Claudia Wallis is an award-winning science writer and magazine editor whose work has appeared in The New York Times, Time, Fortune, The New Republic, Scientific American and Rolling Stone. She is a health columnist for Scientific American and writes “The Science of Learning” column for the Hechinger Report. Wallis is the author of 40 Time Magazine cover stories, two of which were National Magazine Award finalists. Her writing has won journalism prizes from the American Psychiatric Association, the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation, and the National Women’s Political Caucus, among other organizations.
Claudia Wallis
Science writer
From this contributor
Book Review: ‘Nobody’s Normal’ chronicles the intertwined history of mental illness and stigma
Anthropologist and autism expert Richard Roy Grinker’s latest title reveals how our definitions of mental illnesses and notions of ‘normality’ reek of cultural biases that stop many from seeking help.
Book Review: ‘Nobody’s Normal’ chronicles the intertwined history of mental illness and stigma
By
Claudia Wallis
26 January 2021 | 6 min read
Book Review: ‘The Pattern Seekers’ links human invention — past, present and future — to autism traits
Simon Baron-Cohen’s new book is essentially a 272-page argument for his hypothesis that all human innovation stems from the ability to discern and manipulate causal patterns.
Book Review: ‘The Pattern Seekers’ links human invention — past, present and future — to autism traits
By
Claudia Wallis
10 November 2020 | 6 min read
How to get children with autism to sleep
Insomnia troubles many children with autism. Luckily, research is awakening parents to some simple bedtime solutions.
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The findings, shared in a preprint, help to illuminate how a large and heterogeneous group of genes could be involved in autism.
Sequencing study spotlights tight web of genes tied to autism
The findings, shared in a preprint, help to illuminate how a large and heterogeneous group of genes could be involved in autism.
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Katie Moisse
13 March 2025 | 5 min read
Alison Preston explains how our brains form mental frameworks for interpreting the world
Preston discusses her research examining differences in how children, teenagers and adults integrate new information into their memories.
Alison Preston explains how our brains form mental frameworks for interpreting the world
Preston discusses her research examining differences in how children, teenagers and adults integrate new information into their memories.
By
Paul Middlebrooks
12 March 2025 | 90 min listen
Calculating neuroscience’s carbon cost: Q&A with Stefan Pulver and William Smith
The two scientists discuss how to estimate a research project’s carbon emissions, from supply procurement to energy usage.
Calculating neuroscience’s carbon cost: Q&A with Stefan Pulver and William Smith
The two scientists discuss how to estimate a research project’s carbon emissions, from supply procurement to energy usage.
By
Calli McMurray
12 March 2025 | 7 min read