Margaret Wertheim

Margaret Wertheim is the writer and host of Faith and Reason. She is an internationally noted science writer and commentator, originally hailing from Australia and now living in Los Angeles. She has written extensively about science and society for magazines, television, and radio. She is the author of two books: Pythagoras' Trousers, a history of the relationship between physics, religion, and women, [W.W.Norton]; and The Pearly Gates of Cyberspace, a cultural history of space from Dante to the Internet, [forthcoming from W.W. Norton, Feb. 1999].

Margaret has two science degrees: a Bachelor of Science majoring in pure and applied physics, and a Bachelor of Arts majoring in pure mathematics and computing. For fifteen years she has worked as a science writer, first in her native Australia and now in the USA. Her articles have appeared in many magazines and newspapers including The New York Times, The Sciences, New Scientist, Omni, Science Digest, The Australian Review of Books, 21C: Magazine of Science, Technology and Culture, The Daily Telegraph (London), Die Zeit (Germany), Australian Geographic, Vogue, Elle, and Glamour.

Margaret has written ten television documentaries, including the award winning series Catalyst which she conceived and co-directed. Catalyst is a six-part series about science and technology aimed at teenagers. Margaret has also written and directed three interactive video programs, including the Canadian public health program What About AIDS; and she has produced several short films. Margaret has appeared frequently on television and radio in the USA, Australia, and Europe talking about science in a social context. She is a regular guest on the Canadian Broadcasting Corporations weekly TV current affairs program Sunday Morning Live, and has been a contributing reporter on the PBS program Religion and Ethics News Weekly.

Margaret lectures regularly about science and society, and about science and religion, at universities and colleges across America - and also abroard. In 1998 she was the Australian Broadcasting Corporations official spokeswoman for Science Week. She has recently been on a lecture tour of South Africa, speaking about the interaction between physics and religion both historically and today.