Malcolm Gladwell has been a staff writer at The New Yorker since 1996. He is the author of The Tipping Point, Blink, Outliers, and What the Dog Saw. Prior to joining The New Yorker, he was a reporter at the Washington Post. Gladwell was born in England and grew up in rural Ontario. He now lives in New York.

Malcolm

Adam Grant is an American psychologist and author widely known for his work on the science of giving, creativity, and organizational psychology. He is the top-rated professor at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and a former professor at the University of Michigan. His first book, Give and Take: A Revolutionary Approach to Success, was a New York Times bestseller.
Grant is a leading authority on the science of giving, creativity, and organizational psychology. He has written or co-written six books, including Originals: How Non-Conformists Move the World and Option B: Facing Adversity, Building Resilience, and Finding Joy. He has also written for The New York Times, The Atlantic Monthly, Harvard Business Review, and other publications.
Grant's research focuses on how giving, taking, and exchanging advice affects an individual’s success. He has studied how to maximize the benefits of giving, how to encourage more successful collaborations, and how to foster an environment of innovation and creativity. He has also explored how to assess and develop leadership potential within organizations and how to build workplace cultures where employees are empowered to do their best work.
Grant has received numerous awards and honors, including being named one of the world's 40 most influential management thinkers by Thinkers50 in 2015, one of the world's 50 most influential management thinkers by Thinkers50 in 2018, and one of the world's most influential management gurus by The Observer in 2018. He is a recipient of the Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Mentoring and was named the Most Influential Thinker of the Decade by Poets &amp; Quants in 2020.
In addition to his academic and writing career, Grant is a frequent speaker for organizations, universities, and conferences around the world. He has presented to audiences of thousands at TEDx events, and he has been featured on television and radio programs such as The Oprah Winfrey Show, 60 Minutes, and NPR’s Fresh Air. He has also served as a visiting professor at Stanford, Cornell, and INSEAD, and he is currently a visiting professor at the London School of Economics.

Adam

Edward Osborne Wilson FRS (June 10, 1929 – December 26, 2021) was an American biologist, naturalist, ecologist, and entomologist known for developing the field of sociobiology. Described by David Attenborough as "a world authority," his contributions to the scientific community led him to be dubbed as the "father of biodiversity," "ant-man," and a modern equivalent to Charles Darwin.
Born in Alabama, Wilson found an early interest in nature and frequented the outdoors. At age seven, he was partially blinded in a fishing accident; due to his reduced sight, Wilson resolved to study entomology. After matriculating at the University of Alabama, Wilson transferred to complete his dissertation at Harvard University, where he would distinguish himself in multiple fields. In 1956, he co-authored a paper defining the theory of character displacement; in 1967, he developed the theory of island biogeography with Robert MacArthur in Sociobiology: The New Synthesis.
Wilson was the Pellegrino University Research Professor Emeritus in Entomology for the Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology at Harvard University, a lecturer at Duke University, and a fellow of the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry. The Royal Swedish Academy awarded Wilson the Crafoord Prize. He was a humanist laureate of the International Academy of Humanism. He was a two-time winner of the Pulitzer Prize for General Nonfiction (for On Human Nature in 1979 and The Ants in 1991) and a New York Times bestselling author for The Social Conquest of Earth, Letters to a Young Scientist, and The Meaning of Human Existence.
Wilson was an active writer whose work stirred controversy. The release of Sociobiology was received negatively by several of his own colleagues, and Wilson's theory of evolution resulted in a widely-reported dispute with Richard Dawkins. Examinations of his letters after his death revealed that he had supported the psychologist J. Philippe Rushton, whose work on race has been widely regarded by the scientific community as deeply flawed and racist.

