Press (and other coverage)

From the Wall Street Journal and The Washington Post to New Scientist and The Daily Mail, here's a random selection of press coverage from the last few years. There are many more reviews on the books page. My books are published all around the world so a few of these pieces are not in English. (But you do speak Slovak, don't you... so that's ok.)

Breathless

• Sweden Sends a Message to Stockholm Drivers: Go Electric or Go Home by Christina Anderson and Christopher F. Schuetze, The New York Times (USA), 12 October 2023.
• "Cleaner air at home" by Anna Turns, Country Homes and Interiors, March 2023, p.113.
• Air pollution: Made in China—by the world's factory, for the world by Chris Woodford, United Daily News (Taiwan), 8 November 2022.
• How to actually make your travel better for the planet by Natalie B. Compton, The Washington Post (USA), September 2021.
• Every breath you take by Chris Woodford, The I (UK), March 2021 —including an interview with Rosamund Kissi-Debrah.
• Neil Mackay's Big Read: Air Pollution, The Herald (Scotland), March 2021.
• How to help stop the world's biggest invisible killer by Chris Woodford, Balance magazine (UK), May 2021.
• Air pollution in parts of Dartford worse than Paris, Madrid and Rome amid calls for more effective monitoring sites, Dartford Chronicle (UK), April 2021.
• The Book Department, The Bay Magazine (Wales), March 2021.
• 'Ever since humans discovered fire, air pollution has been an issue': Chris Woodford" by Nick Smith, IET (UK), March 2021.
• Air pollution: Rosamund Kissi-Debrah and Chris Woodford on his new book Breathless, Alexis Conran/Times Radio (UK), 13 March 2021.
• Books of the month: From Kazuo Ishiguro's Klara and the Sun to Melissa Broder's Milk Fed by Martin Chilton, The Independent (UK), 8 March 2021.
• The Jo Good Show: Chris Woodford speaks about the impact of lockdown pollution, BBC Radio London (UK), 4 March 2021.
• WHO warns: 3 million people around the world die every year because of the "killers" you face every day by Nguyen Hang, SOHA (Vietnam), May 20, 2017.

