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I love doing commissions that have unusual briefs – Comma Press excel at these. The brief for Litmus was to pick a famous moment of scientific discovery from a long list, then meet up with a scientist who is an expert in this field, and write a short story in which this ‘Eureka’ moment occurs.
The story didn’t have to be a strict, accurate description of the moment as a piece of historical fiction – we were all free to do with the material what we wanted, so long as the moment of discovery was present in the story.
I chose the discovery of the Cosmic Microwave Background Radiation in 1965 by Robert Wilson and Arno Penzias. This was the discovery that proved the big bang theory was correct. I got to go to Jodrell Bank and hang out with Dr Tim O’Brien for a day – he studies exploding stars for a living, how cool is that?
Tim took me along an underground tunnel that comes out right underneath the Lovell Radio Telescope. We had to duck beneath the moving support structures as they swung the dish around to look at another part of the sky. The framework that holds the dish in place has been painted so many times that the white paint has formed into stalactites that drip down from every strut. I’m so grateful that my writing took me to this place and this moment, because I will never forget it.
In my story, Penzias and Wilson are children, and they are led to their discovery while trying to find the cause of a persistent buzzing in Robert’s head.
Litmus also includes stories by: Kate Clanchy, Annie Clarkson, Frank Cottrell Boyce, Stella Duffy, Sarah Hall, Tania Hershman, Trevor Hoyle, Maggie Gee, Michael Jecks, Zoe Lambert, Alison MacLeod, Sara Maitland, Sean O’Brien, Christine Poulson, Jane Rogers and Emma Jane Unsworth
They worked with these scientists: Prof Jim Al-Khalili, Dr Martyn Amos, Dr Robert Appleby, John Clayson, Prof. Matthew Cobb, Sarah Fox, Kathryn Harris, James Higgerson, Nick R Love, Prof. Denis Noble, Prof. Giacomo Rizzolatti, Dr Zoe Schnepp, Dr James Sumner, Dr Angharad Watson and Dr John Wearden .
Praise and award recognition for Litmus:
Selected for The Observer’s Best Books of the 2011 list.
Features Alison MacLeod’s ‘The Heart of Denis Noble’ – Shortlisted for the BBC National Short Story Prize 2011
‘Exquisite… delectable’ – New Scientist.
BOOK OF THE WEEK: ‘The pairings work brilliantly, giving stereoscopic vision… ingenious… unfailingly interesting.’ – The Independent.
‘A very alive, illuminating and good-natured collection’ – The Observer.
‘An inspiring tribute to inquiring minds.’ – The Guardian.
Listen to Alison MacLeod being interviewed by Mark Lawson about her shortlisted story on Radio Four
Listen to author Sarah Hall and editor Ra Page discuss the Litmus project generally on Radio Four’s Front Row. (Starts at 13m 47s)