Bruce Bower

Behavioral Sciences Writer, Science News

Bruce Bower has written about the behavioral sciences since 1984. He often writes about psychology, anthropology, archaeology and mental health issues. Bruce has a master's degree in psychology from Pepperdine University and a master's degree in journalism from the University of Missouri. Following an internship at Science News in 1981, he worked as a reporter at Psychiatric News, a publication of the American Psychiatric Association, until joining Science News as a staff writer. In 1996, the American Psychological Association appointed Bruce a Science Writer Fellow, with a grant to visit psychological scientists of his own choosing. Early stints as an aide in a day school for children and teenagers with severe psychological problems and as a counselor in a drug diversion center provided Bruce with a surprisingly good background for a career in science journalism.

All Stories by Bruce Bower

  1. Fossils

    Fossil find adds a relative to our family tree

    Lucy is the best known of our early ancestors. Now, a new fossil from Ethiopia suggests a second pre-human species lived alongside her kind.

  2. Fossils

    Ritual cannibalism occurred in Stone Age England

    Stone Age human bones from a cave in England show signs of cannibalism. The people had been eaten during burial rituals nearly 15,000 years ago, experts say.

  3. Humans

    Neandertals create oldest jewelry in Europe

    Adorned with all-natural signs of power: eagle claws. Holes in these claws show that Neandertals had been strung them together, like beads, as jewelry.

  4. Fossils

    Newly dated footprints: Oldest human tracks?

    These footprints, found nearly a half-century ago, may be almost four times older than first thought, scientists now report.

  5. Archaeology

    Ancient footprints surface in Britain

    There are hints they could have been made by ancestors of Neandertals.

  6. Fossils

    Where do humans come from?

    Some scientists propose a newfound South African species as the most likely ancestor of the line that led to humans. But not everyone accepts that this is where it all began.