even more references and recommendations
CSU Northridge
"Simply a fantastic presentation, David. You had us all spellbound in the tornado of unexpected ideas."
Mark Stover, Dean
Microsoft
"David, your company-wide was very well-attended and generated animated discussion of the wide-ranging ideas. Come back soon."
Curtis Wong, Principal, Interface Development
Future in Review Conference
"David, you did an AMAZING job on this year's CTO challenge!"
Sharon Anderson, Executive Director
PayPal, eBay & BillMeLater
"David - on behalf of PayPal, eBay and BillMeLater, thank you for your terrific keynote for the conference of senior managers. It was really well received and from what I hear, you got a lot of people thinking about connections to our business they might not have noticed otherwise."
Alex Tosheff, Chief Information Security Officer
U.S. Air Force
"The US Air Force ran a six month Delphi effort in which "Oracles" provided insight into potential futures for the USAF. The Oracles are tops in their fields, ranging from Hugo, Nebula, Campbell and Locus Award-winning science fiction writer and astrophysicist Dr. David Brin, who authored Earth, Foundation's Triumph, The Uplift War, and The Postman, to US Air Force Senior Mentor Lt Gen Mike Short, who led NATO's air campaign in the Kosovo and Serbia without single NATO casualty in combat. Many of the Oracles command a high fee for their expertise, but all worked on this project pro bono out of a sense of patriotism, academic curiosity, professional interest, friendship or some combination of the above."
Julian Chesnutt (Department of Defense) and Timothy Mack (World Future Society)
Casey Research
"I've long been a big fan of David Brin, whose Uplift series about humanity's lifting other species of animals to human intelligence will prove extremely predictive. His book Earth accurately foresaw, among other things, what's now happening with everyone having web-linked video cameras, recording everything."
Doug Casey (international investment guru)
Conference on Engineering Software
"Your keynote was right on target and did exactly what we asked: Get minds in gear in an expansive mode."
Brad Holtz, President & CEO, Cyon Research Corporation
Intuit, Inc.
"Thank you again for a stellar presentation at TEDxIntuit!"
Anthony Coglianese
Zimmer-Gunsel-Frasca Partnership
"We very much appreciated your participation in our Partner/Principal Retreat in Tucson. Our group was very interested in what you had to say about both past and present, and as I observed our Principals downloading to our staff upon their return, it was apparent that your ideas about the future were both thought-provoking and stimulating."
Ellen Gyllstrom (Portland, Oregon)
The MITRE Corporation
"This was a great inspirational event as so many people commented on it. Thanks! The content of your message was powerful and influential, as you helped reconfirm and encourage people to formulate new future directions that they might otherwise never have been envisioned at all."
Nahum D. Gershon
89.3 KPCC-FM
"Thanks again for being part of our "kick-off" program for the KPCC Crawford Forum science series (broadcast on our NPR station). The audience loved it, and we all learned a lot — you certainly do have a lot of fans! We hope we can have you with us again at some time in the not too distant future."
Janice Watje-Hurst, Associate Producer Crawford Family Forum
Qualcomm Innovation Network
"Terrific feedback from everybody involved, David. Our people found it stimulating to converse with someone who has perspicaciously synthesized so many surprising patterns in human behavior and technology (enthusiastically) and who offers positive, pragmatic suggestions for our company evolution. One team member left 'with all kinds of ideas and motivation for being creative and innovative, both at work and outside.' Thanks again and we'll stay in touch."
Ricardo dos Santos
CDM Camp Dresser & McKee Inc.
"Many, many thanks for an exhilarating evening. Your remarks launched another 48 hours of discussion and dialogue. Most importantly, you created the context for one of the best planning meetings we ever held. Your 5% creative thinking challenge and encouragement to accept criticism as a way of ensuring success stuck with us throughout our meeting — much better ideas offered with much less defensiveness. Fears were lowered and the boundaries of concern widened. We all really appreciated your intelligence, insights, and most importantly your engaging and open style."
Paul R. Brown, President: Public Services Group
Stanford University
"Fabulous! Your provocative future scenarios, your explanation of developmental trends in technology and your balanced, nuanced delivery got folks energized like no speaker we've had before. I think the truest mark of a great speaker is their popularity in the hallways afterward, and on that score you again exceeded all expectations. It was great to see how many groups self-organized to discuss the issues you raised for the remainder of the weekend. Passionate engagement, incisive thinking, rapid references to the key ideas in the value space, enlightened and centered solutions... You set a standard for us all to achieve."
John Smart, Accelerating Change
The Atlantic Council
"David, thanks again for joining us last week for in-depth consultations about future global trends. I think all who participated found the discussion extremely interesting, useful and fun. I hope we can continue this conversation in the future, as we discussed."
Bannig Garrett, Director of Global Trends
BIOCOM
"You were wonderful beyond even my exaggerated expectations. You are a hero to these business people (and, not to put too fine a point on it, have made me also a hero for finding you)..."
Guy Iannuzzi, Biotechnology Executives Networking Breakfast
San Diego Foundation
"Thank you, David! I'm really looking forward to watching the recording, and I heard only rave reviews. Thanks for fitting us into your busy schedule and kicking off our series with a bang."
Katie King
University of California, San Diego
"David, Thank you for being an integral part of our 2007 "Dinner in the Library"... we were very pleased to feature an alumnus as our after-dinner speaker. You are a perfect example of what UCSD's integrated, interdisciplinary curriculum can produce — innovative research, ground-breaking ideas, and a roadmap into the future. We appreciate your talents and all that you have given back through your writing and consulting. With very best wishes and much gratitude."
