Marc Kaufman is a journalist and author of “First Contact: Scientific Breakthroughs in the Hunt for Life Beyond Earth” (Simon and Schuster).  A science writer with the Washington Post, Kaufman traveled the world while reporting “First Contact” to speak with scientists on the cutting edge of the burgeoning field of astrobiology — the hunt for life beyond Earth. Marc has been a journalist for more than three decades, mostly at the Post and the Philadelphia Inquirer. He believes that his many years as a foreign correspondent taught him how to be a good translator of science (and scientists.) He lives with his wife, Lynn Litterine, in Silver Spring.

David J. Linden, Ph.D., is a Professor in the Department of Neuroscience at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. His laboratory has worked for many years on the cellular substrates of memory storage in the brain and a few other topics.  He has a longstanding interest in scientific communication and serves as the Chief Editor of the Journal of Neurophysiology.  He is the author of two books on the biology of behavior for a general audience, ”The Accidental Mind” (Harvard/Belknap, 2007) and “The Compass of Pleasure” (Viking Press, 2011) which, to date, have been translated into 12 languages.

 He lives in Baltimore, Maryland with his two pleasure-seeking children.

Leonard Rosen is the author of “All Cry Chaos” (Permanent Press), finalist for the 2012 Edgar Award (the top award for mystery writing) for Best First Novel.  Rosen is a best-selling and widely respected non-fiction author among educational publishers (including Pearson, Allyn & Bacon, Little Brown, and Nelson Doubleday). He has written Radio Essays broadcast by NPR’s Morning Edition, Only A Game, and All Things Considered, as well as op-eds published by the Boston Globe. He has taught writing at Harvard University. He lives in Brookline, MA.