatic for a wide audience. Reference sources describe him as a freelance writer whose work ranged across history, physics, science, technology, and biography.
Over the course of his career, he wrote numerous popular science books, including Great Feuds in Science, Great Feuds in Medicine, Great Feuds in Technology, and Great Feuds in Mathematics. Publisher and book-source biographies also note that he wrote articles for publications such as The New York Times, Omni, Reader's Digest, Psychology Today, and Geo.
Biographical notes connected to his books say he earned a master's degree in physics from Stevens Institute of Technology and later taught science writing at New York University while also serving as a writing instructor at Fordham and Fairleigh Dickinson. An obituary listing for Harold Hellman of Leonia, New Jersey indicates he died in October 2016.