M. Mitchell Waldrop
Summary: (PDF)
Currently, I am head of MMW Communications LLC, a communications consulting firm in Washington, DC. In my distant past-1975-I earned a Ph.D. in elementary particle physics at the University of Wisconsin, Madison. Two years later, in 1977, I earned a Master’s in journalism at Wisconsin. From 1977 to 1980 I was a writer and West Coast bureau chief for Chemical and Engineering News. From 1980 to 1991 I was a senior writer at Science magazine, where I covered physics, space, astronomy, computer science, artificial intelligence, molecular biology, psychology, and neuroscience. From 1991 to 2003 I was a freelance writer, and from 2003 to 2006 I worked in media affairs for the National Science Foundation. I am the author of Man-Made Minds (Walker, 1987), a book about artificial intelligence; Complexity (Simon & Schuster, 1992), a book about the Santa Fe Institute and the new sciences of complexity; and The Dream Machine (Viking, 2001), a book about the history of computing. In my spare time I am an avid cyclist. I live in Washington, D.C. with my wife, Amy E. Friedlander.
The Full Resume: (PDF)
EDUCATION
1977: M.A. (Science Journalism) University of Wisconsin, Madison
1975: Ph.D. (Theoretical Physics) University of Wisconsin, Madison
Sigma Xi, 1973; IBM Fellow, 1972
1969: B.S. (Mathematics) University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill
Phi Beta Kappa, 1969; Phi Eta Sigma, 1965
EMPLOYMENT
2006-Present: MMW Communications, Washington, DC
Principal: Independent communications consulting and freelance writing.
2003-2006: National Science Foundation, Washington, DC
Public Affairs Officer: (2003-July 2006) Helped plan and implement overhaul of NSF Web site; led teams of writers, illustrators and designers in creating Web-based science content; served as acting editor of media affairs group; advised NSF officials on public outreach.
1991-2003: Free-Lance Writer, Washington, DC
1980-1994: Science, Washington, DC
Senior Writer: (1980-1991); Contributing Correspondent: (1991-1994). Specialized in physics, chemistry, astronomy, space, global change, computers, neuroscience, cognitive science, artificial intelligence, science policy, complexity theory.
1977-80: Chemical & Engineering News, Washington, DC
Writer (Washington, DC, 1977-8); Bureau Head: West Coast (Palo Alto, CA, 1978-80). Planned, researched, and wrote articles on the chemical sciences, including the role of chemistry in the earth and planetary sciences.
1969-77: University Of Wisconsin, Madison
Research Assistant: Wrote news releases and newsletter articles for the University-Industry Research program.Teaching Assistant: Taught a total of seven semesters, including introductory physics, remedial algebra, and introductory news writing.
FREELANCE WRITING
1979-Present: Magazines
Feature articles for Scientific American, Technology Review, HHMI Bulletin, Discover, Air & Space, Business 2.0, Red Herring, Fast Company, and others.
2004: The Future of Computing
A collection of in-depth essays, published by the Foresight and Governance Project, Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars
2001: The Dream Machine
A popular book on the history of computing; part of the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation’s book series on technologies of the 20th century.
1992: Complexity
A popular book on the Santa Fe Institute and complex adaptive systems; Ten foreign editions.
1987: Man-Made Minds
A popular book on artificial intelligence.
1986-90: Time-Life Books
Chapters on the use of computers in military surveillance and intelligence-gathering; computers in NASA’s unmanned planetary probes; the unmanned exploration of Mars; the history of astrophysics; spacecraft navigation; the fate of the solar system; neuroscience and the mind.
SELECTED PROFESSIONAL ACTIVITIES
DC Science Writers Association:
Board of Directors (1993-1998, 2003-); President, (2004-5).
Science-Writer-in-Residence, University of Wisconsin (2004)
Judge, NASW Science-in-Society award, books (2004), online (2007); American Institute of Physics science-writing award (1989-1993); American Society for Microbiology science writing award (2004); AAAS science journalism awards, TV and radio (1986-8), magazines (1992).
Lectures on History of Computing: Microsoft Research, Computer History Museum, Editors of IEEE Annals of History of Computing (2002)
Ecology of Warning Symposium, Global Futures Partnership (CIA) (2002).
Highlands Forum (2000 and 2003).
Presenter, U.S. Marine Corps’ Vision 2000 exercise (1995).
National Air and Space Museum’s Public Programs advisory panel (1990-1993)
SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY
2007. Innovation and Adaptation: IT Examples. In Blindside
2007. (Writer) Prospectus on the Social, Behavioral and Economic Sciences, SBE Subcommittee of the NSTC. Washington, DC. (In preparation)
