Michio Kaku

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Michio Kaku

Born January 24, 1947 (1947-01-24) (age 62)
San Jose, California, USA
Residence New York City, New York, USA
Nationality American
Fields Theoretical Physics
Institutions City University of New York
Alma mater Harvard University
U.C. Berkeley
Doctoral advisor Stanley Mandelstam
Known for String theory

Michio Kaku (加來 道雄 Kaku Michio?) (b. January 24, 1947) is a Japanese-American theoretical physicist specializing in string field theory, and a futurist. He is a popularizer of science, host of two radio programs, and a best-selling author.

Contents

[edit] Media personality

[edit] Biography

Kaku was born in San Jose, California to Japanese immigrant parents, and attended and played first board on the chess team of Cubberly High School in Palo Alto in the early 1960s. At the National Science Fair in Albuquerque, N.M., he attracted the attention of physicist Edward Teller, who took Kaku as a protégé, awarding him the Hertz Engineering Scholarship. Kaku received a B.S. degree summa cum laude from Harvard University in 1968 where he placed first in his physics class. He went on to attend the Berkeley Radiation Laboratory at the University of California, Berkeley and received a Ph.D. degree in 1972, and held a lectureship at Princeton University in 1973. During the Vietnam War, Kaku completed his US Army basic training at Fort Benning, Georgia and his advanced infantry training at Fort Lewis, Washington. However, the Vietnam War ended before he was deployed as an infantryman.

Kaku currently holds the Henry Semat Chair and Professorship in theoretical physics and holds a joint appointment at City College of New York, and the Graduate Center of the City University of New York, where he has taught for more than 30 years. Presently, he is engaged defining the "Theory of Everything", which seeks to unify the four fundamental forces of the universe: the strong force, the weak force, gravity and electromagnetism. He has also been a visiting professor at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, and New York University. He is a Fellow of the American Physical Society. He is listed in Who's Who in America, Who's Who in the World, Who's Who in Science and Engineering, and American Men and Women of Science.

He has published extensively in string theory since 1969. In 1974, along with Prof. K. Kikkawa, he wrote the first paper on string field theory, now a major branch of string theory, which can summarize each of the five string theories into a single equation. In addition to his work on string field theory, he also wrote some of the first papers on multi-loop amplitudes in string theory, the first paper on the divergences of these multi-loop amplitudes, the first paper on supersymmetry breaking at high temperatures in the early universe, the first paper on super-conformal gravity, and also some of the first papers on the non-polynomial closed string field theory. Many of the ideas he first explored have since blossomed into active areas of string research. His current research focuses on the difficult problem of revealing the underlying nature of M-theory and string theory, which he believes are not in their final form. Until the theory is completed, it is premature, he believes, to compare the theory too closely to experimental data.[citation needed]

Kaku is the author of several scholarly Ph.D. level textbooks on string theory and quantum field theory and has had more than 170 articles published in journals covering topics superstring theory, supergravity supersymmetry, and hadronic physics. He is also author of the popular science books, Visions, Hyperspace, and Parallel Worlds, and co-authored Beyond Einstein with Jennifer Thompson. Hyperspace was a best-seller and was voted one of the best science books of the year by both the New York Times[1] and the Washington Post. Parallel Worlds was a finalist for the Samuel Johnson Prize for non-fiction in the UK.

His latest book, Physics of the Impossible, examines the technologies of invisibility, teleportation, precognition, star ships, antimatter engines, time travel and more—all regarded as things that are not possible today but that might be possible in the future. In this book, he ranks these subjects according to when, if ever, these technologies might become reality. In March 2008, Physics of the Impossible entered the New York Times Best-seller list, and stayed on for 5 weeks.

[edit] Social Policy Advocacy

Kaku has publicly stated his concerns over issues including the human cause of global warming, nuclear armament, nuclear power, and the general misuse of science.[2] He was critical of the Cassini-Huygens space probe because of the 72 pounds of plutonium contained in the craft for use by its radioisotope thermoelectric generator. Alerting the public to the possibility of casualties if its fuel were dispersed into the environment during a malfunction and crash as the probe was making a 'sling-shot' maneuver around earth; he was critical of NASA's risk assessment. [3] Ultimately, the probe was launched and successfully completed its mission. Kaku is generally a vigorous supporter of the exploration of outer space, believing that the ultimate destiny of the human race may lie in the stars, but is critical of some of the cost-ineffective missions and methods of NASA.

Dr. Kaku credits his anti-nuclear war position to programs he heard on the Pacifica radio network, during his student years in California. It was during this period that he made the decision to turn away from a career developing the next generation of nuclear weapons in association with Dr. Teller and focused on research, teaching, writing and media. Dr. Kaku joined with others such as Dr. Helen Caldicott, Jonathan Schell, Peace Action and was instrumental in building a global anti-nuclear weapons movement that arose in the 1980s, during the administration of US President Ronald Reagan.

Dr. Kaku was a board member of Peace Action and on the board of radio station WBAI-FM in New York City where he originated his long running program, Explorations, that focused on the issues of science, war, peace and the environment.

[edit] Television

Kaku has appeared in many forms of media and on many programs and networks. In particular, he has appeared on Good Morning America, The Screen Savers , Larry King Live, 60 Minutes, Nightline, 20/20, CNN, ABC News, CBS News, NBC News, Fox News Channel,The History Channel, The Science Channel, The Discovery Channel, Countdown with Keith Olbermann,Opie & Anthony, and The History Channel's The Universe.

