Michio Kaku
Born	January 24, 1947 (1947-01-24) (age 63) San Jose, California, United States
Residence	New York City, New York, United States
Nationality	American
Fields	Theoretical physics
Institutions	City University of New York New York University Institute for Advanced Study
Alma mater	Harvard University University of California, Berkeley
Doctoral advisor	Stanley Mandelstam
Known for	String theory

Michio Kaku (加來 道雄, Kaku Michio^?, born January 24, 1947) is an American scientist and science communicator who is Professor of Theoretical Physics specializing in string field theory at the City University of New York. Kaku is also a well known futurist, popularizer of science, best-selling author and media broadcaster and presenter.

Kaku was born in San Jose, California to Japanese immigrant parents. Reflecting on his childhood, he said:^[1] his grandfather had come to the United States to take part in the clean-up operation after the 1906 San Francisco Earthquake. His father was born in California, but received education in Japan, so spoke little English. Both his parents were put in the Tule Lake War Relocation Center, where they met and where his brother was born.

Kaku attended and played first board on the chess team of Cubberley High School in Palo Alto in the early 1960s. At the National Science Fair in Albuquerque, New Mexico, he attracted the attention of physicist Edward Teller, who took Kaku as a protégé, awarding him the Hertz Engineering Scholarship. Kaku graduated summa cum laude from Harvard University with a B.S. degree in 1968 and was first in his physics class. He attended the Berkeley Radiation Laboratory at the University of California, Berkeley and received a Ph.D. in 1972, and held a lectureship at Princeton University in 1973. During the Vietnam War, Kaku completed his US Army basic training at Fort Benning, Georgia and his advanced infantry training at Fort Lewis, Washington.^[2] However, the Vietnam War ended before he was deployed as an infantryman.

Kaku currently holds the Henry Semat Chair and Professorship in theoretical physics and a joint appointment at City College of New York^{[citation needed]}, and the Graduate Center of the City University of New York, where he has lectured for more than 30 years.^{[citation needed]} Presently, he is engaged in defining the "Theory of Everything", which seeks to unify the four fundamental forces of the universe: the strong force, the weak force, gravity and electromagnetism. He was a visiting professor at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton^{[citation needed]}, and New York University.^{[citation needed]} He is a Fellow of the American Physical Society.^{[citation needed]} He is listed in Who's Who in Science and Engineering, and American Men and Women of Science.^{[citation needed]}

He has published research articles on string theory from 1969^{[citation needed]} to 2000. In 1974, along with Prof. K. Kikkawa, he wrote the first paper on string field theory, now a major branch of string theory, which summarizes each of the five string theories into a single equation. In addition to his work on string field theory, he also authored some of the first papers on multi-loop amplitudes in string theory, the first paper on the divergences of these multi-loop amplitudes, the first paper on supersymmetry breaking at high temperatures in the early universe, the first paper on super-conformal gravity, and also some of the first papers on the non-polynomial closed string field theory. Many of the ideas he first explored have since blossomed into active areas of string research. His most recent research publication, on bosonic quantum membranes, was published in Physical Review in 2000.

Kaku has publicly stated his concerns over matters including the human cause of global warming, nuclear armament, nuclear power and the general misuse of science.^[4] He was critical of the Cassini-Huygens space probe because of the 72 pounds of plutonium contained in the craft for use by its radioisotope thermoelectric generator. Conscious of the possibility of casualties if the probe's fuel were dispersed into the environment during a malfunction and crash as the probe was making a 'sling-shot' maneuver around earth, Kaku publicly criticized NASA's risk assessment.^[5] He has also spoken on the dangers of space junk and called for more and better monitoring. Kaku is generally a vigorous supporter of the exploration of outer space, believing that the ultimate destiny of the human race may lie in the stars; but he is critical of some of the cost-ineffective missions and methods of NASA.

Kaku credits his anti-nuclear war position to programs he heard on the Pacifica Radio network, during his student years in California. It was during this period that he made the decision to turn away from a career developing the next generation of nuclear weapons in association with Dr. Teller and focused on research, teaching, writing and media. Dr. Kaku joined with others such as Dr. Helen Caldicott, Jonathan Schell, Peace Action and was instrumental in building a global anti-nuclear weapons movement that arose in the 1980s, during the administration of US President Ronald Reagan.