Atoms Under the Floorboards

• Why Do Skyscrapers Wobble? by Nitya Shukla, The Times of India, 28 June 2023.
• Il libro di Chris Woodford per capire come funziona tutto ciò che ci circonda by Maria Arcà, Galileo (Italy), 15 August 2019.
• Ecco perché (prima o poi) tutte le automobili saranno elettriche by Chris Woodford, Linkiesta (Italy), 15 August 2019.
• Impariamo le leggi della fisica nella vita domestica quotidiana by Andrea Porta, Airone (Italy), May 2019.
• "Prendete in giro i terrapiattisti, ma sapete perchê il vento non butta giù i grattacieli?": TPI intervista il divulgatore scientifico Chris Woodford by Nicola Baroni, The Post Internazionale (Italy), 24 April 2019.
• Consiglio di lettura: Fisica della lavatrice, di Chris Woodford: Olio Officina (Italy), 15 April 2019.
• Bellini: spiegare il design ai bambini ci permette di capire meglio il suo significato, Radio 24 (Italy), 7 April 2019.
• Buono quel ketchup ma per capirlo ci vuole la fisica [PDF] by Alex Saragosa, Il Venerdì, La Repubblica (Italy), 22 February 2019.
• 13 Scientific Explanations for Everyday Life by Shaunacy Farro, Mental Floss (USA), 10 July 2018.
• Review: Atoms under the floorboards by Jamie Durrani, Chemistry World (UK), 2016.
• Chris Woodford: The difficulty of explaining science, Talk Radio Europe (Spain), 24 November 2017.
• Lektüre macht Lust auf Physik by Christina Rohrbach, Solinger Tageblatt (Germany), 2017.
• Upstairs, downstairs by Chris Woodford, Elementy (Russia), 2017.
• The cool stuff about atoms: Ask your questions by Debarghya Sanyal, Business Standard (India), 2016.
• Top physics books of 2015 by Margaret Harris, Physics World (UK), 3 December 2015.
• AIP Congratulates its 2016 Science Writing Award Winners, American Institute of Physics (USA), 6 October 2016.
• New in paperback: 'Beyond Words: What Animals Think and Feel' by Andreea Ciulac, Chicago Tribune (USA), 13 July 2016.
• Bright Ideas by William Gurstelle, Wall Street Journal (USA), 19 June 2015. [Review of Atoms Under the Floorboards]
• An excerpt from Chris Woodford's new book, 'Atoms Under the Floorboards' by Chris Woodford, Boing Boing (USA), 12 May 2015.
• Atoms under the floorboards by Cary Seidman, The Science Teacher, NSTA Recommends, November 2015, p.72.
• Concentrate... here comes the science bit: The eggheads' take on daily life by Amanda Killelea, Daily Mirror (UK), 5 September 2015.
• Atoms Under The Floorboards by Chris Woodford (book review) by UncleGeoff, SF Crows Nest (USA), September 2015.
• Between the Lines by Margaret Harris, Physics World (UK), 1 August 2015.
• Book Marks by Sue Townsend, Cape Times (South Africa), 17 July 2015, p.27.
• How to have all the answers for your curious kid by Vivien Horler, Cape Argus (South Africa), Sunday 12 July 2015, p.19.
• The Modern Notion Podcast: Atoms Under the Floorboards: Interview by Emma Morgenstern (USA), 19 June 2015.
• Book Rack, Deccan Herald (India), June 2015.
• Atoms Under the Floorboards: review by Patrick Gane, The Sun (UK), 27 March 2015, p.60.
• That Science Bit: Freezing Flowers, The Anton Savage Show, Today FM (Ireland), 12th March 2015.
• Why Your Car is a Chemistry Lab on Wheels by Chris Woodford, Yahoo! (India), 20 February 2015. (Chapter extract for the Indian market.)

"Cool Stuff" books

• Compendiums: Cool Stuff Exploded: North Bay Nugget (Canada), 31 August 2013. "Discloses the wizardry behind today's technological marvels..."
• Cool Stuff and How it Works: The Globe and Mail (Canada), 12 December 2009, p.64.
• Up close and personal with design classics: Cool Stuff Exploded by Chris Woodford: Daily Mail (UK), December 2008.
• Christmas gift books guide: The Globe and Mail (Canada), 8 December 2008.
• GeekDad Review: Cool Stuff Exploded by Chris Woodford by Matt Blum, Wired (USA), September 2008.
• Review: Cool Stuff Exploded by Chris Woodford by David Robson, New Scientist (UK), December 2008.
• Wondrous Tales—All True by Karen MacPherson, Washington Post (USA), 9 December 2007.
• Was ist Photovoltaik? Chris Woodford: Faszination Technik: Suddeutsche Zeitung (Germany), Deustchland-Ausgabe, 1 December 2006.
• Science Books for Fun and Learning: Some Recommendations from 2006 by Heather Malcolmson et al, Science (USA), Vol. 314, No. 5805 (Dec. 8, 2006), pp. 1543–1545.
• How Cool Stuff Works—In short by Ian Finlayson, The Times (London), Books, 1 October 2005, p.10.
• Look at a Book: Cool for Kids by Philip Ardagh, The Guardian (UK), 1 October 2005, p.14.
• The funny and peculiar facts of life - Books Reference by Boyd Tonkin, The Independent (UK), 2 December 2005, pp.8–9.

Miscellaneous

Some of these are interviews, some are book reviews, some are one-off articles, some are translated versions of my articles published by other people, some feature quotes from me (or my alter ego, "Explain that Stuff"), and quite a few are just interesting, fleeting mentions.