Edward

Jocko Willink is an American retired Navy Seal officer, author, podcaster, and public speaker. He is best known for his involvement in the Battle of Ramadi, his success in the Navy SEALs, and his leadership philosophy, which is based on discipline, hard work, and respect for others.
Willink was born in Easton, Pennsylvania, on September 8, 1971. He joined the Navy in 1990 and, after graduating from Basic Underwater Demolition/SEAL (BUD/S) training, was assigned to SEAL Team 3. During his service in the Navy, Willink completed multiple deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan and was eventually assigned to Task Unit Bruiser, the most decorated special operations unit of the Iraq War. During the Battle of Ramadi, Willink and his team helped to clear the city of insurgent forces, and their exemplary performance earned them the Navy Cross.
Willink retired from the Navy in 2010 and soon after began to share his leadership philosophy. He has authored several books, including Extreme Ownership, Leadership Strategy and Tactics, and Way of the Warrior Kid, as well as co-hosting the popular podcast Jocko Podcast.
Willink is also a respected public speaker, giving talks all over the world on topics such as leadership, discipline, and team building. He is a sought-after keynote speaker for both corporate and military events.
Willink is an advocate for physical and mental fitness, often speaking about the importance of proper nutrition and exercise. He also encourages people to push themselves and strive to become the best versions of themselves.
Willink is a highly respected figure in the military and business worlds, and his words have been an inspiration to many. His leadership philosophy is one that emphasizes discipline, hard work, and respect for others, and these values are ones that have served him well throughout his career.

Jocko

Claudius Ptolemy was a Roman mathematician, astronomer, astrologer, geographer, and music theorist, who wrote about a dozen scientific treatises, three of which were important to later Byzantine, Islamic, and Western European science. The first is the astronomical treatise, now known as the Almagest, although it was originally entitled the Mathēmatikē Syntaxis or Mathematical Treatise, and later known as The Greatest Treatise.&nbsp;
The second is Geography, which is a thorough discussion of maps and the geographic knowledge of the Greco-Roman world. The third is the astrological treatise, in which he attempted to adapt horoscopic astrology to the Aristotelian natural philosophy of his day. This is sometimes known as the Apotelesmatika (lit. "On the Effects") but more commonly known as the Tetrábiblos, from the Koine Greek meaning "Four Books," or by its Latin equivalent Quadripartite.
Unlike most ancient Greek mathematicians, Ptolemy's writings (foremost the Almagest) never ceased to be copied or commented upon in Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages. However, it is likely that only a few truly mastered mathematics necessary to understand his works, as evidenced particularly by the many abridged and watered-down introductions to Ptolemy's astronomy that were popular among the Arabs and Byzantines alike.
Ptolemy lived in or around the city of Alexandria, in the Roman province of Egypt, under Roman rule. He had a Latin name, which generally implies he was also a Roman citizen, cited Greek philosophers, and used Babylonian observations and Babylonian lunar theory. In half of his extant works, Ptolemy addresses a certain Syrus, a figure of whom almost nothing is known but who likely shared some of Ptolemy's astronomical interests.
The 14th-century astronomer Theodore Meliteniotes gave his birthplace as the prominent Greek city Ptolemais Hermiou. This attestation is quite late, however, and there is no evidence to support it. Claudius Ptolemy died in Alexandria around 168. Ptolemy's Greek name, Ptolemaeus (Πτολεμαῖος, Ptolemaîos), is an ancient Greek personal name. It occurs once in Greek mythology and is of Homeric form.
It was common among the Macedonian upper class at the time of Alexander the Great. There were several of these names in Alexander's army, one of whom made himself pharaoh in 323 BC: Ptolemy I Soter, the first pharaoh of the Ptolemaic Kingdom. Almost all subsequent pharaohs of Egypt, with a few exceptions, were named Ptolemies until Egypt became a Roman province in 30 BC, ending the Macedonian family's rule.
The name Claudius is a Roman name belonging to the gens Claudia; the peculiar multipart form of the whole name Claudius Ptolemaeus is a Roman custom characteristic of Roman citizens. Several historians have deduced that this indicates that Ptolemy would have been a Roman citizen. Gerald Toomer, the translator of Ptolemy's Almagest into English, suggests that citizenship was probably granted to one of Ptolemy's ancestors by either the emperor Claudius or the emperor Nero.

