Both books were well-received with a write-up in "TIME Magazine" for the former and a series of excerpts published in "The Milwaukee Journal" from the latter. While living and writing in San Francisco, Cole was handed a magazine assignment to write about the Exploratorium, an innovative science museum. At the time, she had no interest in studying science, but her experience with the Exploratorium changed that. She avidly pursued an independent study of physics with the help of the Exploratorium staff, and developed a friendship with the Exploratorium's founder and the "uncle of the atomic bomb", Frank Oppenheimer, who became her mentor. Her experiences with Oppenheimer and the Exploratorium inspired her to pursue science writing. Cole first wrote about science themes for the "New York Times" in its column series "Hers" and in individual magazine features. Focusing primarily on physics and math, she went on to write a science column for "The Washington Post", and her science articles have appeared in the "Esquire",  "Smithsonian", "Lear's",  "The New Yorker",  the "Columbia Journalism Review", and other publications. She wrote and edited for  "Discover" magazine for years, sharing a column with Stephen Jay Gould and Lewis Thomas. In 1994, Cole began covering physical science for "The Los Angeles Times" in a column called "Mind Over Matter," which was later collected in book form. She left "The Los Angeles Times" to pursue teaching at the University of Southern California, but has continued to contribute to "The Los Angeles Times" periodically. Her science journalism has appeared in prestigious collections including "The Best American Science Writing" in 2004 and 2005, and in "The Best American Science and Nature Writing" in 2002. In the mid-1980s, Cole began writing nonfiction science books. In 1985, Bantam published "Sympathetic Vibrations: Reflections on Physics as a Way of Life" with a foreword by Frank Oppenheimer. The book was based on Cole's "New York Times" "Hers" and "Discover" columns, and was republished in 1999 under the title "First You Build a Cloud: And Other Reflections on Physics as a Way of Life". In 1998, Mariner published Cole's second science book "The Universe and the Teacup: The Mathematics of Truth and Beauty", a national bestseller that has been translated into twelve languages. In 2001, Mariner published "The Hole in the Universe: How Scientists Peered over the Edge of Emptiness and Found Everything".