[2] Called a "peppy survey of the science of bird intelligence" by The Guardian, the book was a New York Times best seller in 2017.

[7] In addition to her published books, she is also a contributing writer to Scientific American, National Geographic, and The New York Times.

She worked for National Geographic for nine years, editing their well-known book The Curious Naturalist.

[9] Her earlier books focus on health topics, from the Strong Women's Guide to Total Health which she wrote with Miriam Nelson, to her book Sex Sleep Eat Drink Dream which uses the framework of a single day to discuss a wide variety of things going on in the human body at various times.

[10] Ackerman was born in 1959 to economist William Gorham and Kathryn Joan (Aring) Morton in Omaha, Nebraska.