Claudius

Nassim Nicholas Taleb is a Lebanese-American essayist, scholar, statistician, and former trader and risk analyst whose work focuses on problems of randomness, probability, and uncertainty. He is the author of several books, including "The Black Swan: The Impact of the Highly Improbable," which was published in 2007 and became a bestseller.
Taleb is a former trader and risk analyst and has worked as a professor of risk engineering at New York University's Tandon School of Engineering. He has a background in mathematics, statistics, and computer science and has published numerous papers in academic journals on topics related to randomness and uncertainty.
Taleb's main area of research is the study of "black swans," which he defines as rare events that have a large impact and are typically not predictable. He argues that traditional risk assessment methods, such as using historical data to predict future events, are inadequate because they fail to consider the possibility of black swan events.
Taleb is also known for his criticism of the concept of "normalcy" in statistics and his skepticism of the use of mathematical models in finance and economics. He has argued that the assumptions made in these models are often unrealistic and can lead to dangerous oversimplifications.
In addition to his work in academia, Taleb is also a public intellectual and has written several books for a general audience. His books have been widely discussed and debated in the media and have been translated into multiple languages.
Taleb is a strong advocate for antifragility, a concept he has developed and popularized in his books. Antifragility is the property of a system or entity that improves when subjected to volatility, shocks, stressors, or disorder and doesn't just remain indifferent to them.
Taleb's writing style is often characterized as provocative and contrarian, and he is known for his strong opinions on a wide range of topics. His work has been influential in the fields of economics, finance, and risk management and has also been discussed in the broader cultural and intellectual conversation.

Nassim Nicholas

Chris Anderson is the Head of TED, a non-profit organization devoted to spreading ideas through short, powerful talks. He is also the founder of TEDx, a program that allows communities and organizations to host TED-like events.
Anderson has been involved with TED since 2001 and took over as Head of TED in 2002. Under his leadership, TED has grown into a global phenomenon, with talks being viewed by millions of people in more than 100 languages. He has also been instrumental in expanding the reach of TED by making the words available for free online and by launching the TEDx program.
In addition to his work with TED, Anderson is also an entrepreneur and author. He is the founder of several successful companies. In addition, he has written several books, including "The Long Tail: Why the Future of Business Is Selling Less of More" and "TED Talks: The Official TED Guide to Public Speaking."
Anderson is a firm believer in the power of ideas to change the world, and he has dedicated his career to promoting this idea through TED. He is a charismatic and dynamic speaker and has been praised for his ability to bring together diverse groups of people to share their thoughts and inspire change.
Anderson is also known for his innovative approach to curation, which has helped to make TED one of the most respected and widely-watched platforms for ideas. He has a keen eye for identifying new and emerging trends and is always looking for ways to bring fresh perspectives and voices to the TED stage.
He has also been a champion of using technology to democratize knowledge and ideas, making them more accessible to people worldwide. In addition, he has been an early adopter of new technologies, such as online video and social media, to help spread TED's message and reach new audiences.
Various organizations and publications have also recognized Anderson's work with TED. He has been honored with numerous awards for his contributions to the field of communications and education and has been named one of the most influential people in the world by Time Magazine.
In addition to his role at TED, Anderson is a sought-after speaker and advisor and has been invited to speak at conferences and events worldwide. In addition, he is a regular contributor to various publications, where he shares his insights on the future of technology, business, and culture.
Overall, Chris Anderson is a respected leader and a thought leader in the field of ideas and education, and he continues to inspire and innovate in his role as Head of TED. His work has helped make TED one of the most critical and influential platforms for sharing knowledge and ideas, and his contributions to the field will continue to be felt for years.

Chris

Ryan Holiday is an American author, marketer, media strategist, and entrepreneur. He is the author of several bestselling books, including his most recent, Perennial Seller, as well as popular titles such as The Obstacle Is the Way, Ego Is the Enemy, Conspiracy, and Growth Hacker Marketing. Holiday has written for the New York Times, Forbes, the Wall Street Journal, and other publications. He has also been featured in Time, The New Yorker, and The Washington Post.
Holiday is the founder of Brass Check, a creative consulting agency that specializes in marketing, media strategy, and creative consulting. He has worked with some of the world’s most successful authors, entrepreneurs, and public figures, including Tony Robbins, Tim Ferriss, Robert Greene, and Tucker Max. His clients also include media companies such as VICE, MTV, and Complex. He has also served as a consultant to brands such as American Apparel, Google, and Gillette.
As an author, Holiday has written nine books, three of which have become New York Times bestsellers. His books focus on topics such as personal and professional development, marketing, and media strategy. His most recent book, Perennial Seller, is a guide to creating and sustaining success in business, publishing, and life.
As a media strategist and consultant, Holiday has helped launch and reinvigorate several brands and campaigns. His work spans from creating marketing campaigns for startups and Fortune 500 companies to working as a creative consultant for media companies and major brands.
Holiday's work has been featured in major publications, including the New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Fast Company, and The Washington Post. He has also appeared on television shows such as the Colbert Report, Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, The Today Show, and podcasts such as the Tim Ferriss Show and the Joe Rogan Experience.&nbsp;
In addition to his work as an author, media strategist, and consultant, Holiday is a frequent public speaker. He has been a keynote speaker at events such as SXSW, the World Business Forum, and the Inc. 5000 Conference. He also teaches marketing and media strategy classes at the University of California, Berkeley.
Holiday is passionate about helping others achieve their goals and dreams. He has created several online courses and resources to help entrepreneurs, creatives, and marketers better understand the media landscape, marketing, and creative strategies. He also serves as the Managing Director of the media startup, Contently and is an adviser to several startups and companies. He is also a mentor to many aspiring entrepreneurs and creators.

