Guide Note

Biology professor and blogger PZ Myers started the Pharyngula blog on June 19, 2002, with web software left over from a class project. The blog highlights his love of science and also frequently deals with religion, atheism and political issues. In 2006, Nature Magazine declared the Pharyngula blog the most read blog written by a scientist.

Fast Facts

1. Born: March 9, 1957
2. Birthplace: Kent, Washington
3. Full name: Paul Zachary Myers
4. Education: BS in zoology from the University of Washington and Ph.D in Biology from the University of Oregon
5. Pharyngula: A stage in embryonic development

Speaking for Science

Myers is an outspoken proponent of evolutionary theory and atheism, participating in scientific debates both online and off. He was interviewed for the movie Expelled in 2007, but the movie's producers would not allow him into the preview to see his own footage. Myers has said that he was interviewed under false pretenses and that his interview was selectively edited to misrepresent him. Myers currently resides in Minnesota where he teaches biology at the University of Minnesota.

Quotes

1. "I don't want to be a political blogger. Every once in a while, I go on a tear and then I think to myself, 'Is this really what I want to be writing about?' So then I go back to writing about sexy squid or something that helps recharge the batteries."—PZ Myers
2. "I want it [religion] to be like bowling. It's a hobby, something some people will enjoy, that has some virtues to it, that will have its own institutions...It will be perfectly harmless as long as we don't elect our politicians on the basis of their bowling score, or go to war with people who play nine-pin instead of ten-pin, or use folklore about backspin to make decrees about how biology works."—PZ Myers