Alan Lightman

Alan Lightman earned his Ph.D. in physics from the California Institute of Technology and is the author of seven novels, including the international bestseller “Einstein’s Dreams” and “The Diagnosis,” a finalist for the National Book Award. His nonfiction includes “The Accidental Universe,” “Searching for Stars on an Island in Maine,” and “Probable Impossibilities.” He has taught at Harvard and at MIT, where he was the first person to receive a dual faculty appointment in science and the humanities. He is currently a professor of the practice of the humanities at MIT. He is the host of the public television series “Searching: Our Quest for Meaning in the Age of Science.”