Hi, I'm Conan Lee, a science writer in China. My favourite writers are Carl Sagan, Richard Dawkins, et al. I also do some translation on science books.

ConanLee, I guess that I am the first to welcome you! I am fairly new to booktalk myself. I have enjoyed it so far. It is a good place to connect with like-minded individuals. What have you written about?

hi, tarav.Very glad to talk to you. I work for a Chinese newspaper, South China Weekend (Nanfang Zhoumo). I write almost all sorts of sciences for SCW, although my favourite subjuects are astronomy and biology.I'm planing to translate some books by Sagan or Dawkins into Chinese, but first I must find proper publish house and copyright arrangement.( I have translated some parts of "Contact" and "Blind Watchmaker", now stopped)

Hi Conan,Welcome to booktalk.I've tried translating texts between Russian and English and I found it to be very difficult. Good luck with your translation work.

ConanIt was fun chatting with you tonight in the chat room. Those of us that were in the chat tonight are very interested in learning more about your life and culture, so feel free to share as much as you like.I tried to find an Englsih version of the South China Weekend and had no luck. Anything you've written for the paper that you are comfortable sharing please do. We would love to read your writing.Oh, and welcome to BookTalk! Chris "When once you have tasted flight, you will forever walk the earth with your eyes turned skyward,for there you have been, and there you will always want to be."

hi Chris,I'ts a nice talk of you --all of you. I'm sorry but SCW only has Chinese Verison (www.nanfangdaily.com.cn/zm/), because it's a Chinese-oriented newspaper. I'm planning to write in English as a science writer.

hi Kostya, You are right. Translation is really a hard mental work.

I was also very pleased to meet you in chat last night. I think science writing is a very important activity. Scientific discoveries impact our technology, but when someone like yourself brings discoveries to ordinary people, it impacts culture in an important way.I am also impressed by your willngness to chat in a language so different from your native tongue. We meet people all the time who are nervous about it. Bravo! Science is neither a philosophy nor a belief system. It is a combination of mental operations that has become increasingly the habit of educated peoples, a culture of illuminations hit upon by a fortunate turn of history that yielded the most effective way of learning about the real world ever conceived. E.O.Wilson

ConanLee, I'm sorry that I had to go soon after you entered the chat room last night. Last night was only my second time chatting. The first time, I felt a little lost trying to keep up with several conversations going on at once. Since I stayed for awhile last night I became more comfortable with it. I hope that you'll translate some of your articles and post them. It's great to have a science writer here.