2021—2024

• Fact Check: Yes, This Photo Shows Bullet Flying Past Trump by Taija PerryCook, Snopes, 17 July 2024. Our article about bullets (and photo) helps Snopes verify that a New York Times photographer really did capture the bullet that narrowly missed Donald Trump.
• This wildly massive 3D-printed home is the first of its kind: '[It] can withstand the hurricanes and heavy storms' by Laurelle Stelle, MSN Money, 3 January 2024. Could we really print our own homes?
• Amid winter freezes, this state has found a new, budget-friendly way to heat its homes: "It sure is a whole lot cheaper" by Laurelle Stelle, Yahoo! News (USA), 1 November 2023. Exploring the benefits of heat pumps.
• What is a quantum dot? by Kenneth Niemeyer, Business Insider (USA), 6 October 2023. I help explain some Nobel-Prize-winning chemistry.
• Mom from the future shows off magical 'invisible' cooktop that's super safe for her kids: 'You can put your hand directly on [it]' by Laurelle Stelle, Yahoo! News (USA), 15 August 2023. Another day, another article praising induction cooktops. But no prize to the person who wrote the headline: my article clearly dates them back to at least 1981—over 40 years ago!
• This company has figured out how to 3D-print car parts—and the discovery could change vehicle prices forever by Laurelle Stelle, The Cool Down, 13 March 2023.
• Amid Gas-Stove Debate, Some Makers Bet on Induction: The Wall Street Journal (USA), February 5, 2023. After drawing attention to the health harms of gas cooking in Breathless, it was good to see my article about induction cooking—probably the most efficient, least polluting alternative—popping up in the citations of this WSJ piece.
• China's 'electromagnetic sled' is almost supersonic by Scott Foster, Asia Times, October 24, 2022. Why maglev trains are still the next big thing.
• This wearable health sensor could be a game-changer because it's chip-less by Ann Thompson, WXVU/Cincinnati Public Radio (USA), September 12, 2022. How health chips can power themselves.
• Dear Tigers: How loud can I possibly yell "fire Al Avila"? by Eli Ong, Fansided (USA), July 28, 2022. I help a football fan to figure out how to shout across a city.
• What Is a Supercomputer and How Does It Work? by Mike Thomas, BuiltIn, July 8, 2022. We help explain the power of parallel processing.
• In wake of King Soopers shooting, Boulder High graduate creates tote bag that can transform into Kevlar vest by Deborah Swearingen, Boulder Daily Camera (USA), April 17, 2022. Will packing Kevlar save your life?
• Teens most at-risk group when it comes to suicide in SA, warn experts. Here's what parents can do by Lindsay de Freitas, News24, February 17, 2022. Drawing on an article about teen suicide I wrote some years ago.
• What's Today's Version of the Continental Drift Theory? by Mark Hagland, Healthcare Innovation, January 14, 2022. Continental drift as a metaphor for new directions in healthcare...
• The Mycology TikToker Embracing the Sound of Shrooms by Samantha Hissong, Rolling Stone (USA), November 27, 2021. How do mushrooms make music? Well... a bit like synthesizers, apparently.
• Periodic Graphics: Comparing how air purification technologies trap and attack viruses by Andy Brunning, Chemical and Engineering News, June 20, 2021.
• "Scientists who changed history": a pop book by Claudio Bellumori, L'Opinione (Italy), March 2021.
• The Pineapple's Deadly Cousin and The Internet Explained (by Chris Woodford), Fun Kids Science Weekly Podcast (UK), 23 January 2021.
• The rise of biosurfactants by Serena Lim, Oils & Fats International Journal, Vol 36. No. 6, p.24.

