ALUN ANDERSON is a senior consultant and former editor-in-chief and publishing director of New Scientist.
Beginning his his career as a research biologist, he received his PhD from the University of Edinburgh and later held posts as IBM Research Fellow at the University of Oxford, and Royal Society Overseas Fellow at the University of Kyoto in Japan, publishing numerous papers on perceptual systems, as well as books about Japan.
He moved into science writing, variously holding posts as news and views editor, Japan Bureau Chief and US editor of the journal Nature, international editor of the journal Science; and for 12 years, editor, then editor-in-chief and publishing director, of the weekly magazine New Scientist.
He is a member of the council of the Royal Institution, and a board member of the Cambridge, Massachusetts, start-up Xconomy.com.
Anderson is the author of After the Ice: Life, Death, and Politics in the New Arctic.