David Brin is an astrophysicist whose international best-selling novels include Earth, Existence, Startide Rising and The Postman (filmed in 1998). Dr. Brin serves on advisory boards (e.g. NASA's Advanced Concepts program or NIAC) and speaks or consults on topics ranging from AI, SETI, privacy and invention to national security. His nonfiction book about the information age - The Transparent Society - won the Freedom of Speech Award of the American Library Association. His latest nonfiction work is Polemical Judo.