Catalina Achim (S 1998), Professor of Chemistry
A native of Romania, Catalina Achim holds undergraduate degrees from the Polytechnical Institute of Bucharest, Romania, and a Ph.D. from Carnegie Mellon University, both in chemistry. She started teaching at CMU in 2001. Her research focuses on the way metal ions can change the course of nanotechnology for the better when used discerningly and rationally. In 2007, she found DNAZone, a STEM outreach program of the Center of Nucleic Acids Science and Technology that works to generate interest and excitement for science in K-12 students.
What books are currently on your nightstand?
"Washington: A Life" by Ron Chernow
"Between the World and Me" by Ta-Nehisi Coates
"The Autobiography of Black Hawk" by Black Hawk
What's the last great book you read?
"The Fiery Trial: Abraham Lincoln and American Slavery" by Eric Foner
What's your favorite book no one else has heard of?
"The Blood of Flowers" by Anita Amirrezvani
Which genres do you especially enjoy reading? And which do you avoid?
I read any genres and avoid none because I am very curious. That being said, I have a hierarchy of interests and preferences, which makes it more likely for me to read some genres than others. When I look at the books I read in the last few years, I think one may conclude that I enjoy reading nonfiction history (of places and countries, e.g. New York or U.S., of people, e.g. George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, Lawrence of Arabia, Steve Jobs, or of human endeavors, e.g. science, the English language, salt, or drinks) followed by fiction that has relevance to the evolution and transformations of the human race and communities, e.g. "A Brave New World", "The Foundation", "The Help", "The Invention of Wings".
What are the best books related to your topic of study?
Some of my personal favorites are:
"The Disappearing Spoon" by Sam Keane
"Merchants of Doubt" by Naomi Oreskes and Erik M. Conway
"Newton and the Counterfeiter" by Thomas Levenson
"The Emperor of All Maladies: A Biography of Cancer" by Siddhartha Mukherjee
"The Alchemy of Air" by Thomas Hager
"The Story of Earth: The First 4.5 Billion Years, from Stardust to Living Planet" by Robert M. Hazen
How do you like to read? Paper or electronic? One book at a time or simultaneously? Morning or night?
I "read" almost exclusively by listening to audio books during my commute or while I exercise. I also fall asleep often to audio books. :) I read one book at a time.
How do you organize your books?
I organize them in groups of books that I would like to reread back to back. The theme of such groups is very personal and not necessarily one that someone else would necessarily recognize. Often I feel that books in such a group would prompt and challenge my mind to reflect about an idea from different perspectives.
For example, I would put in one of my groups "The Blood of Flowers" by Anita Amirrezvani, "Americanah" by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, "The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao" by Junot Diaz, "Infidel" by Ayaan Hirsi Ali and "Lean In" by Sheryl Sandberg.
What book might people be surprised to find on your shelves?
Depending on how people know (or perceive) me, perhaps someone would be surprised to see on my bookshelves "Nelson Mandela's Favorite African Folktales" by Nelson Mandela, "My Stroke of Insight" by Jill Bolte Taylor or "Spark: The Revolutionary New Science of Exercise and the Brain" by John J. Ratey.
What's the best book you ever received as a gift?
I remember an occasion in which I received a book, but the memory is related to both the context in which I received the book and to the book itself. In college, I received a book about Van Gogh from a math professor who liked the solution I gave to a problem on the final exam. I found her gift unusual and liked the book, which made the occasion memorable for me.
What do you plan to read next?
"The Gene: An Intimate History" by Siddhartha Mukherjee
"Algorithms to Live By: The Computer Science of Human Decisions" by Brian Christian and Tom Griffiths
"Le Silence Même n'est Plus à Toi" by Asli Erdogan
