Free STEM book festival returns to The Bakken Museum Oct. 24
The Thinking Spot, a science bookstore in Minnetonka/Wayzata, will present the second annual MN STEM Book Festival with hosting partner the Bakken Museum 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 24, at the museum, 3537 Zenith Ave. S., Minneapolis.
The daylong festival brings together science writers, children’s authors and curious readers for five author panels, an all-day Kids Corner, a marketplace of books, toys and puzzles, hands-on STEM activities, a Bakken rare books display and full museum access.
“The best science books don’t feel like homework. They make you stop and ask, ‘Wait, how does that work?’” said Arun Batchu, co-owner of The Thinking Spot. “This festival puts readers of every age in the same room as the people who wrote those books.”
Panels include:
10:30 a.m. - Writing the Wild: Animal Minds, Human Stories, with Marlene Zuk and Kathryn Nuernberger
11:45 a.m. - Boundary Waters: Wild Places, Human Stories, with Cary J. Griffith and Joe Friedrichs
1 p.m. - Building a New Table: Rethinking Normal, with Brittany Lewis and Michelle S. Phelps, moderated by Jessica Nordell
2:15 p.m. - Science Meets Doubt: Fear, Fakes, and the Fight for Truth, with Ruth DeFoster, Nate Pedersen and Shawn Otto, moderated by Greg Laden
3:30 p.m. - Can AI Replace Human Friendship? Trust and the Business of Chatbots, with Valerie Tiberius, University of Minnesota philosophy professor and author of “Artificially Yours,” moderated by Arun…