Science writing for general audiences is tough stuff. If you try too hard to be entertaining, you become that corny, joke-cracking doctor who nobody wants to visit. If you're too dry, nobody will read you. And if you're writing about something uninteresting or too-technical, you're doomed from the start.

Richard Panek's got the right idea with his new book The 4 Percent Universe: Dark Matter, Dark Energy, and the Race to Discover the Rest of Reality. Dark matter is an interesting, if difficult, concept, but you can present it easily enough: What is the majority of the universe made out of? In the first few chapters of the book, Panek takes the long road in. He discusses our narrative impulse as a species, he touches on Plato, and he keeps gently expanding the scope until suddenly you're in the deep end of the pool. Panek earns your trust the way all good storytellers do: Cautiously and confidently. This is good writing.

If you'd like to preview 4 Percent, you can check it out over at Google Books. Panek reads tonight at Town Hall. It's the reading of the night. If you'd like to read about other events going on tonight—topics include urban lighting, a battle between African and European armies, and being cheap in Seattle—I'd urge you to check out the reading calendar.