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| 1944 |
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Born August 29, Miami, Florida |
| 1956 |
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Acquires first telescope, observes opposition of Mars |
| 1959 |
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Founds Key Biscayne Astronomical Association; edits its journal |
| 1960 |
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Takes photo of Echo I satellite published in newspapers worldwide |
| 1962 |
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Graduates from Coral Gables High School |
| 1966 |
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Graduates from Northwestern University |
| 1966-67 |
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Attends Northwestern University Law School |
| 1967-69 |
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General assignment reporter, United Press International, New York City |
| 1969-71 |
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Reporter and feature writer, New York Post; Society of Silurians award for "The Twins: A Story of Addiction" |
| 1972-73 |
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New York City bureau chief, Rolling Stone magazine |
| 1973-80 |
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Contributing editor, Rolling Stone |
| 1974-82 |
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Professor of English, Brooklyn College, City University of New York |
| 1977 |
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The Red Limit; American Institute of Physics Prize |
| 1977 |
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Produces Voyager phonograph record, launched aboard the twin Voyager interstellar spacecraft |
| 1978 |
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Murmurs of Earth: The Voyager Interstellar Record, with Carl Sagan et. al. |
| 1978 |
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Aviation/Space Writers Association award for "The Odyssey and the Ecstasy: The Vikings' Search for Life on Mars," in Rolling Stone |
| 1980 |
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Galaxies; National Book Award nominee |
| 1980-82 |
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Columnist, Science Digest magazine |
| 1981-86 |
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Commentator, National Public Radio’s "All Things Considered" |
| 1982-86 |
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Professor of journalism, University of Southern California; also teaches honors courses in history and philosophy |
| 1983 |
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Teaches science writing seminar, California Institute of Technology |
| 1983 |
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American Association for the Advancement of Science writing award for "Beyond Newton and Einstein" in The New York Times Magazine |
| 1983 |
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Lecture tour, "Galaxies and Mind," U.S. and China |
| 1984 |
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Lecture tour, "Natural Beauty on the Cosmological Scale," U.S. and Canada |
| 1984 |
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SpaceShots, Pantheon Books |
| 1984 |
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Publishes 100th article, "Mind Over Matter: The Singular Stephen Hawking," Vanity Fair, June, 1984 |
| 1985 |
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Writes and narrates ninety-minute PBS special "THE CREATION OF THE UNIVERSE"; American Association for the Advancement of Science writing award in broadcasting |
| 1985 |
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Marries Carolyn Zecca, San Francisco |
| 1986-present |
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Professor, Graduate School of Journalism, University of California, Berkeley; also teaches astronomy and English |
| 1986 |
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Son, Isaac Patrick Thomas Ferris, born |
| 1986 |
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Moderates "The Environmental Consequences of Nuclear War," panel discussion, University of Southern California |
| 1986 |
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Finalist, NASA Journalist in Space program; program suspended with Challenger crash |
| 1986 |
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Dorothea Klumpke Roberts Prize for lifetime contribution to public understanding of astronomy |
| 1986-87 |
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Guggenheim Fellowship |
| 1987 |
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Moderates "Understanding the Superconducting Super Collider and its Role in Particle Physics," with panelists Glenn Seaborg, Robert Schrieffer, Martin Perl, Alvin Trivelpiece, et al, UC Berkeley |
| 1987 |
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Writes, narrates, and directs "Galaxies," internationally syndicated planetarium program |
| 1988 |
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The Practice of Journalism, with Bruce Porter |
| 1988 |
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Coming of Age in the Milky Way; awarded American Association of Physics Prize, Pulitzer Prize nomination, named one of the best books of the year by The New York Times, the Boston Globe, Newsday, and the Los Angeles Times, honored by The New York Public Library as "a lasting contribution to literature" |
| 1989 |
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Moderates "Global Warming" panel, UC Berkeley |
| 1989-93 |
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Writes and narrates MacNeil-Lehrer News Hour TV segments on supernovae, particle physics, space exploration, and the Voyager mission to Neptune |
| 1990-91 |
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Directs "Twenty-First Century Biotechnology," lecture series, UC Berkeley |
| 1991 |
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Editor, World Treasury of Physics, Astronomy, and Mathematics, Little, Brown |
| 1991 |
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"Words on Things," panel discussion with Stephen Jay Gould, James Gleick, William McKibben and Richard Rhodes, SUNY Albany |
| 1991 |
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Talk, "Evolution of Interstellar Communications Systems," Nobel Conference XXVII, Gustavus Adolphus College |
| 1991 |
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Lecture tour, "Interstellar Communications," the Netherlands |
| 1992 |
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Talk, "The Status of Big Bang Theory After the COBE Anisotropy Observation," University of Wisconsin, Madison |
