Carlos Orsi Martinho

Writer, journalist, and editor with 30+ years of experience in fiction and non-fiction. Author of science books, articles, essays, and journalism for general audiences; also, of short stories and novels (mystery, fantasy, and science fiction). Published in Portuguese, English, and Spanish.

Winner (2021) and finalist (2022) of the Brazilian Book Chamber national prize ("Jabuti Award") for best science popularization book. Two-time winner (2013 and 2015) of the Brazilian Science Fiction Reader's Club prize ("Argos Award") for best science-fiction short story. Creator and editor of the first Brazilian online science news service in a major national media outlet ("Ano 2000", launched by Grupo Estado in 1997, discontinued at the turn of the century).

Science editor for the whole Grupo Estado online portal (estadao.com.br) from 2000 to 2010. Currently, the chief editor of Revista Questão de Ciência, the première Brazilian magazine for the promotion of science literacy, the use of scientific evidence in public policy, fighting quackery and pseudoscience.

Author - Columbia University Press

(2026)

• Author of What Science Says About Astrology, the first installment in a new series of science books for the general public

Publisher and Author - Substack

(2024)

• Publisher and Author of the Idea Smasher Substack channel

Author - Editora Contexto

(2023 - 2023)

• Author (with microbiologist Natalia Pasternak) of Que Bobagem!, a science popularization book denouncing quackery and pseudoscience that became a non-fiction best-seller in Brazil

Author - Editora de Cultura

(2022 - 2022)

• Author of Negacionismo e Desafios da Ciência, a book-length essay on the philosophy and rhetoric of science denialism

Author - Papirus Sete Mares

(2021 - 2021)

• Author (with microbiologist Natalia Pasternak) of Contra a Realidade, a history of science denialism covering topics like the connection between tobacco and cancer, global warming, and vaccines. Finalist for the Jabuti Award

Author - Editora da Unesp

(2021 - 2021)

• Author of O Livro dos Milagres, a book on the history and possible scientific explanations for purported "supernatural" events, like speaking in tongues, miraculous cures, and demonic possession

Author - Editora Contexto

(2020 - 2020)

• Author (with microbiologist Natalia Pasternak) of Ciência no Cotidiano, a book presenting to the public some basic scientific concepts, like energy and microorganisms. Winner of the Jabuti Award

Chief Editor - Revista Questão de Ciência

(2018)

Chief Editor of Revista Questão de Ciência, the première Brazilian magazine for the promotion of science literacy, the use of scientific evidence in public policy, fighting quackery and pseudoscience

Director - Instituto Questão de Ciência (IQC)

(2018)

Director of Instituto Questão de Ciência (IQC), a Brazilian NGO dedicated to the promotion of science literacy, public understanding of science, and the use of scientific evidence in public policy

Chief Communications Officer - São Paulo Planetarium

(2018 - 2019)

Chief Communications Officer of the São Paulo Planetarium, the first planetarium of South America, inaugurated in 1957

Author - Editora Leya

(2013 - 2013)

• Author (with physicist Daniel Bezerra) of Pura Picaretagem, a history and explanation of quantum mechanics with an emphasis on alerting the public against "quantum" quackery

Assistant Editor, Special Reporter, and Columnist - Universidade Estadual de Campinas (Unicamp)

(2011 - 2017)

Worked with University researchers to help them translate their findings to the public using simple language and in an engaging way

• Assistant Editor, Special Reporter, and Columnist for various publications of Unicamp, one of the top five universities in Latin America

Reporter, Assistant Editor, Columnist, and Science and Health Editor - Grupo Estado (estadao.com.br)

(1996 - 2010)

Grupo Estado is one of the three major legacy media groups in Brazil

• Reporter, Assistant Editor, Columnist, and Science and Health Editor for the Grupo Estado online portal

Author - MX Publishing

(2023 - 2023)

• Author of the short story "The Adventure of the Fourth Key" in The MX Book of New Sherlock Holmes Stories (part XXXVIII), ed. David Marcum

Author - Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine

(2019-05 - 2019-06)

• Author of the short story "Hatred in the House of Prayer"

Author - Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine

(2018-05 - 2018-06)

• Author of the short story "The Glass Floor"

Author - Mystery Weekly Magazine

(2018-01 - 2018-01)

• Author of the short story "The Adventure of the Dead Frog"

Author - Dark Moon Books

(2018 - 2018)

• Author of the short story "The White Monkey" in A World of Horror, ed. Eric J. Guignard

Author - Mystery Weekly Magazine

(2017-04 - 2017-04)

• Author of the short story "Bull's Eye"

Author - Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine

(2014-07 - 2014-07)

• Author of the short story "Best Eaten Cold" (trans. into English by Clifford E. Landers)

Author - Titan Books

(2013 - 2013)

• Author, with Octavio Aragão, of the short story "The Last of the Guaranys" in Tales of the Wold Newton Universe, ed. Win Scott Eckert and Christopher Paul Carey

Editor and Author - Self-Published

(2011 - 2011)

First anthology of original Sherlock Holmes stories by Brazilian writers ever published

• Editor (with Marcelo Augusto Galvão) of Sherlock Holmes: Aventuras Secretas
• Author of the introduction and the short story A Aventura do Falso Doutor Watson

BA - Journalism - University of São Paulo (USP) (1993)