A theoretical physicist whose research spans problems in condensed matter physics, particle physics, astrophysics, and cosmology, Paul Steinhardt is the Albert Einstein Professor in Science at Princeton University and director of the Princeton Center for Theoretical Physics. He is known as one of the architects of inflationary cosmology, for which he shared the 2003 Dirac Medal, and was also among the first to show evidence for dark energy and cosmic acceleration. With physicist Neil Turok, he is the author of Endless Universe: Beyond the Big Bang.

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The Seed Salon: Paul Steinhardt + Peter Galison

Portrait by Julian Dufort