Stephen Baxter applied to become an astronaut in 1991. He didn't make it, but achieved the next best thing by becoming a science fiction writer, and his novels and short stories have been published and won awards around the world. His science background is in maths and engineering. He is married and lives in Buckinghamshire.

Born in Somerset in 1917, Arthur C. Clarke has written over sixty books, among which are the science fiction classics '2001, A Space Odyssey', 'Childhood's End', 'The City and the Stars' and 'Rendezvous With Rama'. He has won all the most prestigious science fiction trophies, and shared an Oscar nomination with Stanley Kubrick for the screenplay of the film of 2001. He was knighted in 1998. He passed away in March 2008.