2016—2020

• Kettle or Microwave? For the Best Tea, Science Says Make It This Way by Courtney Linder, Popular Mechanics (USA), August 6, 2020.
• Could Technology Advance the Future of Endoscopic Procedures?, MD+DI, 30 July 2020.
• Up Your Game With Physics, Science Museum of Minnesota (USA), 2 July 2020.
• Electric guitars by Chris Woodford, Front Vision (China), 2020.
• The Science of Post-it Notes by Lucia Peters, Mind Bounce, 4 June 2020.
• The 2020s: life as we will know it in the next decade by Nadine Dreyer, Sunday Times (South Africa), 5 January 2020.
• Can We Innovate Our Way Out of the Climate Crisis? Natural, Biodegradable, & Sustainable Alternatives to Plastic by Jonathan O'Donnell, Thrive Global, 2 October 2019.
• Laser Mapping Reveals Bizarre New Rituals of the Ancient Mayans by Steve Palace, The Vintage News, 9 August 2019. We help shed light on LIDAR mapping of ancient sites.
• How important are supercomputers to the US and China?: VN Express (Vietnam), 25 June 2019.
• Things You Think Are Eco Friendly But Aren't: HGTV (Canada), May 2019.
• The secret code only you and God know, Tirto (Indonesia), 2019.
• How can we reduce plastic in our beauty routine?, Women's Environmental Network (UK), 2018.
• Science: A Children's Encyclopedia—by Chris Woodford & Steve Parker by Robin Brooks, Geek Dad (USA), 5 September 2018.
• È come un bacio appassionato", ecco perché non resistiamo al cioccolato. E festeggiamo la giornata mondiale by Eleonora Cozzella, La Repubblica (Italy), 7 July 2018.
• Berpada layan telefon pintar ("On smartphone service"), Harian Metro (Malaysia), 25 July 2018.
• IEEE Spectrum is one of my all-time favourite tech magazines and websites, so I was particularly chuffed to find Explainthatstuff recommended as further reading in their three 2018 pieces on the Hall Effect, magnetrons, and nixie tubes.
• Hey Golfers, Sports Fans And Everyone Else - Lightning Causes Thunder by Marshall Shepherd, Forbes (USA), 25 June 2018.
• "QR Code® and 2D barcodes" by Chris Woodford, GS1 (Thailand), Volume 25 Number 2, April/June 2018.
• Inside the workhorse engine: Business World, 31 January 2018.
• The Science Behind Why Bridges Ice Before Roads by Marshall Shepherd, Forbes (USA), 19 December 2017.
• What's under the hood? The ins and outs of your laptop by by Benji Taubenblatt, McGill Tribune (Canada), 17 October 2017.
• Bookmarks: Explain that Stuff: Times of India, 28 September 2017. "All in all a great website for students and technology aficionados..."
• Make This Color-Changing Goo And Be Entertained For Days: BuzzFeed (USA), 15 January 2017. An interesting misinterpretation of thermochromism.
• Supercapacitor breakthrough suggests EVs could charge in seconds but with a trade-off: Teslerati, December 2016.
• Hoe komt het dat we de warmte van de zon voelen? by Debarghya Sanyal, Rijmond (Holland), 17 December 2016.
• Is nanotech failing casual learners? by Andrew D. Maynard, Nature (USA), 7 September 2016.
• Reducing cost of producing supercapacitors by South Dakota State University, Science Daily, 18 August 2016.
• Rite-Aid dares you to steal this candy bar by Mark Frauenfelder, Boing Boing (USA), 11 August 2016. How does RFID work? Let me explain...
• Christians and Virtual Reality by Mike Poteet, United Methodist News (USA), 16 May 2016.

2000—2015

• What are the technologies of the future and what will robots do for us? by Chris Woodford and Steve Parker, Pravda (Slovakia), 24 September 2015.
• Introducing the World's Largest Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion Power Plant by Julia McCandless, Government Technology, 20 August 2015.
• Want to learn to surf? Science can help you by Vincent Manilève, Slate (France), 17 August 2015.
• Los diez experimentos de la física que cambiaron la historia by R. Pérez (Spain), 9 August 2015.
• The chameleon Lamborghini: Vehicle changes colour to reveal a Captain America design thanks to heat-sensitive paint by Jack Millner, Daily Mail (UK), 31 July 2015.
• Who knew frying an egg could blow your mind! by Sarah Griffiths, Daily Mail (UK), 16 July 2015.
• Motion in the ocean: the energy in waves by Chris Woodford, Surfing Doctors Europe, 7 July 2015.
• Science Spotlight: Bending Light with a New Kind of Microscope by Adrienne Calo, KQED, May 7, 2015.
• Jackhammer and compressor by LEGO™ Ideas, 30 April 2015.
• Superstrong Science: Explore Nanotechnology Using Paper by Science Buddies, Scientific American (USA), 29 January 2015.
• The wonder of wetsuits by Chris Woodford, Surfing Doctors Europe, 22 December 2012.
• Chris Woodford talks to Plastic is Rubbish: Plasticisrubbish Blog, 1 October 2011.
• The Elements: Chris Woodford by Elizabeth Offutt, The Science Teacher (USA), September 2003, p.98.