Ryan

Brian Randolph Greene is an American theoretical physicist, mathematician, and string theorist. He has been a professor at Columbia University since 1996 and chairman of the World Science Festival since co-founding it in 2008. Greene has worked on mirror symmetry, relating two different Calabi–Yau manifolds.

Brian

William Hardy McNeill (October 31, 1917 – July 8, 2016) was an American historian, and author noted for his argument that contact and exchange among civilizations are what drives human history forward, first postulated in The Rise of the West (1963). He was the Robert A. Millikan Distinguished Service Professor Emeritus of History at the University of Chicago, where he taught from 1947 until his retirement in 1987.
William McNeill was born in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, the son of theologian and educator John T. McNeill, where he lived until age ten. The family then moved to Chicago while spending summers on a family farm on Canada's Prince Edward Island. He earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1938 from the University of Chicago, where he was editor of the student newspaper and "was inspired by the anthropologist Robert Redfield."&nbsp;
He earned a Master of Arts degree in 1939, also at the University of Chicago, and wrote his thesis on Thucydides and Herodotus. He began working towards a Ph.D. in history at Cornell University under Carl L. Becker. In 1941, he was drafted into the U.S. Army and served in World War II in the European theater. After the war, he returned to Cornell for his Ph.D., which he earned in 1947.
McNeill's best-known work is The Rise of the West: A History of the Human Community, which was published in 1963, relatively early in his career. The book explores world history in terms of the effect different old-world civilizations had on one another and cites the deep influence of Western civilization on the rest of the world to argue that societal contact with foreign civilizations is the primary force in driving historical change.&nbsp;
It had a major impact on historical theory by emphasizing cultural fusions, in contrast to Oswald Spengler's view of discrete, independent civilizations. Hugh Trevor-Roper wrote a glowing review in The New York Times Book Review. McNeill's Rise of the West won the U.S. National Book Award in History and Biography in 1964.
From 1971 to 1980, he served as the editor of The Journal of Modern History. His Plagues and Peoples (1976) was an important early contribution to the study of the impact of disease on human history. In 1982, he published The Pursuit of Power, which examined the role of military forces, military technology, and war in human history. In 1989 he published a biography of his mentor Arnold J. Toynbee.
In a 1992 review, he disagreed with Francis Fukuyama's argument in The End of History and the Last Man that the end of the Cold War meant that the American model of a capitalist liberal democracy had become the "final form of human government" as Fukuyama put it. In 1997 he disagreed with the central thesis of Jared Diamond's Guns, Germs, and Steel for overlooking the importance of human "cultural autonomy" in determining human development versus Diamond's focus on environmental factors. In 2003, he coauthored The Human Web: A Bird's-eye View of World History with his son and fellow historian J. R. McNeill.