Kaku has appeared in many forms of media and on many programs and networks, including Good Morning America, The Screen Savers, Larry King Live, 60 Minutes, Nightline, 20/20, Naked Science, CNN, ABC News, CBS News, NBC News, Al Jazeera English, Fox News Channel, The History Channel, The Science Channel, The Discovery Channel, TLC, Countdown with Keith Olbermann, The Colbert Report, The Art Bell Show and its successor, Coast To Coast AM, BBC World News America, The Opie & Anthony Show and The Covino & Rich Show.

In 1999, Kaku was one of the scientists profiled in the feature-length film, Me and Isaac Newton, directed by Michael Apted. It played theatrically in the United States, was later broadcast on national TV, and won several film awards.

Kaku is the host of the weekly, one hour radio program Explorations, produced by the Pacifica Foundation's WBAI in New York. "Explorations" is syndicated to community and independent radio stations and makes previous broadcasts available on the program's website. Kaku defines the show as dealing with the general topics of science, war, peace and the environment.

In April 2006, Kaku began broadcasting Science Fantastic on 90 commercial radio stations, the only nationally syndicated science program on commercial radio in the United States. It is syndicated by Talk Radio Network and now reaches 130 radio stations, and America's Talk on XM. The program is formatted as a live listener call-in show, focusing on "futurology," which he defines as the future of science^{[citation needed]}. Featured guests include Nobel laureates and top researchers on the topics of string theory, time travel, black holes, gene therapy, aging, space travel, artificial intelligence and SETI. Unfortunately, when Kaku is busy filming for television, Science Fantastic goes on hiatus. Sometimes for several months. Kaku is also a frequent guest on many programs where he is outspoken in all areas and issues he considers of importance, such as the program "Coast to Coast AM," where on 30 November 2007, he reaffirmed his belief that there is a 100 percent probability of extraterrestrial life in the universe.^[8]

[edit] Physics of the Impossible

Physics of the Impossible is an exploration into the science people dream about. Kaku explores things that people think are quite impossible. This book is divided into three sections: Class I, Class II, and Class III, according to the time that the things he talks about might happen.

[edit] Hyperspace

Hyperspace is about the four forces of the universe and higher dimensions.

[edit] Parallel Worlds

Parallel Worlds talks about the possibilities of the existence of parallel worlds. Kaku also talks about black holes and other frequently asked matters of advanced physics.

[edit] Beyond Einstein

Beyond Einstein is a resource for people wanting to know more about physics. Kaku mostly talks about Einstein and his quest for the Theory of Everything.

• Kaku, Michio; Trainer, Jennifer, eds (1982). Nuclear Power: Both Sides. New York: Norton. ISBN 0393016315. 
• Kaku, Michio; Daniel Axelrod (1987). To Win a Nuclear War: The Pentagon's Secret War Plans. Boston: South End Press. ISBN 0896083217. 
• Kaku, Michio (1993). Quantum Field Theory: A Modern Introduction. New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0195076524. 
• Kaku, Michio (1994). Hyperspace: A Scientific Odyssey Through Parallel Universes, Time Warps, and the Tenth Dimension. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0192861891. 
• Kaku, Michio; Jennifer Trainer Thompson (1995). Beyond Einstein: Superstrings and the Quest for the Final Theory. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0192861964. 
• Kaku, Michio (1999). Introduction to Superstrings and M-Theory. New York: Springer. ISBN 0387985891. 
• Kaku, Michio (1999). Strings, Conformal Fields, and M-Theory. New York: Springer. ISBN 0387988920. 
• Kaku, Michio (1999). Visions: How Science Will Revolutionize the 21st Century and Beyond. New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0192880187. 
• Kaku, Michio (2004). Einstein's Cosmos: How Albert Einstein's Vision Transformed Our Understanding of Space and Time. London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson. ISBN 0297847554. 
• Kaku, Michio (2004). Parallel Worlds: The Science of Alternative Universes and Our Future in the Cosmos. London: Allen Lane. ISBN 0713997281. 
• Kaku, Michio (2008). "M-Theory: The Mother of All Superstrings" in Riffing on Strings: Creative Writing Inspired by String Theory. New York: Scriblerus. ISBN 9780980211405. 
• Kaku, Michio (2008). Physics of the Impossible. New York: Doubleday. ISBN 9780385520690. 
• Kaku, Michio (2011). Physics of the future : how science will change daily life by 2100. New York: Doubleday. LCCN 2010-026569. 

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