STEVEN STROGATZ is the Winokur Distinguished Professor for the Public Understanding of Science and Mathematics. He is the author of SYNC, THE JOY OF X, and INFINITE POWERS, which was a NEW YORK TIMES bestseller and a finalist for the Royal Society Science Book Prize. A member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, he is one of the world's most highly cited mathematicians, a frequent columnist in THE NEW YORK TIMES and THE NEW YORKER, a regular guest on RADIOLAB and SCIENCE FRIDAY, and the winner of MIT's and Cornell's highest teaching prizes. His awards include the AAAS Public Engagement with Science Award (2013); the Lewis Thomas Prize for Writing about Science (2015); and the nation's top prize for science communication, the National Academies Eric and Wendy Schmidt Award for Excellence in Science Communications (2023).