On Mar 17, 2010, at 9:27 AM, Pifer, Ellen wrote:

Brian Boyd’s essay on the interaction of evolution and creativity, “Purpose-Driven Life”--which appeared in the Spring issue of The American Scholar-- has been selected by the eminent physicist (and frequent contributor to The New York Review of Books), Freeman Dyson, for 2010 inclusion in The Best American Science and Nature Writing.

Hats off to Brian!

Ellen Pifer

Wow - - I am impressed! I have known and highly respected Freeman Dyson since the mid-seventies when I read Refusednik - Trapped in the USSR for which, as a friend and with respect as a colleague, he had written the introduction. As he wrote, this is a book about an extraordinary man, a great physicist named Mark Azbel, who was one of the first "refusedniks" to escape the "KGBeast" state and make his way to Israel. I have mentioned his autobiography to the List in the past because of Mark Azbel's incredible ability even as a youngster to find and understand Russian and european literature, at the time not sanctioned by the state. He even knew about Nabokov remarkably (hm) early.

I also respect Professor Dyson for his well-reasoned and judiciously expressed contrarian opinions on global warming.

Three cheers for Brian Boyd (I guess I'll have to read the essay now?)!

Carolyn Kunin

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