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This is a free community program. Please consider supporting the Gardens of Golden Gate Park with a recommended donation of $5-20. Your support helps us connect people to plants, the planet, and each other.
Saturday, May 10, 2025
4-5:30pm
San Francisco Botanical Garden — Celebration Garden
About the Program
Book sales and signing by the authors will follow the discussion.
Science writer and author Ferris Jabr will discuss his acclaimed book, Becoming Earth: How Our Planet Came to Life. He will be joined in conversation with Ed Yong, Pulitzer winning writer and author of An Immense World and I Contain Multitudes. Co-hosted by Green Apple Books on the Park and the Helen Crocker Russell Library.
Acclaimed science writer Ferris Jabr reveals a radical new vision of Earth where lush forests spew water, pollen, and bacteria to summon rain; giant animals engineer the very landscapes they roam; microbes chew rock to shape continents; and microscopic plankton, some as glittering as carved jewels, remake the air and sea. Becoming Earth is an exhilarating journey through the hidden workings of our planetary symphony — its players, its instruments, and the music of life that emerges — and an invitation to reexamine our place in it. How well we play our part will determine what kind of Earth our descendants inherit for millennia to come.
About the Speakers
Ferris Jabr is a journalist and author of Becoming Earth, praised for its poetic and powerful prose. His work has appeared in The New York Times Magazine, The New Yorker, The Atlantic, and more. Jabr has received fellowships from Yale, MIT, and UC Berkeley, and grants from the Pulitzer Center and the Whiting Foundation. He holds an MA in journalism from NYU and a BS from Tufts University. He lives in Portland, Oregon with his partner, Ryan, their dog, Jack, and many plants.
Ed Yong is a British-American science journalist, a Pulitzer winner, and the author of two bestselling books: An Immense World and I Contain Multitudes. Yong was a staff writer at the Atlantic from 2015 to 2023. Prior to that, his writing also featured in National Geographic, the New Yorker, Wired, the New York Times, Nature, New Scientist, Scientific American, and other publications. He was awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship in 2024.
About Green Apple Books
Founded in 1967, Green Apple Books is a trio of fiercely independent bookstores offering an excellent selection of books in all subject areas. With expertly curated new and used books, records, author events, and more, Green Apple has something for everyone.
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Admission to the Garden is free for San Francisco residents, veterans, Museums for All/EBT participants, and Gardens members.
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