Roma Agrawal

Jan 5, 2024 | hindustantimes.com | Roma Agrawal

Numerous severed crayons lay in disarray before me. I sighed. The results were disappointing. I must have been about five years old, and was living with my parents and sister in snowy upstate New York. It was the 1980s, and I owned a huge collection of crayons: long, short, thick, thin, in every shade available. Like most children, I was continuously curious, and one day decided to ‘discover’ what was inside my crayons. So, I peeled off the paper that enveloped them, and snapped them in two.

Dec 7, 2023 | zip06.com | Roma Agrawal

Nuts & Bolts By Roma Agrawal The author has designed bridges and skyscrapers, and worked on the Shard, the tallest building in Western Europe. She is equally brilliant as both engineer and storyteller. Her descriptions of seven basic tools are infused with enthusiasm. They bring a clarity of understanding to engineering which is as welcome as it is unexpected. Drew, Breakwater Books, Guilford

Nov 21, 2023 | fivebooks.com | Ed Yong |David Quammen |Nicklas Brendborg |Roma Agrawal

For people who don’t know the prize, can you say a bit about it and what kind of books you, as judges, were looking for? The Royal Society Book Prize is an annual award that’s been ongoing for the past 30 years. It’s had some notable winners, including Stephen Hawking and Bill Bryson. Each year, the award celebrates excellent popular science writing over a broad range of topics. Topics include physics, geology,  neuroscience, psychology, evolution, engineering, and mathematics, among others.

Nov 16, 2023 | lithub.com | Roma Agrawal

A message had arrived at the telegram office that morning. As the mailman approached the seaside apartment in Mumbai, India, that my grandfather Brij Kishore shared with my grandmother Chandrakanta and their four children, he felt his throat tighten as she pulled on his sleeve and said, “Taar aaya hai.” In Bombay in the 1960s, the arrival of a “taar”—a telegram—usually meant bad news.

Nov 7, 2023 | newyorkfolk.com | James White |Roma Agrawal |Simon Winchester |Deb Chachra

Maybe this sounds familiar: You’ve stared idly through an airplane’s window and wondered, How exactly does that jet engine work? Or you’ve tracked a shipment from across the country, refreshing UPS’s website, and realized you have no idea how that package will actually make its way to your door. Or you’ve been notified that you must boil your tap water after an overnight “loss of pressure”—without knowing what that means, or why it’s affecting you.