Paul Davies is a British-born theoretical physicist, cosmologist, astrobiologist and best-selling author. He is Regents’ Professor and Director of Beyond: Center for Fundamental Concepts in Science, at Arizona State University, where he is also Co-Director of the Cosmology Initiative and Principal Investigator of the Center for the Convergence of Physical Science and Cancer Biology. He held academic appointments at the Universities of Cambridge, London and Newcastle before moving to the University of Adelaide in Australia in 1990, and thence to Macquarie University in Sydney, where he helped create the Australian Centre for Astrobiology. His research has focused mainly on the theory of quantum fields in curved spacetime, with applications to black holes and the inflationary phase of the early universe. His current research includes computational models of the origin of life and an investigation of the deep evolutionary roots of cancer. Davies has written about 30 books, many for the general public. His most recent is The Eerie Silence: are we alone in the universe? In 1995 he was awarded the Templeton Prize for his work on the deeper meaning of science. He was also awarded the Faraday Prize by The Royal Society, the Kelvin Medal by the UK Institute of Physics, the 2011 Robinson Cosmology Prize, and many book awards, as well as three honorary degrees. In June 2007 he was named a Member of the Order of Australia in the Queen’s birthday honours list and in December 2011 he was presented with the Bicentenary Medal of Chile. The asteroid 1992 OG was renamed (6870) Pauldavies in recognition of his work on cosmic impacts. In 2011 he was profiled by Nature magazine who called him “The Disruptor” on account of his provocative approach to scientific questions.