Gregory Benford’s resume is suspiciously well-suited for the Hieroglyph Project: he is both a Professor of Physics at the University of California, Irvine and an award-winning science fiction author. Gregory’s novels include Against Infinity, The Martian Race and Timescape. His most recent novel is Bowl of Heaven, co-written with Larry Niven.
Gregory recently collaborated with the editors of Popular Mechanics on The Wonderful Future That Never Was, which profiles some of the most ridiculous, prescient and optimistic visions of the future featured in Popular Mechanics from the beginning of the 20th century through the 1960s.
Gregory conducts research in plasma turbulence theory and experiment, and in astrophysics. He has published papers on a wide range of topics, including condensed matter, particle physics, plasmas, mathematical physics and biological conservation. He has served as a Visiting Fellow at Cambridge University and as an advisor to the Department of Energy, NASA and the White House Council on Space Policy.
Many of Gregory’s best-known novels are part of a six-part sequence, the Galactic Center Saga, which depicts an interminable galactic war between organic, sentient life forms and electromechanical life forms. In 1989 Gregory was the host and screenwriter for the television series A Galactic Odyssey, which described modern physics and astronomy from the perspective of the evolution of the galaxy. He has also served as a scientific consultant to NHK Network and for Star Trek: The Next Generation.
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