Interview opportunity with roger highfield..

October 25, 2002 INTERVIEW OPPORTUNITY WITH ROGER HIGHFIELD, SCIENCE EDITOR OF THE DAILY TELEGRAPH, ON OCT 31 AND NOV 1 Roger Highfield, Science Editor of The Daily Telegraph, is launching his new book, The Science of Harry Potter: How Magic Really Works. The book will be serialised in Telegraph Magazine on November 2 and on The Daily Telegraph's Science Page on Wednesday, November 6. Magic and science may seem like strange bedfellows, but in this captivating and far-ranging book, Roger Highfield nimbly illustrates how the two disciplines are actually deeply intertwined in the Harry Potter books. The Science of Harry Potter: How Magic Really Works teases out the scientific explanations and surprising factual foundation of J.K. Rowling's enchanted world. Highfield uses the amazing elements of the Harry Potter books as a springboard for discussions of fascinating scientific and historical issues. He speculates on the connection between hallucinogens and the sensation of flying. He reveals that the concoctions Harry had such difficulty replicating in Professor Snape's Potion's class are in fact grounded in the science of ethnobotany. He analyses an owl's ability to deliver mail. Highfield also shows why wizards like tall hats, why the ancients believed in dragons, and how to create a three headed giant dog like Fluffy. He concludes that, despite the best efforts of scientists, magic will persist. More... As Highfield reminds us, "wizard" actually means "wise man," and wizardry and science were closely linked for thousands of years. The Science of Harry Potter sheds light not only on Harry Potter's magical realm, but also on the magic that is taking place in labs and science classrooms in our own world. Roger Highfield will be available for interview about The Science of Harry Potter on Thursday, October 31 and Friday, November 1. The Telegraph has its own radio studio, which is equipped with a G722 ISDN system =Ends= Notes to Editors Dr Highfield is a regular broadcaster on radio, notably on BBC Radio 4's Leading Edge. With BBC1's Tomorrow's World, he has organised several mass-experiments, dubbed Megalab/Live Lab, which have attracted the participation of hundreds of thousands of people. Roger Highfield is the co-author of the highly acclaimed bestseller The Arrow of Time, as well as The Private Lives of Albert Einstein and Frontiers of Complexity. His book Can Reindeer Fly? is an investigation into the science of Christmas and has sold 17,000 hardback copies in the UK alone. Roger Highfield is a member of the Royal Society's committee on Science and Society. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION OR TO ARRANGE AN INTERVIEW WITH ROGER HIGHFIELD, PLEASE CONTACT VICTORIA HIGHAM AT THE DAILY TELEGRAPH ON 020 7538 6259. ------------------------------------------------------------ This information was brought to you by Waymaker http://www.waymaker.net The following files are available for download: http://www.waymaker.net/bitonline/2002/10/25/20021025BIT01240/wkr0001.doc http://www.waymaker.net/bitonline/2002/10/25/20021025BIT01240/wkr0002.pdf