William

David Sinclair is a world-renowned scientist and professor of genetics at Harvard Medical School. He is an authority in the field of aging, and his research focuses on understanding why we age and how to slow it down. He is the co-founder and co-chief editor of the journal Aging Cell, as well as a co-founder and co-director of the Sinclair Lab at Harvard Medical School.&nbsp;
Dr. Sinclair has made groundbreaking discoveries in the field of aging and longevity. He discovered a gene that controls the aging process and is currently researching ways to use this gene to extend the life and slow down the effects of aging. He has also identified a compound that could potentially reverse aging in mice and has been researching ways to develop a drug that could do the same for humans. His research has been featured in numerous publications, including the New York Times and The Atlantic.&nbsp;
In addition to his research, Dr. Sinclair is an advocate of healthy aging. He is the author of two books, Lifespan: Why We Age—and Why We Don't Have To and The Genetics of Health: Understand Your DNA to Transform Your Life, which provides insights into the science of aging and how to live a longer, healthier life. He is also the co-founder of the Institute for Aging Research and Education, which is dedicated to advancing the science of aging and promoting healthy aging.
Dr. Sinclair is a highly respected scientist and professor, and his work has been recognized with numerous awards and honors. He was named one of the world’s most influential people by Time Magazine in 2019 and is a recipient of the prestigious Albert Einstein Award for Outstanding Achievement in the Life Sciences. He has also been honored with the Breakthrough Prize in Aging Research and the American Society for Cell Biology’s worldwide recognition award for his research on aging.

David

Sam Harris is an American neuroscientist, philosopher, and author. He is the founder and CEO of Project Reason, a non-profit organization that promotes science and secularism. Harris is known for his critiques of religious faith and his promotion of scientific rationality and secular humanism. He has written several books, including "The End of Faith," "Letter to a Christian Nation," "The Moral Landscape," "Free Will," and "Waking Up: A Guide to Spirituality Without Religion." Harris is also a frequent speaker and commentator on neuroscience, philosophy, and religion issues.
Sam Harris hosts a podcast called "Making Sense," produced by his non-profit organization, Project Reason. The podcast features Harris having in-depth conversations with various guests, including scientists, scholars, authors, and other public figures. Topics of discussion on the podcast include science, philosophy, politics, and current events. The podcast is released weekly, and episodes can be found on various platforms such as iTunes, Spotify, and YouTube. The podcast has been running since 2013 and has been well-received by listeners for its in-depth and thought-provoking conversations.
Harris has written extensively on neuroscience and its implications for understanding the nature of consciousness, free will, and morality. In addition, he is known for his work on the neural basis of belief and emotion and his critiques of traditional religious and spiritual beliefs.
Project Reason is a non-profit organization that promotes scientific understanding and critical thinking on issues related to religion, morality, and politics. It provides a forum for open and rational discussion of these topics and works to combat the influence of dogmatism and superstition in public life. Some of the activities of Project Reason include public lectures, debates, discussions with experts in various fields, and the production of multimedia content such as podcasts, videos, and articles. Harris' organization also provides educational resources and materials for educators and students.

