VJ Books Presents Author Ben Bova!
 Dr. Ben Bova (1932-2020) was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He received a Bachelor's in Journalism from Temple University, a Masters of Arts in Communications from the State University of New York at Albany, and finally his doctorate in Education from California Coast University.
Professionally, Dr. Bova taught science fiction at Harvard University and at the Hayden Planetarium in New York City. He was the President Emeritus of the National Space Society, president of Science Fiction Writers of America, editorial director of Omni magazine, and editor of Analog magazine. As Manager of Marketing for Avco Everett Research Laboratory, in Massachusetts, he worked with leading scientists in fields such as high-power lasers, artificial hearts, and plasma dynamics, and prior to that he wrote scripts for teaching films with the Physical Sciences Study Committee in association with Nobel laureates from many universities. Earlier, he was technical editor on Project Vanguard, the first American artificial satellite program.
Dr. Bova wrote more than 130 futuristic novels and nonfiction books. His fictional work combined genres such as romance, adventure, and highly-accurate science fiction in stories such as that of his Grand Tour novels, which followed the expansion of the human race throughout the solar system, and the impact such change might have had upon society. He received the Lifetime Achievement Award of the Arthur C. Clarke Foundation in 2005, “for fueling mankind’s imagination regarding the wonders of outer space.” His nonfiction books, such as Faint Echos and Distant Stars have been honored by the American Librarians Association, among others. You can find a selection of Ben Bova signed books and a bibliography of the author's work below this bio. He also wrote and consulted on several television and film productions, including Repo Men (2010) starring Jude Law and Forest Whitaker; and the film adaptation of Richard K. Morgan's cyberpunk science-fiction novel Altered Carbon (2002).
Dr. Bova lectured regularly on topics dealing with the prospects for human immortality, the interaction of science and politics, space exploration and development, the craft of writing, and the search for extraterrestrial life. He worked with film makers and television producers such as Woody Allen, George Lucas, and Gene Roddenberry. In his various writings, he predicted the Space Race of the 1960s, solar power satellites, the discovery of organic chemicals in interstellar space, virtual reality, human cloning, the Strategic Defense Initiative (Star Wars), the discovery of life on Mars, stem cell therapy, the discovery of ice on the Moon, electronic book publishing, and zero-gravity sex.
A member of the Arizona Astronomy Board, Dr. Bova spent time on the Steering Committee for the NASA/Space Transportation Association study on space tourism. He also served on panels for the Office of Technology Assessment. He was a member of the Board of Governors of the National Space Society, a charter member of the Planetary Society, and a Fellow of the British Interplanetary Society. Temple University honored him as a Distinguished Alumnus in 1981, and in 1982 made him an Alumni Fellow.
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