In 1999, Kaku was one of the scientists profiled in the feature-length film, Me and Isaac Newton, directed by Michael Apted, and funded by Paul Allen. It played in movie houses around the country, was broadcast on national TV, and won several film awards.

In 2005 Kaku appeared in the short documentary Obsessed & Scientific. The film is about the possibility of time travel and the people who dream about it. It has appeared at the Montreal World Film Festival and is in developmental talks about becoming a feature. He also appeared in the ABC documentary "UFOs: Seeing Is Believing" where he suggested that while he believes it is extremely unlikely that extraterrestrials have ever actually visited Earth, we must keep our minds open to the possible existence of civilizations a million years ahead of us in technology, where entirely new avenues of physics open up. He also discussed the future of interstellar exploration and alien life in the Discovery Channel special Alien Planet as one of the multiple speakers who co-hosted the show, and Einstein's Theory of Relativity on The History Channel.

In February 2006, Kaku appeared as presenter in the BBC-TV four-part documentary, Time which seeks to explore the mysterious nature of time. Part one of the series concerns personal time, and how we perceive and measure the passing of time. The second in the series deal with cheating time, exploring possibilities of extending the lifespan of organisms. The geological time covered in part three explores the ages of the earth and the sun. Part four covers the topics of cosmological time, the beginning of time and the events that occurred at the instant of the big bang.

On January 28, 2007, Kaku hosted the Discovery Channel series 2057. This three-hour program discussed how medicine, the city, and energy will change over the next 50 years. In 2008, Kaku hosted the three-hour BBC-TV, documentary Visions of the Future on future of computers, medicine, and quantum physics, and appeared in several episodes of the History Channel's Universe series.

Kaku is popular in mainstream media because of his knowledge and his accessible approach to presenting complex subjects in science. While Kaku's technical writings are confined to theoretical physics, his public speaking and media appearances take many areas of interest. At such events, he has discussed topics ranging from the Kardashev scale to more esoteric subjects such as wormholes and time travel. In January 2007, Kaku visited the Middle Eastern country of Oman. While there, he talked at length to select members of that country's decision makers. In an interview with local media, Dr Kaku elaborated on his vision of mankind's future. Kaku considers terrorism as one of the main threats in man's evolution from a Type 0 civilization to Type 1.[4]

[edit] Radio

Kaku is the host of the weekly radio program, Explorations, produced by the Pacifica Foundation's WBAI in New York. Explorations syndicated to community and independent radio stations and makes previous broadcasts available on the programs website. Kaku defines the show as dealing with the general topics of science, war, peace and the environment.

In April 2006, Kaku began broadcasting Science Fantastic on 90 commercial radio stations, the only nationally syndicated science program on commercial radio in the United States. It is syndicated by Talk Radio Network, and now reaches 130 radio stations. The program is formatted as a live listener call-in show, focusing on the future of science, defined as "futurology". Featured as guests are Nobel laureates and top researchers on the topics of string theory, time travel, black holes, gene therapy, aging, space travel, artificial intelligence, and SETI. Kaku is also a frequent guest on many programs where he is outspoken in all areas and issues he considers of importance, such as the program Coast to Coast AM, where on 30 November 2007, he reaffirmed his belief that there is a 100 percent probability of extraterrestrial life in the universe.[5]

Dr. Kaku has appeared on the Opie and Anthony show a number of times, discussing popular fiction such as Back to The Future and the Sliders TV show and the theories behind time-travel that these and other fictional entertainment focus on. He is quoted as theorizing about the possibility of time travel, as a post-op transsexual and mating with the past self becoming your own father and mother. Dr. Kaku's statement in this regard: "well, you're in deep doo doo if that happens."

[edit] Internet Radio & Podcasts

Kaku gave an interview for the hosts of The Skeptics' Guide to the Universe. This was included with episode #182, dated 15/1/2009. He spoke on many topics, including String Theory and the Multiverse.

[edit] Filmography

[edit] Bibliography

[edit] References

  1. ^ New York Times Notable books of 1994
  2. ^ Kaku, Michio (Summer 1992). "Nuclear Threats and the New World Order". CovertAction Quarterly 41 (2). http://www.ratical.org/radiation/inetSeries/NthrtsNnwo.html. Retrieved on 2008-02-27. 
  3. ^ Kaku, Michio (5 October 1997). A Scientific Critique of the Accident Risks from the Cassini Space Mission. Animated Software Company. http://www.animatedsoftware.com/cassini/mk9708so.htm. Retrieved on 2008-02-07. 
  4. ^ "The Upside Down World of Dr. Michio Kaku". BusinessToday Oman (Apex Press and Publishing). February 2007. http://www.apexstuff.com/bt/200702/cover.asp. Retrieved on 2008-02-27. 
  5. ^ Michio Kaku. Interview with Art Bell. Universe, Energy & SETI (Audio). Coast to Coast AM. 30 November 2007. Retrieved on 2008-02-27.

[edit] External links

Persondata
NAME Kaku, Michio
ALTERNATIVE NAMES
SHORT DESCRIPTION Japanese-American theoretical physicist
DATE OF BIRTH January 24, 1947
PLACE OF BIRTH Palo Alto, California
DATE OF DEATH
PLACE OF DEATH
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michio_Kaku"
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