Ira Flatow

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They All Laughed... (1992) by Ira Flatow

Ira Flatow (born March 9, 1949) is a radio and television journalist who hosts National Public Radio's popular Talk of the Nation - Science Friday. He is probably best known on TV for hosting Newton's Apple which was an Emmy Award-winning television science program for children and their families.

He was born in New York City and his first experience with a television news program was in his high school. In 1967, however, Flatow entered college to pursue an engineering degree at the State University of New York at Buffalo, where he received his bachelor's degree in 1971 ^[1].

He began working in radio at WBFO, in Buffalo, New York and his first news stories covered antiwar demonstrations and riots. Flatow's first science stories were created in 1970 during the first Earth Day. In 1971, he became the news director of WBFO.

In 1971 he was hired by the newly-formed National Public Radio in Washington, DC. There he covered the environment, health and medicine news, and technology stories. While at NPR, Flatow began to host the Friday edition of Talk of the Nation which became known as Science Friday.

From 1982 through 1987 he hosted Newton's Apple, which originated at KTCA in St. Paul, Minnesota.

In 1991, he wrote and reported science and technology for CBS News' "CBS This Morning." He has written and host various PBS TV specials, including "Transistorized!"

Flatow is founder and president of TalkingScience, non-profit company dedicated to creating radio, TV, and Internet projects that make science "user friendly" via the www.talkingscience.org web site.

[edit] Bibliography

Rainbows, Curveballs, and Other Wonders of the Natural World Explained (William Morrow & Co., 1988)
They All Laughed... From Light Bulbs to Lasers: The Fascinating Stories Behind the Great Inventions That Have Changed Our Lives (Harpercollins, 1992)