2007. IMOD Technology. Scientific American 297, no. 5 (Nov): 94-7.
2007. Data Center in a Box. Scientific American 297, no. 2 (Aug): 90-3.
2007. Powering the Revolution. Science News (2 Jun)
2005. The World Year of Physics 2005 (NSF Special Report) http://www.nsf.gov/news/special_reports/wyop/index.jsp
2005. (Editor) After the Tsunami (NSF Special Report) http://www.nsf.gov/news/special_reports/tsunami/index.jsp
2005. Astronomy & Space (NSF Research Overview) http://www.nsf.gov/news/overviews/astronomy/index.jsp
2005. (co-author) Chemistry & Materials (NSF Research Overview) http://www.nsf.gov/news/overviews/chemistry/
2005. (co-author) Physics (NSF Research Overview) http://www.nsf.gov/news/overviews/physics/index.jsp
2005. (co-author) The Sensor Revolution (NSF Special Report) http://www.nsf.gov/news/special_reports/sensor/index.jsp
2004. The Future of Computing. Woodrow Wilson Center
2003. Can Sensemaking Keep Us Safe? Technology Review 106, no. 2 (Mar)
2003. Science Behind the Screens. Howard Hughes Medical Institute Bulletin 16, no. 2 (June): 4-5.
2002. Engineering the Cell. Howard Hughes Medical Institute Bulletin 15, no. 3 (Sep): 22-25.
2002. The Management Secrets of the Brain. Business 2.0 : 122-25.
2002. Grid Computing. Technology Review 105, no. 4 (May): 31-37.
2002. Noam Chomsky: The Relentless Revolutionary. Technology Review 105, no. 2 (Mar): (MIT News) 8-13.
2001. Origins of Personal Computing. Scientific American 285, no. 6 (Dec): 72-79.
2001. College Student Meets Electron Man. Howard Hughes Medical Institute Bulletin 14, no. 4 (Sep): 22-25.
2001. Claude Shannon: Reluctant Father of the Digital Age. Technology Review 104, no. 6 (Jul/Aug): 64-71.
2001. Janelia Farm: Cultivating the New Tools of Biology. Howard Hughes Medical Institute Bulletin 14, no. 3 (Jul): 10-15.
2000. No, This Man Invented the Internet. Forbes ASAP (27 Nov): 105-7.
2000. J.C.R. Licklider: Computing’s Johnny Appleseed. Technology Review 103, no. 1 (Jan/Feb): 66-71.
1997. How the Chess was Won: An Interview with Deep Blue’s Brains. Technology Review 100, no. 6 (Aug/Sep): 33-36.
1996. The Trillion-Dollar Vision of Dee Hock. Fast Company , no. 5 (Oct /Nov): 75-86.
1991. A Mind of Their Own. Connoisseur (May): 42.
1990. The Space Station is Losing Friends. Science 250 (19 Oct): 364-66.
1990. The Long, Sad Saga of Mount Graham. Science 248 (22 Jun): 1479-81.
1990. Fast, Cheap, and Out of Control. Science 248 (25 May): 959-62.
1990. Learning to Drink from a Firehose. Science 248 (11 May): 674-75.
1989. Flying the Electric Skies. Science 244 (30 Jun): 1532-34.
1989. Will the Hubble Space Telescope Compute? Science 243 (17 Mar): 1437-39.
1989. The U.S. Global Change Program–a Political Perspective. EarthQuest 3, no. 1 (Spring): 4-7.
1988. Soar: A Unified Theory of Cognition. Science 241 (15 Jul): 296-98.
1988. Toward a Unified Theory of Cognition. Science 241 (1 Jul): 27-29.
1988. Electronic Sentinels. The Military Frontier (Understanding Computers). Time-Life Books.
1987. Computers Amplify Black Monday. Science 238 (30 Oct): 602-4.
1987. Reconnaissance by Proxy. Space (Understanding Computers).Time-Life Books.
1986. Washington Embraces Global Earth Sciences. Science 233 (5 Sep): 1040-1042.
1986. Resolving the Star Wars Software Dilemma. Science 232 (9 May): 710-713.
1986. The Challenger Disaster: Assessing the Implications. Science 231 (14 Feb): 661-63.
1985. NSF Commits to Supercomputers. Science 228 (3 May): 568-71.
1985. Personal Computers on Campus. Science 228 (26 Apr): 438-44.
1985. Artificial Intelligence: The Machinations of Thought. Science 85 6, no. 2 (Mar): 38-45.
1984. An Inquiry Into the State of the Earth. Science 226 (5 Oct): 33-35.
1984. The Intelligence of Organizations. Science 225 (14 Sep): 1136-37.
1984. Artificial Intelligence in Parallel. Science 225 (10 Aug): 608-10.
1984. Computer Vision. Science 224 (15 Jun): 1225-27.
1984. Natural Language Understanding. Science 224 (27 Apr): 372-74.
1984. The Necessity of Knowledge. Science 223 (23 Mar): 1279-82.
1984. The Selling of the Space Station. Science 223 (24 Feb): 793-94.
1984. Artificial Intelligence (I): Into the World. Science 223 (24 Feb): 802-5.
1983. Space City. Science 83 4, no. 8 (Oct): 60-67.
1983. Gambling on the Supercollider. Science 221 (9 Sep): 1038-40.
1983. What Price Privatizing Landsat? Science 219 (11 Feb): 752-54.
1982. NASA Wants a Space Station. Science 217 (10 Sep): 1018-21.
1982. Imaging the Earth (II): The Politics of Landsat. Science 216 (2 Apr): 40-41.
1982. Imaging the Earth (I): The Troubled First Decade of Landsat. Science 215 (26 Mar): 1600-1603.
1981. Mauna Kea (II): Coming of Age. Science 214 (4 Dec): 1110-1114.
1981. Mauna Kea (I): Halfway to Space. Science 214 (27 Nov): 1010-1013.
CyberLife
Technology
My first book—a study of artificial intelligence.
