Joel Achenbach is a reporternbsp;for The Washington Post, and the author of six previous books, including The Grand Idea, Captured by Aliens and Why Things Are. He started the Washington Post'snbsp;first blog, Achenblog, and has worked on the newspaper's national Style magazine and Outlook staffs.nbsp;He regularly contributes science articles to National Geographic. A native of Gainesville, Florida and a 1982 graduate of Princeton University, henbsp;lives in Washington, D.C. with his wife and three children.