Radio interviews and podcasts

Most of the interviews I've done aren't online, but here are a few that seem to have escaped the "delete" button:

• Wings of Wonder: The Science of Aeroplanes & Rockets with Dan Simpson, Fun Kids Science Weekly Podcast (UK), 22 June 2024.
• Why are fax machines still popular in Japan? with Luke Jones, The John Pienaar Show, Times Radio (UK), 10 August 2021.
• Air pollution: Rosamund Kissi-Debrah and Chris Woodford on his new book Breathless with Alexis Conran, Times Radio (UK), 13 March 2021.
• The Jo Good Show: Chris Woodford speaks about the impact of lockdown pollution: BBC Radio London (UK), 4 March 2021.
• The Pineapple's Deadly Cousin and The Internet Explained (by Chris Woodford) with Dan Simpson, Fun Kids Science Weekly Podcast (UK), 23 January 2021.
• That Science Bit: Freezing Flowers: The Anton Savage Show, Today FM (Ireland), 12th March 2015. 15–minute interview about Atoms Under the Floorboards on one of Ireland's top daytime radio shows.
• Chris Woodford: The difficulty of explaining science: Talk Radio Europe (Spain), 24 November 2017. Do "ordinary" people understand science and, if not, what can we do to help?
• The Modern Notion Podcast: 19 June 2015. A 10–15 minute chat about Atoms Under the Floorboards with Emma Morgenstern. The interview begins at 37:27.
• Guardian Newsdesk Podcast: 6 December 2007. A "few-minute" interview about the scrapping of the Stonehenge tunnel, with Jon Dennis. The interview begins at 21:45.

Citations

I dropped out of academia and the citation rat-race many years ago and I don't write in peer-reviewed journals. But if you're interested in that sort of thing, you can find academic and technical citations to my books (and online articles) through my Google Scholar profile, a general search on Google Scholar (which, for some reason, gives a lot more results), and via Google Books. Take all this with a pinch of salt: like everything Google does, these are automatically "aggregated" and very flawed. I'm not a scholar!

Campaigns

From the Newbury snail to the Stonehenge tunnel, here are a few choice press pieces from my parallel life as an environmental campaigner.

2010—

• Sweden Sends a Message to Stockholm Drivers: Go Electric or Go Home by Christina Anderson and Christopher F. Schuetze, The New York Times, 12 October 2023.
• "Cleaner air at home" by Anna Turns, Country Homes and Interiors, March 2023, p.113.
• Air pollution: Made in China—by the world's factory, for the world by Chris Woodford, United Daily News (Taiwan), 8 November 2022.
• How to actually make your travel better for the planet by Natalie B. Compton, The Washington Post, September 2021.
• Every breath you take by Chris Woodford, The I, March 2021 —including an interview with Rosamund Kissi-Debrah.
• Neil Mackay's Big Read: Air Pollution, The Herald, March 2021.
• How to help stop the world's biggest invisible killer by Chris Woodford, Balance magazine, May 2021.
• Air pollution in parts of Dartford worse than Paris, Madrid and Rome amid calls for more effective monitoring sites, Dartford Chronicle, April 2021.
• Air pollution: Rosamund Kissi-Debrah and Chris Woodford on his new book Breathless, Alexis Conran/Times Radio, 13 March 2021.
• Books of the month: From Kazuo Ishiguro's Klara and the Sun to Melissa Broder's Milk Fed by Martin Chilton, The Independent, 8 March 2021.
• The Jo Good Show: Chris Woodford speaks about the impact of lockdown pollution, BBC Radio London, 4 March 2021.
• How can we reduce plastic in our beauty routine?, Women's Environmental Network, 2018.
• Why Fair Trade? - ABC's by Nancy Dunizz, Dunitz & Company, 12 October 2017.
• WHO warns: 3 million people around the world die every year because of the "killers" you face every day by Nguyen Hang, SOHA, Vietnam, May 20, 2017.
• Stonehenge tunnel plans dropped, Western Daily Press, 1 January 2012, p.4.
• Chris Woodford talks to Plastic is Rubbish: Plasticisrubbish Blog, 1 October 2011.
• How the Environment Agency has spun the news on river quality by John Vidal, The Guardian, 30 August 2011.

