James S. Trefil is an American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 physicist

Physicist

A physicist is a scientist who studies or practices physics. Physicists study a wide range of physical phenomena in many branches of physics spanning all length scales: from sub-atomic particles of which all ordinary matter is made to the behavior of the material Universe as a whole...

 (Ph.D. in Physics at Stanford University

Stanford University

The Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University or Stanford, is a private research university on an campus located near Palo Alto, California. It is situated in the northwestern Santa Clara Valley on the San Francisco Peninsula, approximately northwest of San...

 in 1966) and author

Author

An author is broadly defined as "the person who originates or gives existence to anything" and that authorship determines responsibility for what is created. Narrowly defined, an author is the originator of any written work.-Legal significance:...

 of more than thirty books. Much of his published work focuses on science for the general audience. Dr. Trefil has previously served as Professor of Physics at the University of Virginia

University of Virginia

The University of Virginia is a public research university located in Charlottesville, Virginia, United States, founded by Thomas Jefferson...

 and he now teaches as Robinson Professor of Physics at George Mason University

George Mason University

George Mason University is a public university based in unincorporated Fairfax County, Virginia, United States, south of and adjacent to the city of Fairfax. Additional campuses are located nearby in Arlington County, Prince William County, and Loudoun County...

. Among Trefil's books is Are We Unique?, an argument for human uniqueness in which he questions the comparisons between human intelligence

Human intelligence

Human Intelligence may refer to:* Human intelligence in the species as the property of mind that encompasses many related abilities, such as the capacities to reason, plan, problem solve, think, comprehend ideas, use languages, and learn....

 and artificial intelligence

Artificial intelligence

Artificial intelligence is the intelligence of machines and the branch of computer science that aims to create it. AI textbooks define the field as "the study and design of intelligent agents" where an intelligent agent is a system that perceives its environment and takes actions that maximize its...

. Trefil also regularly gives presentations to judges and public officials about the intersections between science and the law.

Books

• Introduction to the Physics of Fluids and Solids (1975)
• From Atoms to Quarks (1980)
• The Moment of Creation (1983)
• A Scientist at the Seashore (1984)
• Meditations at 10,000 Feet (1986)
• The Dark Side of the Universe (1989)
• Reading the Mind of God: In Search of the Principle of Universality (1989)
• 1,001 Things Everyone Should Know About Science (1992)
• A Scientist in the City (1994)
• The Edge of the Unknown: 101 Things You Don't Know about Science and No One Else Does Either (1996) ISBN 0-395-72862-2
• Are We Unique: A Scientist Explores the Complexity of the Human Brain (1997) ISBN 0-471-24946-7
• Other Worlds: The Solar System and Beyond? (1999)
• The Laws of Nature (2002)
• The Nature of Science: An A-Z Guide to the Laws and Principles Governing Our Universe (2003) ISBN 0-618-31938-7
• Human Nature: A Blueprint for Managing the Earth – By People, for People (2004) ISBN 0-8050-7248-9
• Why Science? (2007)

Co-authored

• (with Harold Morowitz, co-author) The Facts of Life? (1992)
• (with Robert Hazen
  Robert Hazen
  Robert Hazen is a research scientist at the Carnegie Institution of Washington's Geophysical Laboratory and Clarence Robinson Professor of Earth Science at George Mason University, in the United States, received a B.S. and S.M. in geology at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology 1971, and a...
  
  , co-author) Science Matters: Achieving Scientific Literacy. (1991);
• (with Robert Hazen
  Robert Hazen
  Robert Hazen is a research scientist at the Carnegie Institution of Washington's Geophysical Laboratory and Clarence Robinson Professor of Earth Science at George Mason University, in the United States, received a B.S. and S.M. in geology at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology 1971, and a...
  
  , co-author) The Sciences: An Integrated Approach. (1995)
• (with Margaret Hindle Hazen, co-author) Good Seeing: A Century of Science at the Carnegie Institution of Washington, 1902-2002

External links