Richard Preston is regarded as one of the leading authors writing about science in our time. He’s written five books, including The Hot Zone, The Cobra Event, and The Demon in the Freezer, which are his “Dark Biology” trio. He is a regular contributor to The New Yorker. He holds a Ph.D. in English from Princeton University, and he’s won numerous awards for his writing, including the American Institute of Physics Award and the National Magazine Award. He’s also the only non-physician ever to receive the Centers for Disease Control's Champion of Prevention Award for public health. An asteroid is named "Preston" in his honor. (Asteroid Preston travels on a wild orbit near Mars, and it may slam into Mars or the Earth some day, creating an explosion similar to the one that wiped out the dinosaurs.)