Matt Kaplan

Matt has been a science correspondent at The Economist for two decades. Fascinated by the less well respected members of the animal kingdom, he’s made a habit of writing about how these species make life better for humanity.

During the pandemic he repeatedly found himself baffled by scientists who had great ideas for fighting Covid but who feared attack if they discussed them. Curious if things have always been this way, he delved into history and discovered that, while the research realm was hardly operating as a well-oiled machine two hundred years ago, it was desperately in need of a tune up when Covid came along. The result? His latest book, I Told You So! Scientists Who Were Ridiculed, Exiled and Imprisoned… For Being Right, a tale that jumps (often humorously) between the lives of scientists past and present and asks the question, “How can we do better?”

Long intrigued by the ways in which ancient people explained mysterious aspects of the natural world with myth, he is the author of two books on the subject: Science of the Magical and Science of Monsters. He was awarded a Knight Fellowship in 2014 and used the opportunity to study immunology at MIT and folklore at Harvard.