Pamela Ann McCorduck was a British-born American author of books about the history and philosophical significance of artificial intelligence, the future of engineering, and the role of women and technology. She also wrote three novels. She contributed to Omni, The New York Times, Daedalus, and the Michigan Quarterly Review, and was a contributing editor of Wired. She was a former vice president of the PEN American Center. She was married to computer scientist and academic Joseph F. Traub.
McCorduck was born on October 27, 1940, in Liverpool, United Kingdom, to Hilda (née Bond) and William J. "Jack" McCorduck. The city was being bombed by the German Luftwaffe at the time of her birth. Her mother was a beautician and teacher, while her father owned beauty colleges, including the one where her mother taught. She was the eldest of three siblings, with the younger two being twins. She moved to Stamford, Connecticut, in the United States, with her family, when she was 6.&nbsp;
The family moved in the RMS Queen Elizabeth, an ocean liner that took them to Ellis Island in 1946. She lived in Rutherford, New Jersey, where she graduated from Rutherford High School before moving west and earning a bachelor's degree in English literature from University of California, Berkeley, in 1960. Many years later, she obtained her master's degree in English literature from Columbia University.
McCorduck started out supporting professors Edward Feigenbaum, who would later go on to be known as the father of expert systems, and Julian Feldman, at UC Berkeley in their book on artificial intelligence, entitled Computers &amp; Thought (1963). She stayed on as an executive assistant to Feigenbaum as he moved to Stanford University to set up the university's computer science department in 1965.
She moved to Seattle, with her husband Joseph F. Traub, whom she had met in Stanford, when he moved to the University of Washington; she later moved to Pittsburgh, where she taught at Carnegie Mellon University. During these years, she wrote two of her novels, Familiar Relations (1971; about a family in Liverpool) and Working to the End (1972).
While at Carnegie Mellon she taught in the English department, but was introduced to scientists working on artificial intelligence, including professor Herbert A. Simon, who championed the idea that computers could match human thinking by exhibiting artificial intelligence. She continued to interact with the scientists and researchers, including Raj Reddy and Allen Newell, many of whom she interviewed.&nbsp;
During this time, she wrote Machines Who Think: A Personal Inquiry Into the History and Prospects of Artificial Intelligence (1979), which was funded by the university. The book ended up chronicling the early years of research in artificial intelligence. She wrote about researchers who were studying expert systems, robotics, problem solving, general game playing, and speech recognition, becoming one of the pre-eminent writers on the topic who were able to explain the topics to a broad audience.&nbsp;
Her conversational tone of writing as well as observational skills were credited with distinguishing her writings from other works on these topics. Her book, Machines Who Think: A Personal Inquiry Into the History and Prospects of Artificial Intelligence had its twenty-fifth year edition with updates capturing progress in the field of artificial intelligence through 2004.
McCorduck moved to Columbia University in 1979, teaching creative writing, when her husband Traub was appointed the first chairman of the computer science department at Columbia. She continued to write on artificial intelligence and related topics, including books such as The Universal Machine (1985), The Rise of the Expert Company (1988), and Aaron's Code (1990). Her book, Futures of Women (1996), used scenario planning to study potential trajectories for the economic and social futures of women.
She also wrote two novels, The Edge of Chaos (2007) and Bounded Rationality (2012). Her last book was a memoir, This Could Be Important: My Life and Times With the Artificial Intelligentsia (2019), in which she regretted not calling attention to the potential misuse of artificial intelligence earlier. Throughout her career, she wrote eleven books, including three novels, which were all published.
McCorduck served as a board member and later as the vice president of the PEN American Center. She was chairperson of a committee that studied the long-range reorganization of the PEN America. She was a contributor to Omni, The New York Times, Daedalus, Michigan Quarterly Review and was a contributing editor of Wired.
&nbsp;The Carnegie Mellon University library hosts the Traub-McCorduck collection set up in 2018, based on her contributions, which included early counting machines, manuscripts, books and artifacts documenting the history of computing, including two enigma machines. In 2020, she was appointed a board member of the University of California Libraries.

Pamela

Steven Pinker is an internationally renowned experimental psychologist, cognitive scientist, and popular science writer. He is a professor at Harvard University, where he has taught since 2003. He is the author of several books, including The Language Instinct, How the Mind Works, and The Better Angels of Our Nature: Why Violence Has Declined.
Pinker's research focuses on language and cognition, and he is the chair of the Usage Panel of the American Heritage Dictionary. He is also a contributing editor for The New Republic, and he is a frequent commentator on popular science topics in newspapers and magazines.
Pinker was born in Montreal, Canada, in 1954. He received his B.A. from McGill University in 1976 and his Ph.D. in psychology from Harvard University in 1979. He has received numerous awards and honors, including the Pulitzer Prize for General Non-Fiction in 2018 for his book, The Better Angels of Our Nature: Why Violence Has Declined.
Pinker's research has been highly influential in the fields of linguistics, cognitive science, and evolutionary psychology. He has written extensively on the evolution of language, the nature of the mind, and the power of reason. He has also written on the topics of human intelligence, morality, beauty, and violence.
Pinker has argued that evolutionary forces largely shape human intelligence and that the human mind is a complex set of mental modules. He has also argued that reason can be used to solve moral dilemmas and that violence has declined over time due to the spread of reason.
Pinker's work has been widely praised by academics and intellectuals, and he has been described as one of the leading public intellectuals of our time. His books have been translated into dozens of languages, and they have sold millions of copies. He has appeared on numerous television shows and has been the subject of multiple documentaries.
In addition to his academic and popular writing, Pinker is also an active public speaker. He frequently lectures on scientific topics and has appeared as a guest on talk shows and news programs. He has been featured in numerous films, including the documentary film The Edge of Reason, which was nominated for an Academy Award in 2016.
Pinker is a member of the National Academy of Sciences and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. He is also a fellow of the Royal Society of Canada and the American Philosophical Society. He has been awarded numerous honorary degrees, including doctorates from the Universities of Toronto, Harvard, and Oxford.

