MICHIO KAKU (born January 24, 2947 in San Jose, California) is a self-proclaimed “communicator and popularizer” of science. He is a physicist and teaches Theoretical Physics at CUNY City College Of New York, and is the co-inventor of the string field theory.
He participated in the National Science Fair in Albuquerque, New Mexico, and attracted the attention of a physicist who awarded him the Hertz Engineering Scholarship. He graduated summa cum laude from Harvard in 1968 and was first in his physics class. He received a Ph.D. in 1972 from Berkeley and taught at Princeton. He made a conscious decision to turn the direction of his career away from nuclear weapons development to focus on research, teaching, writing, and media. He is an active advocate against nuclear war, and was a board member of Peace Action. He completed his U.S. Army basic training and advanced infantry training, but the Vietnam War ended before he could be deployed.
Kaku has publicly criticized NASA on their cost-ineffective missions and methods, as well as their risk assessment. He has publicly stated his concerns over such issues as global warming, nuclear armament and power, and the general misuse of science.
He has appeared on many radio shows and television programs, and among me and my peers of science nerds he is recognized as “That cool guy from the Discovery/History/Science Channel.” I first saw him in a special explaining the String theory, which I had previously read a little about without really understanding it. After his show, not only did I understand it, but I was itching to find out more. I watched as many of his documentaries as I could online, and have recently discovered his published works.
Anybody with an interest in physics (space, black holes, the big bang, Einstein, etc) needs to experience his work. Kaku is awesome at taking impossibly complicated concepts and breaking them down in a way that is both intriguing and relative to the knowledge of the average person. With all of his work towards promoting the field of science, and enlightening people to the dangers of our way of life that we overlook, the world needs more scientists like Michio Kaku.
