Laurence Gonzales: The Chemistry of Fire

Laurence Gonzales is an award-winning author of numerous books about the psychology and neuroscience of survival . In this episode, Laurence and Daniel discuss his newest book, The Chemistry of Fire, a collection of exploratory essays that feed into his work on survival.

Laurence also authored Deep Survival: Who Lives, Who Dies, and Why, Surviving Survival: The Art and Science of Resilience, and Flight 232: A Story of Disaster and Survival. He received the Miller Distinguished Scholarship from the Santa Fe Institute in 2016, as well as two National Magazine Awards and the Distinguished Service Award from the Society of Professional Journalists. 

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“There’s no way to stop these accidents from happening, but there’s a way to stop them from happening to you.” – Laurence Gonzales 

Chapters in this interview:

• 00:00:09 – The concept of the chemistry of fire
• 00:03:43 – An adventure story of ice climbers on Mount Washington
• 00:09:26 – Why people keep going when they know they should turn back
• 00:14:14 – The importance of rules and systems for decision making
• 00:20:09 – The survival of a cross-country skier after a major mishap
• 00:25:52 – Laurence’s work with the Santa Fe Institute
• 00:36:37 – Words of wisdom for 2021 

For more, explore the transcript of this episode. 

Links from the Episode

• Connect with Laurence: Twitter | Website
• Ice climbing
• Mount Washington
• Tesla self-driving cars
• Kelly criterion
• Pinnacle Gully 
• Huntington Ravine
• Vito Seskunas 
• Grand Teton National Park
• Michael Lachmann
• Max Plank Institute
• Nobel Prize – Gravitational Waves
• Geoffrey West 
• Superconducting Super Collider
• Bill Miller
• Michael Larson 
• Cascade Investment
• Santa Fe Institute

Books by Laurence Gonzales

• The Chemistry of Fire: Essays (2020)
• Deep Survival: Who Lives, Who Dies, and Why (2017)
• One Zero Charlie: Adventures in Grass Roots Aviation (2015)
• Flight 232: A Story of Disaster and Survival (2014)
• House of Pain: New and Selected Essays (2013)
• Surviving Survival: The Art and Science of Resilience (2012)
• Lucy (2010)
• Everyday Survival: Why Smart People Do Stupid Things (2009)

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