Gregory Benford

Gregory Benford is a scientist, astrophysicist, and science fiction author who worked as scientific consultant on Star Trek: The Next Generation.

Born as Gregory Albert Benford in Mobile, Alabama, USA, he received a Bachelor of Science from the University of Oklahoma and attended the University of California in San Diego where he graduated with a Ph.D. in 1967. He then worked as research physicist for four years at the Lawrence Livermore Laboratory and joined the University of California in Irvine as teacher and professor of physics.

With this scientific background and as a fan of science fiction, Benford wrote several novels for which he received awards and prizes. Among them are "Stand In" (1965), "Deeper Than the Darkness" (1970), "Timescape" (1980), "Artifact" (1985), "Chiller" (1993), "Cosm" (1998), and "Eater" (2000). Beside his writings and teachings, Benford officially worked as adviser for the Department of Energy, the NASA, and the White House Council. In 1997 he was interviewed in the television mini series documentary Stephen Hawking's Universe.