Diane Ackerman

I discovered Diane Ackerman via four of her many (24?) books: The Zookeeper's Wife, A Natural History of the Senses, and the Pulitzer Prize finalist, One Hundred Names for Love were my first reads.

In A Natural History of the Senses, she explores the five senses, but the essays get into topics such as synesthesia, food taboos, kissing and how music affects us. It's science, but it's a lot more about awareness.

Recently I read her Deep Play and wrote about the ideas contained in that book.

Her most recent book (which I have not read) is The Human Age: the World Shaped by Us, which looks at how and why the human race is now the single dominant force of change on the planet - which is not always a good thing.

Find her at: www.dianeackerman.com - on Twitter at @dianesackerman and on facebook.com/dianeackerman.author