While he’s best known for his radio and television work Karl also has degrees in Physics and Maths, Biomedical Engineering, Medicine and Surgery. He has worked as a physicist, tutor, film-maker, car mechanic, labourer, and as a medical doctor at the Kids’ Hospital in Sydney. He is the present Julius Sumner Miller Fellow at Sydney University, where his ‘mission’ is to spread the good word about science and its benefits. He is one of only 100 ‘Apple Masters’ an award which celebrates the achievements of people who are changing the world through their passion and vision, while inspiring new approaches to creative thinking. He has been awarded an ig-Noble Prize, a doctorate from USC, the Australia Skeptic Of The Year Prize and has an asteroid named after him.

He is the author of more than 45 books. I’m not going to list them, but two of the most recent, Dr Karl’s Random Road Trip through Science and Dr Karl’s Surfing Safari both include augmented reality.

In April he will be launching his Little Book of Climate Science. This little book is remarkable. Karl lays out the history of our understanding of climate change, the science of it - why it’s happening - what its effects will be and what we can do about it, all in the most simple, succint, unemotional language imaginable. It is an extraordinary resource. I can’t recommend it highly enough.