| 1992 |
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"The Concept of the Frame in Art and Quantum Mechanics," San Francisco Art Institute |
| 1992 |
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"The Search for Intelligent Life on Earth," Commonwealth Club, San Francisco |
| 1992 |
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The Mind's Sky: Human Intelligence in a Cosmic Context; named one of the best books of the year by The New York Times |
| 1992-94 |
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Essayist, The MacNeil-Lehrer News Hour |
| 1992 |
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The Universe and Eye, with illustrations by Ingram Pinn |
| 1992 |
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Scholar in Residence, Institute for Science, Engineering and Public Policy, Portland, Oregon |
| 1992 |
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Forward to Donald Kaufman and Taffy Dahl’s Color |
| 1993 |
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Reading, "An Evening With Timothy Ferris," Manhattan Theater Club, New York |
| 1993 |
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"The Concept of Limits in Art and Physics," American Institute of Architects, Monterey, California |
| 1993 |
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Builds Rocky Hill Observatory on Sonoma Mountain, California |
| 1993 |
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Debates Brian Appleyard on "Has Science Gone Too Far?" YMHA, New York, and live on CNN |
| 1993 |
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"Universe and Eye," Parliament of the World's Religions, Chicago |
| 1994 |
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"Walkabouts and Spaceflight," National Geographic Society, Washington DC |
| 1994-98 |
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Multimedia critic, Scientific American magazine |
| 1996 |
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Serves on NASA panel on twenty-year goals in space science |
| 1996 |
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"Astrophysics and the Compton Gamma Ray Observatory," National Air & Space Museum, Washington DC |
| 1997 |
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Lecture tour, "The State of the Universe," seven American cities |
| 1997 |
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The Whole Shebang: A State-of-the-Universe(s) Report; named by American Scientist magazine as one of the "100 Books That Shaped a Century of Science" |
| 1997 |
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Commentator, MS-NBC-TV’s "The Site" |
| 1997 |
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"Visions of the Universe," a conversation with Michael Krasny, Sun Valley Writers’ Conference |
| 1997 |
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"Cosmological Quantities," Mathematical Sciences Research Institute, University of California, Berkeley |
| 1998-2001 |
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Serves on NASA Near-Earth Object Office Steering Committee |
| 1999 |
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Writes and narrates two-hour PBS special "LIFE BEYOND EARTH" |
| 1999 |
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"Science: A Stone Thrown in a Placid Pond," Harvard University |
| 1999 |
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Foreword to David Malin’s The Invisible Universe |
| 1999 |
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Introduction to The Scientific American Book of Astronomy |
| 1999-2000 |
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Named a CNN "Voice of the Millennium" |
| 2000 |
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Upgrades Rocky Hill Observatory for robotic imaging |
| 2000 |
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"Origin and Evolution of Extraterrestrial Life," Department of Physics, National University of Vietnam, Hanoi |
| 2000 |
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"Timothy Ferris, in Conversation With Michael Malone," City Arts & Lectures, San Francisco |
| 2000 |
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"Quantum Nonlocality," Stanford University |
| 2000 |
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"On the Popularization of Science," California Institute of Technology |
| 2001 |
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Editor, Best American Science Writing 2001, Harper Collins |
| 2001 |
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Introduction to Neil Folberg’s Celestial Nights |
| 2001 |
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Life Beyond Earth, Simon & Schuster |
| 2002 |
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Master of ceremonies, banquet honoring John Archibald Wheeler, Princeton |
| 2002 |
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Introduction to Hunter S. Thompson’s Kingdom of Fear |
| 2002 |
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Connecticut Forum panel discussion, "Scientific Journey," with E. O. Wilson, Oliver Sachs, and Sylvia Earle |
| 2002 |
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Lecture tour, "Seeing in the Dark," fourteen American cities |
| 2002 |
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The Future of Spacetime, with Stephen W. Hawking, Kip S. Thorne, Igor Novikov, and Alan Lightman |
| 2002 |
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Seeing in the Dark; named by The New York Times one of the seven best books of the year |
| 2003 |
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Seeing in the Dark wins PEN Center USA Literary Award for research nonfiction |
| 2003 |
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Publishes 200th article, "A New Pathway to the Stars," The New York Times Op-Ed page, Sunday, December 21, 2003 |
| 2004 |
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Named a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science |
| 2007 |
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"Hawking Radiation and the Arrow of Time," University of California, Berkeley |
| 2008 |
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Writes and narrates one-hour PBS special "SEEING IN THE DARK" |
| 2010 |
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The Science of Liberty, HarperCollins |
| 2010 |
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"The Science of Liberty," Carnegie Council, Commonwealth Club, Cato Institute, Smithsonian Associates, National Academy of Sciences |
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