Postscript

New twists on old tales

Isaac Asimov called Scott Kim, '77, PhD '88, "the Escher of the alphabet" for his puzzles and game designs. In their new book The Playful Brain: The Surprising Science of How Puzzles Improve Your Mind, Kim and neuroscientist Richard Restak include dozens of word and picture exercises to sharpen readers' wits.

Ten years ago, sculptor Maya Lin's unique Timetable, a combination fountain and clock carved from a 20-ton hunk of granite, was installed in front of the Packard building. Today it sits in storage, its mechanism ravaged by corrosion, water damage and overcurious passersby, as a team of experts ponders possible repair.

Identical twins Isabel Stenzel Byrnes and Ana Stenzel, both '94, wrote their memoir, The Power of Two: A Twin Triumph over Cystic Fibrosis in 2007. A documentary film based on their lifesaving lung transplants and the story of others impacted by organ transplantation is due to premiere this year.

Biologist Stephen Palumbi, director of Stanford's Hopkins Marine Station, uses various media for his messages about conservation. When he isn't plumbing the world's waters studying creatures like coral, he's producing microdocumentaries through his Short Attention Span Theater or playing in a band called Sustainable Soul. Recently, he's co-written a book, The Death and Life of Monterey Bay: A Story of Revival, chronicling how the region went from industrial devastation to ecological rebirth.