Why AMDG
At the end of his scores, Bach wrote three letters: SDG, Soli Deo Gloria. They did not describe the music; they said who it was for. AMDG works the same way: it is the line I write under the work I do alongside my science books, offered to God.
About the author
Christian Duarte knows the weight of a pipette and the weight of a piece of chalk. He is a molecular biologist with a master’s degree in Advanced Therapies and Biotechnological Innovation from Universidad Francisco de Vitoria in Madrid, graduate training in biomedicine, clinical genetics, and neuroscience, and a PhD in social sciences.
He spent his early years in the lab, at Spain’s National Center for Biotechnology, in the Department of Immunology and Oncology, and at IMDEA Nanoscience. Then came nearly a decade in the classroom, teaching research methodology and scientific writing in the schools of Biotechnology and Pharmacy at Universidad Francisco de Vitoria, which mostly meant teaching students the one trick that truly matters: telling a good study from one that only looks like one. His master’s thesis studied the psychoneuroimmunobiology of empathy in the mentoring of college students.
In 2023 he put down the chalk as well, and found that writing, explaining science, and telling stories were what he had been doing all along, only now without APA-style references.
His science books, among them the Highly Sensitive People series, are published by Zen Books and live at christianduarte.com. AMDG Library gathers the rest of his work: devotionals, the ZEN Collection, stories, notebooks, and children’s books. The name stands for Ad Maiorem Dei Gloriam, “for the greater glory of God”, because these are the books he offers to Him.
His books are read in Spanish and English, and the Highly Sensitive People series in German as well. He lives in Madrid with his wife and their two children, and keeps a half-unpacked suitcase for trips to Houston.
The imprint
AMDG Library is an imprint of Zen Editorial de Ciencia y Bienestar LLC, sister to Zen Books.
Sister imprint: Zen Books. The author’s science books: christianduarte.com.