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IMPROBABLE DESTINIES Predicting the Future of Evolution By Jonathan Losos [US — Riverhead, UK — Allen Lane, German — Hanser, Audio — Penguin RH; Manuscript; Pub Date: June 2017; 110.000 words] Evolutionary biologist and Harvard professor Jonathan Losos is widely known for his unique approach to studying evolution in realtime and using experimental means. As E.O. Wilson writes, Losos is a "world leader in research and theory of the overlapping fields of herpetology, biodiversity, and species formation." "In the last few years," Losos writes, "evolutionary biologists have come to realize that evolution can occur much more rapidly than Darwin and a century of subsequent biologists ever expected —fast enough, in fact, to observe as it occurs, even during the span of a single research grant! Now that we know that evolution can proceed rapidly, experimental studies in natural systems have begun." Losos’ work on lizards has been at the forefront of the experimental evolution movement. Using small Bahamian islands as test tubes, he and his team have altered conditions and made predictions about how populations should evolve in response. And the results are resoundingly consistent: evolution is extremely predictable. Improbable Destinies is not only about what we know about evolution, but how we know what we know. Not just the technology and theories of science, but where the ideas come from—how researchers think them up, how they are honed by experiences in the field, and how much of science 1s the serendipitous juxtaposition of disparate ideas brought together by unexpected observations. JONATHAN LOSOS is the Monique and Philip Lehner Professor for the Study of Latin America and professor of organismic and evolutionary biology at Harvard University. He is the recipient of a number of awards, including the Theodosius Dobzhansky Prize from the Society for the Study of Evolution and the David Starr Jordan Prize from the American Society of Naturalists. -o DISEMPOWERED (working title) By Greg Lukianoff and Jonathan Haidt [Proposal; Delivery: 9-12 months from signing contract; 60,000 — 80,000 words] Disempowered is an expansion to book-length of the cover story by Greg Lukianoff and Jonathan Haidt that appeared in the September 2015 issue of The Atlantic: "The Coddling of The American Mind" (CAM). It became the Af/antic’s second most-read cover story of all time and has been referenced in hundreds of articles in a wide variety of publications, including the New York Times, the Washington Post, National Review, Newsweek, Los Angeles Times, Bloomberg, the Guardian, The Korea Herald, and the Irish Times; and it even drew the attention of President Obama. "A full-length book is necessary for several reasons," writes Lukianoff. "First, even with the article’s generous word limit, we could not present the full scope of the intersection of harmful psychological theories and political correctness. We could only do a cursory explanation of the new reality on campus and how terms like ‘trigger warnings,’ ‘microaggressions,’ and “disinvitations’ suddenly rose from obscurity to become part of higher education’s and the nation's vocabulary. A full-length book allows us to cover a host of new hot topics, including so-called ‘safe spaces’ and how a warped idea of safety is used to justify campus censorship, as well as campus ‘bias response teams’ (BRTs)— Orwellian programs that police the language students use in their private lives Brockman, Inc. Frankfurt 2016 Hotlist -7- HOUSE_OVERSIGHT_025153