BoingBoing.net science editor, New York Times Magazine columnist and Kansas University alumna Maggie Koerth-Baker will be in Lawrence this week to sign copies of her book, “Before the Lights Go Out.”

Koerth-Baker’s reading and signing is scheduled for 7 p.m. Thursday at The Raven Bookstore, 6 E. Seventh St.

“Before the Lights Go Out” aims to make the confusing subject of energy accessible and to provide perspective on a topic that tends to be ideology driven, according to an announcement from the Raven. It addresses how our electricity infrastructure works and why it’s more complicated — and interesting — than most people realize.

The book features storytelling, entertaining history about how our current infrastructure came to be and critical analysis about solving the energy problem.

Koerth-Baker will talk about the weird, messy history of electricity and the ways that writing online can help build a better book. In addition to writing online for National Geographic News and Scientific American, her work has appeared in print magazines such as Discover and Popular Science.