Paul Smith's College professor releases new book

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Paul Smith's College professor Curt Stager

PAUL SMITHS, NY (10/17/2014)(readMedia)-- Paul Smith's College professor Curt Stager released a new book Tuesday, Oct. 14.

His latest title, "Your Atomic Self," uses your daily experiences to reveal how atoms connect you to some of the most amazing things in the universe, including other life forms, the planet Earth and the rest of the cosmos.

According to the book's descriptive excerpt: "You will follow your oxygen atoms through fire and water and from forests to your fingernails. Hydrogen atoms will wriggle into your hair and betray where you live and what you have been drinking. The carbon in your breath will become tree trunks, and the sodium in your tears will link you to long-dead oceans. You are not only made of atoms; you are atoms and this book, in essence, is an atomic field guide to yourself."

Author and former Paul Smith's trustee Bill McKibben says, "Curt Stager is the finest and most entertaining explainer I've ever come across. Read this book and I guarantee you that the world – and your own darned self – will look very different to you in the future." And author Lee Billings says, "Curt Stager is of a rare breed, a gifted scientist with the eyes of an artist and the heart of a poet."

Stager, the author of "Deep Future: The Next 100,000 Years of Life on Earth" and "Field Notes from the Northern Forest," is a professor of natural sciences, an ecologist and paleoclimatologist. He holds a doctorate in biology and geology from Duke University and has published over three-dozen peer-reviewed articles in major journals.

Stager has written extensively for general audiences in periodicals such as National Geographic, the New York Times, Fast Company and Adirondack Life. Since 1990, he has also co-hosted Natural Selections, a weekly science program on North Country Public Radio that is syndicated internationally. In 2013, Stager was named the New York State Professor of the Year by the Carnegie Foundation.

"Your Atomic Self" is published by St. Martin's Press and is available for purchase online at Amazon, Barnes and Noble and iTunes, as well as your local, independent booksellers. For more information on this and Stager's other works, visit his website, curtstager.com.

ABOUT PAUL SMITH'S COLLEGE

At Paul Smith's College, it's about the experience. Paul Smith's, which was founded in 1946, is the only bachelor's degree-granting institution of higher education in the Adirondacks. Our programs – in fields including hospitality, culinary arts, forestry, natural resources and the sciences – draw on industries and resources available in our own backyard while preparing students for successful careers anywhere. For more information: www.paulsmiths.edu.