I would like to thank the following scientists and experts who have generously given their time and expertise to be interviewed for this book and for my national radio and TV programs. Their knowledge and keen insights into science have helped to make this book possible.
I would also like to thank my agent, Stuart Krichevsky, who has, over all these years, helped to make my books a success. I owe him a great debt of gratitude for all his tireless work. He is always the first person I turn to for sound advice.
I would also like to thank Edward Kastenmeier, my editor at Penguin Random House, for his guidance and comments, which have helped to keep the book focused. As always, his advice has considerably improved the manuscript. His sure hand in editing this book is apparent throughout.
I would like to thank the following pioneers and trailblazers:
Peter Doherty, Nobel laureate, St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital
Gerald Edelman, Nobel laureate, Scripps Research Institute
Murray Gell-Mann, Nobel laureate, Santa Fe Institute and Caltech
Walter Gilbert, Nobel laureate, Harvard University
David Gross, Nobel laureate, Kavli Institute for Theoretical Physics
Henry Kendall, Nobel laureate, MIT
Leon Lederman, Nobel laureate, Illinois Institute of Technology
Yoichiro Nambu, Nobel laureate, University of Chicago
Henry Pollack, Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, Nobel Peace Prize
Joseph Rotblat, Nobel laureate, St. Bartholomew’s Hospital
Steven Weinberg, Nobel laureate, University of Texas at Austin
Frank Wilczek, Nobel laureate, MIT
Amir Aczel, author of Uranium Wars
Buzz Aldrin, astronaut, NASA, second man to walk on the moon
Geoff Andersen, U.S. Air Force Academy, author of The Telescope
David Archer, geophysical scientist, University of Chicago, author of The Long Thaw
Jay Barbree, coauthor of Moon Shot
John Barrow, physicist, Cambridge University, author of Impossibility
Marcia Bartusiak, author of Einstein’s Unfinished Symphony
Jim Bell, astronomer, Cornell University
Gregory Benford, physicist, University of California, Irvine
James Benford, physicist, president of Microwave Sciences
Jeffrey Bennett, author of Beyond UFOs
Bob Berman, astronomer, author of Secrets of the Night Sky
Leslie Biesecker, senior investigator, medical genomics, National Institutes of Health
Piers Bizony, author of How to Build Your Own Spaceship
Michael Blaese, senior investigator, National Institutes of Health
Alex Boese, founder of Museum of Hoaxes
Nick Bostrom, transhumanist, Oxford University
Lt. Col. Robert Bowman, director, Institute for Space and Security Studies
Travis Bradford, author of Solar Revolution
Cynthia Breazeal, codirector, Center for Future Storytelling, MIT Media Laboratory
Lawrence Brody, senior investigator, medical genomics, National Institutes of Health
Rodney Brooks, former director, MIT Artificial Intelligence Laboratory
Lester Brown, founder and president of Earth Policy Institute
Michael Brown, astronomer, Caltech
James Canton, author of The Extreme Future
Arthur Caplan, founder of Division of Medical Ethics, NYU School of Medicine
Fritjof Capra, author of The Science of Leonardo
Sean Carroll, cosmologist, Caltech
Andrew Chaikin, author of A Man on the Moon
Leroy Chiao, astronaut, NASA
Eric Chivian, physician, International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War
Deepak Chopra, author of Super Brain
George Church, professor of genetics, Harvard Medical School
Thomas Cochran, physicist, Natural Resources Defense Council
Christopher Cokinos, astronomer, author of The Fallen Sky
Francis Collins, director, National Institutes of Health
Vicki Colvin, chemist, Rice University
Neil Comins, physicist, University of Maine, author of The Hazards of Space Travel
Steve Cook, Marshall Space Flight Center, NASA spokesperson
Christine Cosgrove, coauthor of Normal at Any Cost
Steve Cousins, Willow Garage Personal Robots Program
Philip Coyle, former U.S. assistant secretary of defense
Daniel Crevier, computer scientist, CEO of Coreco Imaging
Ken Croswell, astronomer, author of Magnificent Universe
Steven Cummer, computer scientist, Duke University
Mark Cutkosky, mechanical engineer, Stanford University
Paul Davies, physicist, author of Superforce
Daniel Dennett, codirector, Center for Cognitive Studies, Tufts University
Michael Dertouzos, computer scientist, MIT
Jared Diamond, Pulitzer Prize winner, UCLA
Mariette DiChristina, editor in chief, Scientific American
Peter Dilworth, research scientist, MIT Artificial Intelligence Laboratory
John Donoghue, creator of BrainGate, Brown University
Ann Druyan, writer and producer, Cosmos Studios
Freeman Dyson, physicist, Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton
David Eagleman, neuroscientist, Stanford University
Paul Ehrlich, environmentalist, Stanford University
John Ellis, physicist, CERN
Daniel Fairbanks, geneticist, Utah Valley University, author of Relics of Eden
Timothy Ferris, writer and producer, author of Coming of Age in the Milky Way
Maria Finitzo, filmmaker, stem cell expert, Peabody Award winner
Robert Finkelstein, robotics and computer science, Robotic Technology, Inc.
