Michio Kaku (Kanji: 加來 紀雄) (born January 24, 1947 in the United States) is a Japanese American theoretical physicist, tenured professor, and co-creator of string field theory, a branch of string theory. Kaku received a B.S. (summa cum laude) from Harvard University in 1968 where he came first in his physics class. He went on to the Berkeley Radiation Laboratory at the University of California, Berkeley and received a Ph.D. in 1972. In 1973, he held a lectureship at Princeton University.

In addition to holding the Henry Semat Chair and Professorship in theoretical physics at City College of New York, he has taught there for more than 25 years. Presently, he is engaged in working on Einstein's "Theory of Everything," seeking to unify the four fundamental forces of the universe: the strong force, the weak force, gravity and electromagnetism. Additionally, he has been a visiting professor at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, as well as at New York University.

Dr. Kaku is the author of several scholarly, Ph.D.-level textbooks and has had more than 70 articles published in physics journals covering topics such as superstring theory, supergravity, supersymmetry, and hadronic physics. Based on the number of citations his work has received in the academic literature, Kaku has an h-index of 22.

He is also known as an author of popular science books, including the best-sellers Beyond Einstein, Visions, Hyperspace, and Parallel Worlds.

Kaku hosts "Explorations," a weekly syndicated program produced by station WBAI-FM in New York City, a Pacifica owned station. "Explorations" is heard on the Pacifica stations as well as community and independent radio stations and on the world wide web. Dr. Kaku defines the show as dealing with the general topics of science, war, peace and the environment.

In February, 2006, he hosted a four-part, four hour science documentary for BBC-TV, about the mysterious nature of time. Called "About Time," it won critical acclaim in reviews in the London media. Part One of the series concerns personal time, how animals and humans perceive and measure the passing of time. Part Two concerns cheating time, i.e. whether its possible to extend the life span of animals and humans. Part Three concerns geological time, the quest to determine the age of the earth and the sun. And Part Four concerns cosmological time, the question of understanding the beginning of time and what happened at the instant of the big bang. Eventually, the BBC-TV special will be seen around the world.

In April, 2006, Dr. Kaku started broadcasting on 90 commercial radio stations. The program is called "Science Fantastic," and is the only nationally syndicated science program on commercial radio in the country. It airs from 5pm to 8pm (EDT) on Saturdays, and takes listener phone calls from around the country. Guests have included Nobel Laureates as well as top researchers in areas such as string theory, time travel, black holes, gene therapy, aging, space travel, artificial intelligence, SETI, and futurology. Its focus is the future of science. It is syndicated by Talk Radio Network.

Dr. Kaku has become a popular figure in mainstream media, due to his knowledge, as well as his accessible approach to explaining complex physics, quantum mechanics and other topics from a layperson's point of view.

While Dr. 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 addition to his work in physics, Dr. Kaku's interests extend to a number of subjects. Dr Kaku has been an outspoken critic of nuclear war and nuclear power. He has been concerned about global warming, nuclear energy and the general misuse of science. Kaku's progressive views have put him at odds with fellow string theory researcher Lubos Motl.

Media appearances

• Explorations
• Larry King Live
• Good Morning America
• Nightline
• PBS' Nova (specifically "The Elegant Universe")
• 60 Minutes
• Art Bell's Coast to Coast AM
• The PBS documentary Einstein Revealed
• The PBS documentary Stephen Hawking's Universe
• The Learning Channel's Future Fantastic
• Discovery Channel's Alien Planet, Exodus Earth, and Robosapiens
• Time
• Me & Isaac Newton (a 1999 documentary film)
• Various appearances on BBC, G4tv, and the SciFi Channel
• Parallel Universes on the Science Channel
• Top Ten Greatest Discoveries
• Opie & Anthony Show - Show regular Jim Norton lives in the same building as Dr. Kaku and makes frequent references to him when science is discussed on the show.

Bibliography

• Kaku, Michio. Einstein's Cosmos: How Albert Einstein's Vision Transformed Our Understanding of Space and Time. Orion, 2004. ISBN 0297847554
• —. Parallel Worlds: The Science of Alternative Universes and Our Future in the Cosmos. Gardners, 2004. ISBN 0713997281
• —. Strings, Conformal Fields, and M-Theory. Springer, 1999. ISBN 0387988920
• —. Introduction to Superstrings and M-Theory. Springer, 1999. ISBN 0387985891
• —. Visions: How Science Will Revolutionize the 21st Century and Beyond. New York: Oxford University Press, 1999. ISBN 0192880187
• — and Jennifer Trainer Thompson. Beyond Einstein: Superstrings and the Quest for the Final Theory. New York: Oxford University Press, 1998. ISBN 0192861964
• —. Hyperspace: A Scientific Odyssey Through Parallel Universes, Time Warps, and the Tenth Dimension. New York: Oxford University Press, 1994. ISBN 0192861891
• —. Quantum Field Theory: A Modern Introduction. New York: Oxford University Press, 1993. ISBN 0195076524
• — and Daniel Axelrod. To Win a Nuclear War: The Pentagon's Secret War Plans. South End Press, 1987. ISBN 0896083217
• — and Jennifer Trainer (eds.) Nuclear Power: Both Sides. New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 1982. ISBN 0393016315

External links

• Dr. Michio Kaku's website
• "Explorations" Dr. Kaku's weekly radio show
• Explorations Podcast
• "Michio Kaku" (Coast to Coast show)
• "BBC interview"
• Nuclear Threats and the New World Order by Michio Kaku
• KUOW Interview 3-9-2006

1947 births | Living people | American physicists | Japanese physicists | Japanese Americans | Harvard University alumni | University of California, Berkeley alumni

Michio Kaku | ミチオ・カク | Michio Kaku