David Bodanis

David Bodanis was born in Chicago, lived in France for a decade, and makes his home in London. He studied mathematics, physics and history at the University of Chicago, and for many years taught the "Intellectual Tool-Kit" course at Oxford University. He is fascinated by story-telling, and the power of ideas.

As an author his books include the New York Times bestselling THE SECRET HOUSE (1986); the bestselling and Samuel Johnson Prize longlisted E=MC2 (2001), which has been translated into 28 languages, was turned into a Channel 4/PBS documentary, and a ballet at Sadler's Wells (winning the Southbank Award for Best British Dance of 2010); the Royal Society Science Book of the Year Prize winner ELECTRIC UNIVERSE (2006); and the BBC Book of the Week - also featured on the cover of The Economist - PASSIONATE MINDS (2007). His newest work, EINSTEIN’S GREATEST MISTAKE, will be published in 2016.

As a futurist and business advisor, he has worked for the Royal Dutch Shell Scenario Prediction unit, modelling economic futures, as well as for the future planning unit at the World Economic Forum. He has been a popular speaker at TED conferences and at Davos, and most recently helped run an international study for the UK Treasury on the future of High-Frequency Trading. He has published in the Financial Times, the Guardian, and the New York Times, and appeared on Newsnight, Start the Week, and other programs. When not slumped in front of a laptop, he has been known to attempt kickboxing, with highly variable results.