Brian Schottlander, Geisel University Librarian
Card Tech West
"Dear David, We enjoyed meeting you and hearing your presentation. You were interesting, amusing, and challenging; I wish we had a video, but we do have the audio tape, which I have already listened to, in its entirety. We all feel delighted you came up to be our keynote speaker. My opinion was validated by the speaker evaluations. You were our highest scoring speaker with the following scores: (5 = highest) Knowledge of subject: 5.0; Audio/visual: 3.4; Style/Organization: 4.67; Value of Talk: 4.67; Weighted Average: 4.57... Comments by attendees: 1. Well done! 2. In 9 years of conferences, this is the first time I bought an audio tape. 3. Excellent, brilliant! Attendees appreciated the book signing.... Thanks again and if you every need a reference for speaking, give me a call."
Liz Wenchel, (301-654-0551)
Institute for the Future
"David, I just looked in my email box and realized my earlier thank you to you bounced back. Gad! Especially as you were absolutely spectacular — you completely stole the meeting! I am still hearing from clients who were utterly taken by your comments. So, once again, many, many thanks!"
Paul Saffo
American Library Association
"What a successful program! I've never seen quite such a spontaneous and enthusiastic response to one of our speakers! Thanks again, David. I hope this is not the last time you'll be able to participate in one of our programs."
Don Wood, Office for Intellectual Freedom
Highlands Group
"David is one of the most thoughtful and provocative speakers I have run across. He has a remarkable talent for getting inside a concept and turning it into something completely new. Before his landmark book, The Transparent Society, was written, he engaged the Highlands Forum with these ideas in open conversation. What was at the time stunning now seems to be accepted by many around the world as the society we are coming to. An amazing mind."
Captain Richard O'Neil (USN ret.), Director of the Highlands Future Concepts Program
The European Commission
"Dear Mr Brin: I would like to extend to you my genuine thanks and appreciation for the valuable contribution you made at the recent ICT 2013 event in Vilnius, Lithuania. You played a key role in ensuring the event was not just stimulating but also one that will help shape future EU activities in the area of ICT research and innovation."
Neelie Kroes, Vice-President
Kaplan University
"David, thank you for your presentation at our Kaplan University Village Online Conference. It was very well received by our instructors and staff as you can see by the survey results. Of the 198 people who attended, 100 answered our survey and the enthusiastic audience response broke all records. Thank you again, you were terrific, truly!!"
Penny Lorenzo
World Bank Conference on Credit Reporting
"I was very happy with your willingness to take on the assignment on short notice, with your professionalism and courteousness and most of all, with the insights that you brought to bear on this topic. More than 90% of those responding to the survey about the event rated it as a 4 or 5 on a scale of 1-5."
Margaret Miller
Defense Information Services Agency
"Hey David: Gang buster presentation — folks loved it. Thanks Thanks Thanks."
Paul Barsnica
Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory
"Your colloquium presentation was excellent and was well-received by our attendees, overflowing from the biggest lecture hall at JHUAPL. Our lunch group was particularly pleased to engage in discussion with you."
Daniel P. Wilt, PhD
a brief intro to science fiction author DAVID BRIN
To learn more, visit his books page, or see his "about me" page or detailed biography.
novels
David Brin's science fiction novels have been New York Times Bestsellers, winning multiple Hugo, Nebula and other awards. At least a dozen have been translated into more than twenty languages. They range from bold and prophetic explorations of our near-future to Brin's Uplift series, envisioning galactic issues of sapience and destiny (and star-faring dolphins!). Learn More
shorter fiction
Short stories and novellas have different rhythms and artistic flavor, and Brin's short stories and novellas, several of which earned Hugo and other awards, exploit that difference to explore a wider range of real and vividly speculative ideas. Many have been selected for anthologies and reprints, and most have been published in anthology form. Learn More
Contrary Brin blog
Since 2004, David Brin has maintained a blog about science, technology, science fiction, books, and the future — themes his science fiction and nonfiction writings continue to explore. Learn More
social media influencer
Who could've predicted that social media — indeed, all of our online society — would play such an important role in the 21st Century — restoring the voices of advisors and influencers! Lively and intelligent comments spill over onto Brin's social media pages. Learn More
scientist
David Brin's Ph.D in Physics from the University of California at San Diego (the lab of nobelist Hannes Alfven) followed a masters in optics and an undergraduate degree in astrophysics from Caltech. Every science show that depicts a comet now portrays the model developed in Brin's PhD research. Learn More
transparency expert
Brin's non-fiction book, The Transparent Society: Will Technology Force Us to Choose Between Freedom and Privacy?, continues to receive acclaim for its accuracy in predicting 21st Century concerns about online security, secrecy, accountability and privacy. Learn More
speaker & consultant
Brin speaks plausibly and entertainingly about trends in technology and society to audiences willing to confront the challenges that our rambunctious civilization will face in the decades ahead. He also talks about the field of science fiction, especially in relation to his own novels and stories. To date he has presented at more than 200 meetings, conferences, corporate retreats and other gatherings.Learn More
future/tech advisor
Brin advises corporations and governmental and private defense- and security-related agencies about information-age issues, scientific trends, future social and political trends, and education. Urban Developer Magazine named him one of four World's Best Futurists, and he was appraised as "#1 influencer" in Onalytica's Top 100 report of Artificial Intelligence influencers, brands & publications. Past consultations include Google, Microsoft, Procter & Gamble, and many others. Learn More
