The Science of Monsters: The Origins of the Creatures We Love to Fear

Featured on NPR’s Science Friday, an “ingenious” (The Wall Street Journal) and insightful guide to history’s legendary and frightening monsters and the science and culture that created them.

We all know “there’s no such thing as monsters,” but our imaginations tell us otherwise. From the mythical beasts of ancient Greece to the hormonal vampires of the Twilight saga, monsters have captivated us for millennia. Matt Kaplan, a noted science journalist and monster-myth enthusiast, employs an ent...