Christopher Flavin, senior fellow, Worldwatch Institute
Louis Friedman, cofounder, Planetary Society
Jack Gallant, neuroscientist, University of California, Berkeley
James Garvin, chief scientist, NASA
Evalyn Gates, Cleveland Museum of Natural History, author of Einstein’s Telescope
Michael Gazzaniga, neurologist, University of California, Santa Barbara
Jack Geiger, cofounder, Physicians for Social Responsibility
David Gelernter, computer scientist, Yale University
Neil Gershenfeld, director, Center for Bits and Atoms, MIT Media Laboratory
Paul Gilster, author of Centauri Dreams
Rebecca Goldburg, environmentalist, Pew Charitable Trusts
Don Goldsmith, astronomer, author of The Runaway Universe
David Goodstein, former vice provost, Caltech
J. Richard Gott III, physicist, Princeton University, author of Time Travel in Einstein’s Universe
Stephen Jay Gould, biologist, Harvard University
Ambassador Thomas Graham, arms control and nonproliferation expert under six presidents
John Grant, author of Corrupted Science
Eric Green, director, National Human Genome Research Institute, National Institutes of Health
Ronald Green, genomics and bioethics, Dartmouth College, author of Babies by Design
Brian Greene, physicist, Columbia University, author of The Elegant Universe
Alan Guth, physicist, MIT, author of The Inflationary Universe
William Hanson, author of The Edge of Medicine
Chris Hadfield, astronaut, CSA
Leonard Hayflick, University of California, San Francisco School of Medicine
Donald Hillebrand, director, Argonne National Laboratory’s Energy Systems Division
Allan Hobson, psychiatrist, Harvard University
Jeffrey Hoffman, astronaut, NASA, MIT
Douglas Hofstadter, Pulitzer Prize winner, author of Gödel, Escher, Bach
John Horgan, journalist, Stevens Institute of Technology, author of The End of Science
Jamie Hyneman, host of MythBusters
Chris Impey, astronomer, University of Arizona, author of The Living Cosmos
Robert Irie, computer scientist, the Cog Project, MIT Artificial Intelligence Laboratory
P. J. Jacobowitz, journalist, PC Magazine
Jay Jaroslav, Human Intelligence Enterprise, MIT Artificial Intelligence Laboratory
Donald Johanson, paleoanthropologist, Institute of Human Origins, discoverer of Lucy
George Johnson, science journalist, New York Times
Tom Jones, astronaut, NASA
Steve Kates, astronomer, TV host
Jack Kessler, professor of medicine, Northwestern Medical Group
Robert Kirshner, astronomer, Harvard University
Kris Koenig, astronomer, filmmaker
Lawrence Krauss, physicist, Arizona State University, author of The Physics of Star Trek
Lawrence Kuhn, filmmaker, Closer to Truth
Ray Kurzweil, inventor and futurist, author of The Age of Spiritual Machines
Geoffrey Landis, physicist, NASA
Robert Lanza, biotechnology expert, head of Astellas Global Regenerative Medicine
Roger Launius, coauthor of Robots in Space
Stan Lee, creator of Marvel Comics and Spider-Man
Michael Lemonick, former senior science editor, Time magazine
Arthur Lerner-Lam, geologist and volcanist, Earth Institute
Simon LeVay, author of When Science Goes Wrong
John Lewis, astronomer, University of Arizona
Alan Lightman, physicist, MIT, author of Einstein’s Dreams
Dan Linehan, author of SpaceShipOne
Seth Lloyd, mechanical engineer and physicist, MIT, author of Programming the Universe
Werner R. Loewenstein, former director of Cell Physics Laboratory, Columbia University
Joseph Lykken, physicist, Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory
