Two of my friends (and favorite authors of recent books) are both speaking in the SF/Bay Area on Monday at the same time, noon.

Carl Zimmer will be speaking at the Stanford Medical School (sponsored by the Stanford University Center for Biomedical Ethics and the Stanford Brain Research Institute). He'll be talking about his book, Soul Made Flesh, which chronicles how the search for the soul was transformed into the science of the brain in the 1600s. As Carl put it, "It was a remarkable transformation that foreshadowed both today's ongoing revolution in neuroscience as well as the ethical quandaries it poses for us." Directions to Carl Zimmer's talk.

Steven Johnson will be giving a reading at Stacey's book store in downtown S.F. on his recently released book, Mind Wide Open. In a similiar way that Po Bronson did for his book What Should I do With My Life?, Steven is currently collecting commentary and reactions to how MWO has impacted people's lives at his website. Directions to Stacey's in S.F..

Fortunately, Carl Zimmer's talk will be taped by CSPAN's Book TV and because I will be flying to NYC Monday night for my talk at the NBIC conference, I think I'll be heading downtown to see Steven laugh in person.

Also, don't miss Cory Doctorow who will be reading and signing his latest novel, Eastern Standard Tribe, at Borderlands Books in S.F. tomorrow night.