Steven

Paul Graham is an entrepreneur, programmer, and essayist. He is the co-founder of Y Combinator, a startup accelerator that has funded over 2,000 companies including Dropbox, Airbnb, and Reddit. His career has been focused on technology and startups. He began his career as a programmer and software developer, working on various projects and startups. In 1995, he co-founded Viaweb, one of the first web-based companies that allowed users to create their own online stores. The company was later sold to Yahoo in 1998 for $49 million.
After the sale of Viaweb, Graham turned his attention to startup investing and mentoring. In 2005, he co-founded Y Combinator, a startup accelerator that provides funding, resources, and mentorship to early-stage startups. Y Combinator has since funded over 2,000 companies, many of which have gone on to become successful and valuable companies, such as Dropbox, Airbnb, and Reddit.
Paul Graham has several notable achievements in his career, including:
<ul>
<li>Co-founding Viaweb: Viaweb was one of the first web-based companies that allowed users to create their own online stores. The company was later sold to Yahoo in 1998 for $49 million.</li>
<li>Fellowship at Harvard's Society of Fellows: Graham is a Fellow at Harvard's Society of Fellows, a prestigious group of scholars who receive funding and support to pursue their research.</li>
<li>Helping launch successful startups: Graham has helped launch many successful startups through Y Combinator and has mentored many entrepreneurs. Some of the successful companies that came out of Y Combinator include Dropbox, Airbnb, and Reddit.</li>
</ul>
In addition to his work with Y Combinator, Graham is also known for his essays on technology and startups. He has written extensively on the startup ecosystem, the role of technology in society, and the future of the internet. His essays have been collected in two books, "Hackers &amp; Painters" and "Ansi Common Lisp." He continues to share his thoughts and insights on his website, paulgraham.com.

Paul

John D. Barrow was a professor of mathematical sciences, director of the Millennium Mathematics Project at Cambridge University, and a Fellow of the Royal Society. He was awarded the 2006 Templeton Prize for "Progress Toward Research or Discoveries about Spiritual Realities" for his "writings about the relationship between life and the universe, and the nature of human understanding [which] have created new perspectives on questions of ultimate concern to science and religion."
He was a member of a United Reformed Church, which he described as teaching "a traditional deistic picture of the universe."John D. Barrow was a professor of mathematical sciences, director of the Millennium Mathematics Project at Cambridge University, and a Fellow of the Royal Society. "He was a member of a United Reformed Church, which he described as teaching "a traditional deistic picture of the universe."
Barrow was a Junior Research Lecturer at Christ Church, Oxford, from 1977 to 1981. He completed two postdoctoral years as a Miller Research Fellow in astronomy at the University of California, Berkeley, as a Commonwealth Lindemann Fellow (1977–8) and Miller Fellow (1980–1).
In 1981 he joined the University of Sussex and rose to become Professor and Director of the Astronomy Centre. In 1999, he became a Professor in the Department of Applied Mathematics and Theoretical Physics and a fellow at Clare Hall at Cambridge University. From 2003 to 2007, he was a Gresham Professor of Astronomy at Gresham College, London. He was appointed Gresham Professor of Geometry from 2008 to 2011; only one person has previously held two different Gresham chairs.

John

Maria

Figuring explores the complexities of love and the human search for truth and meaning through the interconnected lives of several historical figures across four centuries—beginning with the astronomer Johannes Kepler, who discovered the laws of planetary motion, and ending with the marine biologist and author Rachel Carson, who catalyzed the environmental movement.
Stretching between these figures is a cast of artists, writers, and scientists—mostly women, mostly queer—whose public contributions have risen out of their unclassifiable and often heartbreaking private relationships to change the way we understand, experience, and appreciate the universe.&nbsp;
Among them are the astronomer Maria Mitchell, who paved the way for women in science; the sculptor Harriet Hosmer, who did the same in art; the journalist and literary critic Margaret Fuller, who sparked the feminist movement; and the poet Emily Dickinson.
Emanating from these lives are larger questions about the measure of a good life and what it means to leave a lasting mark of betterment in an imperfect world: Are achievement and acclaim enough for happiness? Is genius? Is love?
Weaving through the narrative is a set of peripheral figures—Ralph Waldo Emerson, Charles Darwin, Elizabeth Barrett Browning, Herman Melville, Frederick Douglass, Nathaniel Hawthorne, and Walt Whitman—and a tapestry of themes spanning music, feminism, the history of science, the rise and decline of religion, and how the intersection of astronomy, poetry, and Transcendentalist philosophy fomented the environmental movement.