Pattie Maes, professor of media arts and sciences, MIT Media Laboratory
Robert Mann, author of Forensic Detective
Michael Paul Mason, author of Head Cases
W. Patrick McCray, author of Keep Watching the Skies!
Glenn McGee, author of The Perfect Baby
James McLurkin, computer scientist, Rice University
Paul McMillan, director, Space Watch
Fulvio Melia, astrophysicist, University of Arizona
William Meller, author of Evolution ℞
Paul Meltzer, Center for Cancer Research, National Institutes of Health
Marvin Minsky, computer scientist, MIT, author of The Society of Mind
Hans Moravec, Robotics Institute of Carnegie Mellon University, author of Robot
Philip Morrison, physicist, MIT
Richard Muller, astrophysicist, University of California, Berkeley
David Nahamoo, IBM Fellow, IBM Human Language Technologies Group
Christina Neal, volcanist, U.S. Geological Survey
Michael Neufeld, author of Von Braun: Dreamer of Space, Engineer of War
Miguel Nicolelis, neuroscientist, Duke University
Shinji Nishimoto, neurologist, University of California, Berkeley
Michael Novacek, paleontology, American Museum of Natural History
S. Jay Olshansky, biogerontology, University of Illinois at Chicago, coauthor of The Quest for Immortality
Michael Oppenheimer, environmentalist, Princeton University
Dean Ornish, clinical professor of medicine, University of California at San Francisco
Peter Palese, virologist, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai
Charles Pellerin, former director of astrophysics, NASA
Sidney Perkowitz, author of Hollywood Science
John Pike, director, GlobalSecurity.org
Jena Pincott, author of Do Gentlemen Really Prefer Blondes?
Steven Pinker, psychologist, Harvard University
Tomaso Poggio, cognitive scientist, MIT
Corey Powell, editor in chief, Discover
John Powell, founder, JP Aerospace
Richard Preston, author of The Hot Zone and The Demon in the Freezer
Raman Prinja, astronomer, University College London
David Quammen, evolutionary biologist, author of The Reluctant Mr. Darwin
Katherine Ramsland, forensic scientist, DeSales University
Lisa Randall, physicist, Harvard University, author of Warped Passages
Sir Martin Rees, astronomer, Cambridge University, author of Before the Beginning
Jeremy Rifkin, founder, Foundation on Economic Trends
David Riquier, writing instructor/teaching assistant, Harvard University
Jane Rissler, former senior scientist, Union of Concerned Scientists
Joseph Romm, Senior Fellow at Center for American Progress, author of Hell and High Water
Steven Rosenberg, head of Tumor Immunology Section, National Institutes of Health
Oliver Sacks, neurologist, Columbia University
Paul Saffo, futurist, Stanford University and Institute for the Future
Carl Sagan, astronomer, Cornell University, author of Cosmos
Nick Sagan, coauthor of You Call This the Future?
Michael H. Salamon, NASA’s Discipline Scientist for Fundamental Physics and Beyond Einstein program
Adam Savage, host of MythBusters
Peter Schwartz, futurist, founder of Global Business Network
Sara Seager, astronomer, MIT
Charles Seife, author of Sun in a Bottle
Michael Shermer, founder, Skeptic Society and Skeptic magazine
Donna Shirley, former manager, NASA Mars Exploration Program
Seth Shostak, astronomer, SETI Institute
Neil Shubin, evolutionary biologist, University of Chicago, author of Your Inner Fish
Paul Shuch, aerospace engineer, executive director emeritus, SETI League
Peter Singer, author of Wired for War
Simon Singh, writer and producer, author of Big Bang
Gary Small, coauthor of iBrain
Paul Spudis, geologist and lunar scientist, author of The Value of the Moon
Steven Squyres, astronomer, Cornell University
Paul Steinhardt, physicist, Princeton University, coauthor of Endless Universe
Jack Stern, stem cell surgeon, clinical professor of neurosurgery, Yale University
Gregory Stock, UCLA, author of Redesigning Humans
Richard Stone, science journalist, Discover Magazine
Brian Sullivan, astronomer, Hayden Planetarium
Michael Summers, astronomer, coauthor of Exoplanets
Leonard Susskind, physicist, Stanford University
Daniel Tammet, author of Born on a Blue Day
Geoffrey Taylor, physicist, University of Melbourne
Ted Taylor, physicist, designer of U.S. nuclear warheads
Max Tegmark, cosmologist, MIT
Alvin Toffler, futurist, author of The Third Wave
Patrick Tucker, futurist, World Future Society
Chris Turney, climatologist, University of Wollongong, author of Ice, Mud and Blood
Neil deGrasse Tyson, astronomer, director, Hayden Planetarium
Sesh Velamoor, futurist, Foundation for the Future
Frank von Hippel, physicist, Princeton University
Robert Wallace, coauthor of Spycraft
Peter Ward, coauthor of Rare Earth
Kevin Warwick, human cyborg expert, University of Reading
Fred Watson, astronomer, author of Stargazer
Mark Weiser, research scientist, Xerox PARC
Alan Weisman, author of The World Without Us
Spencer Wells, geneticist and producer, author of The Journey of Man
Daniel Werthheimer, astronomer, SETI@home, University of California, Berkeley
Mike Wessler, Cog Project, MIT Artificial Intelligence Laboratory
Michael West, CEO, AgeX Therapeutics
Roger Wiens, astronomer, Los Alamos National Laboratory
Arthur Wiggins, physicist, author of The Joy of Physics
Anthony Wynshaw-Boris, geneticist, Case Western Reserve University
Carl Zimmer, biologist, coauthor of Evolution
Robert Zimmerman, author of Leaving Earth
Robert Zubrin, founder, Mars Society