Explore the topics history sometimes forgets: the tastes, textures, sounds, and smells that were an important part of our ancestor’s lives.
Welcome to the SciFri Book Club page about Dinner with King Tut by Sam Kean. You can read the book, join our community space, attend an event, sign up for our email newsletter, or send us a message via our contact page.
This October, the SciFri Book Club will read Dinner with King Tut: How Rogue Archaeologists Are Re-Creating the Sights, Sounds, Smells, and Tastes of Lost Civilizations by Sam Kean. In this playful yet deeply researched narrative, Kean invites us to time travel not by machine but by our own five senses. Alongside a band of experimental archaeologists, he fires medieval catapults, chips obsidian blades sharp enough to perform surgery, ferments ancient sourdough starters, and even sniffs out the perfumes that might have filled royal courts. The result is a banquet of history that mixes science with spectacle, where a single meal, sound, or smell can collapse the distance of centuries. With humor, curiosity, and scholarly insight, Kean brings Tutankhamun’s world (and many others) off the museum pedestal and into our kitchens, workshops, and imaginations.
Dinner with King Tut brings together a range of topics, including archaeology, sensory history, cultural memory, the science of experimental methods and more—and we’ll touch on these ideas throughout this Book Club season. You can get your copy from your local bookstore or on Bookshop.org.
This Book Club season kicks off on Wednesday, October 1, and you can read along with us! We’ll be (loosely) following this schedule, but all our readers are welcome to join us at their own pace:
Plus, we’ll be hosting events throughout the month! Keep an eye out on our website or join our Book Club newsletter to be the first to know.
There are so many ways to dive in and participate! You can grab a copy of the book (and support the author and SciFri), join the discussion in our online Book Club community, sign up for our email newsletter, or RSVP for our upcoming Book Club events.
Science Friday, in partnership with Little, Brown and Company (Hachette Book Group), is giving away 10 free copies of Dinner with King Tut by Sam Kean. Enter for your chance to win today!
This giveaway will close at 10:00 a.m. ET on Friday, September 26, 2025. Winners will be chosen randomly and notified via email no later than Monday, September 29. Our Book Club for this book officially begins on October 1, 2025!
If you’d like to purchase a physical copy, we encourage you to start local! Check out the SciFri Book Club partner bookstores and libraries—if you’re in the area, consider supporting your local bookseller or public library (plus, mention our Book Club for a percentage off your purchase at participating shops!).
If they don’t have the book in stock or you’d rather purchase online, you can support Science Friday by buying your copy on our Bookshop.org page.
Want more ways to read? This book is available in a few formats via online retailers, your local library, or elsewhere:
Your local library may not currently have Dinner with King Tut in its catalog, but many branches offer options for patrons like you to submit book suggestions to librarians. Look for ways to suggest new titles via the Libby or OverDrive app, a form on your library’s website, or a suggestion box at your local branch!
Livestream with Sean King, October 23In Dinner with King Tut, Sam Kean invites readers to experience history with all five senses, pairing rigorous research with hands-on experiments to revive everyday life in past civilizations.
Join us online for a livestream all about the science topics featured in the SciFri Book Club pick for October 2025. Come with your queries and wonderings—we’ll be taking your questions in the livestream comments!
October Community Meeting, October 30Want to meet other SciFri Book Club members, talk about the book selection, and find more resources for deeper learning—all without leaving your home? Our community meeting is the place for you!
This discussion meeting will focus on themes and topics featured in Dinner with King Tut. You’re welcome to join us no matter your reading progress—come chat with other science-interested folks about archaeology, sensory history, cultural memory, the science of experimental methods, and more.
Plus, we’re doing a special HALLOWEEN MEETING! Come dressed as your favorite book (even a t-shirt is fine), and I’ll send you a special “treat” as a thank you.
And as you start reading, join us on our online community space: the SciFri Book Club is on Mighty Networks, a platform where we can gather, read and discuss science books together. We’ve built this community space to create a better way for readers to stay connected with other Book Clubbers, and we hope you’ll join us there!
Subscribe to SciFri Book Club emails to stay updated on our monthly read sand join us for community discussions. We’ll send emails a few times per week.