Cleo Abram is an inspiring and dynamic video producer at Vox. She brings enthusiasm and creativity to her projects, always pushing the envelope and striving for excellence.
Before joining Vox, Cleo worked as a producer on Netflix’s Explained, a show that dives deep into the day's topics. She was also the host and producer of Vox’s YouTube series Glad You Asked, a show that asked tough questions with engaging and entertaining videos.
Since joining Vox, Cleo has been the host and producer of Vox’s first-ever daily show, Answered. The show features a range of topics from technology to science, to politics and more. Cleo has been able to share her knowledge and expertise with viewers through the show.
Cleo is an excellent communicator and is passionate about producing high-quality content. She is a master of her craft and is constantly looking for ways to innovate and push the boundaries of video production.
When she’s not in the studio, Cleo can be found spending time with her family and friends. She also enjoys exploring the great outdoors and going on adventures. Cleo is an inspiring producer with a lot of energy and drive. Her work speaks for itself; she is always looking for ways to push the envelope and create compelling and thought-provoking content.
In addition to her work as a producer and host at Vox, Cleo Abram is also a video journalist currently making Huge If True, a documentary series about the internet age. The series explores the impact of the internet on our lives and society, from how we communicate to how we consume media. Through the series, Cleo is able to share her unique perspective and expert knowledge about the modern world.

Cleo

Elizabeth Gilbert

Rebecca Solnit

Neil Gaiman

Ann Patchett

Brian Greene

Maria Popova's Figuring explores the interconnectedness of life. She shows how everything in the universe is linked, from the smallest atom to the largest galaxy. This perspective can help us see our own lives in a new light, and understand how our actions can have far-reaching effects.

Interconnectedness of Life

Popova emphasizes the importance of curiosity. She encourages us to ask questions, to dig deeper, and to never stop learning. This book will inspire you to look at the world with a sense of wonder and to find joy in the pursuit of knowledge.

The Power of Curiosity

Figuring shines a spotlight on the often overlooked contributions of women in science and art. Popova tells the stories of these trailblazing women, inspiring us to challenge societal norms and to strive for equality in all fields.

The Role of Women in Science and Art

In Figuring, Popova explores the beauty of complexity, both in the natural world and in human relationships. She shows us that it's okay to not have all the answers, and that sometimes, the journey of discovery is more important than the destination.

The Beauty of Complexity

Popova reminds us of the importance of love and friendship in our lives. She explores the deep bonds between some of history's most notable figures, showing us that these relationships can provide support, inspiration, and a sense of belonging.

The Importance of Love and Friendship

Figuring

Maria Popova is a writer, entrepreneur, and cultural critic known for her work as the founder and editor of the popular website Brain Pickings. Brain Pickings is an eclectic website that features interesting and thought-provoking articles, essays, and books on a wide range of topics, including literature, philosophy, science, and art. Popova began Brain Pickings as a personal project in 2006, and it quickly gained a large following. Today, the site receives millions of visitors each month and has been praised for its unique perspective and curatorial approach.
Popova has also written for a number of publications, including The New York Times, The Atlantic, and Wired. In addition, she has been a speaker at various conferences and events, discussing topics such as creativity, productivity, and the intersection of technology and culture. Popova has also been honored with several awards for her work, including the Webby Award for Best Cultural Blog and the National Endowment for the Arts NEA Arts Journalism Institute in Creative Writing.
In addition to her work on Brain Pickings, Popova is also the author of "Figuring" which is a book that explores the lives and works of some of the most fascinating and accomplished figures of the last four centuries, from Jane Austen and Johann Wolfgang von Goethe to Marie Curie and Martin Luther King Jr.
Popova continues to write, curate, and publish her works on her website and in various publications, making her an influencer in literature and culture.

Top Book Recommendations by Maria Popova: Best Books for Success

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Figuring

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Figuring

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