Diane Ackerman is the author of several works of nonfiction including, most recently, An Alchemy of Mind, a poetics of the brain based on the latest neuroscience; Cultivating Delight: A Natural History of My Garden; Deep Play, which considers play, creativity, and our need for transcendence; A Slender Thread, about her work as a crisis line counselor; The Rarest of the Rare and The Moon by Whale Light, in which she explores the plight and fascination of endangered animals; A Natural History of Love; On Extended Wings, her memoir of flying; and the bestseller A Natural History of the Senses. Her poetry has been published in leading literary journals and various anthologies. She also writes nature books for children: Animal Sense; Monk Seal Hideaway; and Bats: Shadows in the Night. She is co-editor of a Norton anthology, The Book of Love. Ms. Ackerman has received many prizes and awards and she also has the rare distinction of having a molecule named after her --dianeackerone.