Steven Strogatz

Steven Henry Strogatz (/ˈstroʊɡæts/; born August 13, 1959) is an American mathematician and author, and the Susan and Barton Winokur distinguished professor for the public understanding of science and mathematics at Cornell University. He is known for his work on nonlinear systems, including contributions to the study of synchronization in dynamical systems, and his research in a variety of areas of applied mathematics, including mathematical biology and complex network theory. With Duncan Watts, he developed the Watts–Strogatz model to explain how nodes in a small-world network have in average a small number of degrees of separation. Strogatz is the co-host of Quanta Magazine's The Joy of Why podcast. He previously hosted The Joy of x podcast. His published books include Nonlinear Dynamics and Chaos, Sync, The Joy of x, The Calculus of Friendship, and Infinite Powers. Strogatz attended high school at Loomis Chaffee from 1972 to 1976. He then attended Princeton University, graduating summa cum laude with a B.A. in mathematics. Strogatz completed his senior thesis, titled "The Mathematics of Supercoiled DNA: An Essay in Geometric Biology", under the supervision of Frederick J. Almgren, Jr. Strogatz then studied as a Marshall Scholar at Trinity College, Cambridge, from 1980 to 1982. He received a Ph.D. in applied mathematics from Harvard University in 1986 for his research on the dynamics of the human sleep-wake cycle.