Michael Riordan

Michael Riordan earned a Ph.D. in physics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and taught courses about the history of physics and technology at Stanford University and UC Santa Cruz. He is author of The Hunting of the Quark and coauthor of The Solar Home Book, The Shadows of Creation, Crystal Fire, and, most recently, Tunnel Visions: The Rise and Fall of the Superconducting Super Collider. He has published articles, essays, and reviews in The New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Washington Post, San Francisco Chronicle, and Seattle Times, plus articles in New Scientist, Physics World, Science, Scientific American, and Technology Review. A Guggenheim Fellow, Riordan was awarded the 2002 Andrew W. Gemant Award by the American Institute of Physics to recognize his efforts communicating physics and its relationship to the wider culture. Now chair of the Science Advisory Board of Research Northwest in Eastsound, WA, he writes on science, technology, and public policy from Orcas Island, where he lives, works, and often kayaks.