An American writer, born in Brooklyn, New York, who graduated from Stuyvesant High School in New York City and earned a Bachelor of Science in mechanical engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. After graduating from college, he held three engineering jobs before becoming a freelance writer in 1970. His articles have appeared in magazines, including Johns Hopkins Magazine and The New York Times Magazine. He became a professor of science writing at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where he helped start the graduate program in science writing.