Timothy Ferris

His twelve visionary books and two acclaimed PBS specials - Life Beyond Earth and The Creation of the Universe - have opened the eyes of millions to the wonders of the universe. Among his books are the bestsellers Coming of Age in the Milky Way and The Whole Shebang, named by The New York Times as two of the most important books published in the twentieth century. Tim Ferris' most recent book Seeing In The Dark has also made it on to the New York Times Best Seller listing.

A multifaceted scholar, Professor Ferris has taught in five disciplines at four universities; he is currently Professor Emeritus at the University of California at Berkeley. He has received the American Institute of Physics medal, the American Association for the Advancement of Science prize, the Klumpke-Roberts award for lifetime contribution to public understanding of astronomy, and a Guggenheim Fellowship.

Ferris produced the Voyager phonograph record, an artifact of human civilization created to preserve an extraterrestrial record of earthly music, sounds and encoded photographs. Launched aboard the Voyager interstellar spacecraft in 1976, the record is expected to last for one billion years. A consultant to NASA on the long-term goals of space exploration, Ferris also served on the space agency's Near-Earth Object Steering Group and was a candidate to fly aboard the Space Shuttle as part of the Journalist in Space program.