1995—2010

• Stonehenge tunnel plan abandoned, Taranaki Daily News, 8 December 2007, p.17.
• Stonehenge tunnel 'too expensive to build' by Ben Webster, The Times, 7 December 2007.
• Government scraps Stonehenge tunnel plan by Matthew Weaver, The Guardian, 6 December 2007.
• Guardian Newdesk Podcast: Campaigner Chris Woodford of Save Stonehenge welcomes the government's decision today to scrap plans to build a 2.1km tunnel under the World Heritage Site because of spiraling costs by Jon Dennis, The Guardian, 6 December 2007.
• Stonehenge tunnel plans scrapped: BBC News, 6 December 2007.
• Stonehenge road tunnel scrapped by David Millward, Telegraph, 6 December 2007.
• Ministers shelve plans for controversial 1.3 mile tunnel to divert traffic from Stonehenge by Ray Massey, Daily Mail, 6 December 2007.
• How to tackle the rising tide of litter in filthy Britain by Chris Woodford, The Guardian (Letters), 8 March 2007.
• Bypassing the roadbuilders by Chris Woodford, The Times (Letters), 14 September 2006.
• No holds barred by Bibi van der Zee and John Vidal, The Guardian, 11 January 2006.
• "Controversial scheme to build a road tunnel under Stonehenge is under threat because of soaring costs", The Birmingham Post, 21 July 2005.
• Soaring costs threaten Stonehenge road tunnel, The Telegraph, 20 July 2005.
• A Tunnel for Stonehenge: American Express Travel and Leisure, May 2004, p.177.
• Deja vu as fog of argument engulfs Stonehenge tunnel inquiry by Maev Kennedy, The Guardian, 18 February 2004.
• "Tempest brewing over Stonehenge tunnel plan", Globe & Mail (Toronto, Canada), 17 February 2004.
• Tunnel to protect Stonehenge but critics say it will not be enough by Maev Kennedy, The Guardian, 11 December 2002.
• The day the eco-warriors took to the trees: BBC News, 2002.
• Concrete Proposal by Simon Jones, The Guardian, 31 December 1997, pp.40–41.
• "The guardians of nature: 'secretive, defensive and turning a blind eye to destruction'" by John Vidal, The Guardian, 24 November 1997, p.1.
• Eviction go-ahead at Devon quarry: The Independent, 30 August 1997.
• We must have a public inquiry by Chris Woodford, Western Morning News, 22 August 1997.
• Home from home for Newbury snails by Oliver Tickell, New Scientist, 14 June 1996.
• Costain to build Newbury bypass by Andrew Taylor and Layla Boulton, The Financial Times, 7 June 1996.
• True Grit at Newbury by Eldred Willey, The Tablet, 16 March 1996, p.383.
• Throwing down a mitt in the mud by Jay Griffiths, The Guardian, 31 January 1996.
• David Rendel's Concrete Overcoat by Chris Woodford, Green Democrat, 1995.
• Battle of Newbury by Chris Woodford, Birdwatch, January 1995, p.65.