Explorers

George F. Bass is the acknowledged father of underwater archeology. His excavations of shipwrecks around the world have revolutionized archeology and profoundly influenced our understanding of the earliest ages of civilization. He was a first-year doctoral candidate at the University of Pennsylvania when he led his first undersea excavation. After only six diving lessons at his local YMCA, he directed the excavation of a Bronze Age shipwreck off the Turkish coast, the first ancient wreck to be excavated on the seabed by a diving archaeologist. Bass found a cargo of raw materials delivered great distances across the Mediterranean. This excavation and his subsequent discoveries demonstrated that there was active marine commerce in the Near East in the Bronze Age, centuries earlier than scholars had previously believed. In 1972, Dr. Bass founded the Institute of Nautical Archaeology (INA), now based at Texas A&M University, where he also founded the graduate program in nautical archaeology. The institute has since expanded its research to four continents. In 1984, his excavation of a ship sunk around 1300 B.C. with a cargo of raw materials -- ivory, glass, incense, ebony, tin, and ten tons of copper ingots -- as well as artifacts of Near Eastern manufacture, largely vindicated his theory of marine commerce in the Bronze Age. President George W. Bush presented him with the National Medal of Science in 2002. In this podcast, recorded at the Academy of Achievement's 2003 Summit in Washington, D.C., Dr. Bass recounts his underwater excavations of sunken ships and presents a slideshow of the historic artifacts he has discovered.

The pioneering conservation biologist Thomas Lovejoy awakened the world to the threat posed to life on earth by the loss of irreplaceable natural habitat, and has devised ingenious strategies to apply third world debt to the preservation of endangered ecosystems. Dr. Lovejoy's studies of the Amazon rain forest began in the mid-1960s. Over the years he observed the effects of human intrusion on this unique resource, home to countless species of plant and animal life found nowhere else in the world. In 1980 he introduced the term "biological diversity" to express the incalculable value of environments such as the Amazon. He pursued his environmental advocacy as an officer of the World Wildlife Fund and the Smithsonian Institution, and as the creator of Nature, public television's most popular documentary series. In recent years, he has served as biodiversity adviser to the presidents of the World Bank and the United Nations Foundation. He is a University Professor of Environmental Science and Policy at George Mason University, as well as President of the Heinz Center for Science, Economics, and the Environment. He developed the concept of the "debt-for-nature swap," in which environmental groups purchase the debt of Third World countries at a discount, redeem it in the local currency, and purchase biologically sensitive tracts of land in the debtor nation for environmental protection. In this podcast, recorded at the Academy of Achievement's 2003 Summit in Washington, D.C., Dr. Lovejoy tells the Academy's student delegates some of the ways they can contribute to the preservation of the Earth's diversity.

The only son of a widowed immigrant mother who worked as a cleaning lady, Donald Johanson did so poorly on his SATs that his high school guidance counselor told him to forget about going to college. Johanson ignored the counselor's advice, pursued higher education, and earned a Ph.D. in anthropology at the University of Chicago. Within a year of earning his doctorate, Johanson made news around the world with a discovery that dramatically altered our understanding of human evolution. The fossilized bones of a creature Johanson called Lucy constitute the oldest, most complete specimen of an extinct species which was not human, but from which the human race may be descended. Dr. Johanson has become one of the dominant figures in the world of paleoanthropology, and his books and television appearances have given a mass audience a tantalizing glimpse of the mysterious origin of our species. He appeared as the on-screen host of a 13-part series for the PBS program Nature in 1982, and for the Nova series in 1994. In this podcast, recorded at the Academy of Achievement's 2001 Summit in San Antonio, Texas, Johanson retraces the path that led to his discovery of Lucy in 1974. He describes his family and childhood and considers the place of humanity in nature.

In 1992, Gary Becker was awarded the Nobel Prize in Economics for his application of economic theory to sociological issues, particularly his pioneering studies of human capital, discrimination and crime. A Princeton University graduate, he studied with Milton Friedman at the University of Chicago, where he first applied economic analysis to broader social issues. His dissertation on the effects of prejudice on the earnings and employment opportunities of minorities led to his landmark book The Economics of Discrimination, published in 1957. In his 1964 book Human Capital, he examined the influence of education, training and experience on individuals' economic performance and its further impact on the larger economy. In the 1960s, Becker's also undertook an economic study of crime and punishment. Becker proposed that many behaviors typically regarded as irrational, such as crime, are actually the product of rational choices made in constrained circumstances. Initially ignored by his more traditionally-minded peers, Becker's theories found an appreciative audience among non-economists through his monthly column in the magazine Business Week. After some years at Columbia University, Becker returned in 1970 to the University of Chicago, where he holds professorships in economics and sociology, as well as teaching in the Graduate School of Business. In recent years, Becker has used using economic theory to shed light on a range of family-related issues, including decisions regarding marriage, divorce, parental "investment" in children, and the dynamics of intra-familial self-sacrifice. His more recent books include Uncommon Sense and The Economics of Life. In this podcast, recorded at the Academy of Achievement's 2001 Summit in San Antonio, Texas, Dr. Becker discusses the concept of human capital, and the economic significance of investments in education, training, health and family. He places human beings and human behavior at the heart of modern economics. In 2007, President George W. Bush recognized Dr. Becker's achievement with the nation's highest civilian honor, the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

In 1992, Gary Becker was awarded the Nobel Prize in Economics for his application of economic theory to sociological issues, particularly his pioneering studies of human capital, discrimination and crime. A Princeton University graduate, he studied with Milton Friedman at the University of Chicago, where he first applied economic analysis to broader social issues. His dissertation on the effects of prejudice on the earnings and employment opportunities of minorities led to his landmark book The Economics of Discrimination, published in 1957. In his 1964 book Human Capital, he examined the influence of education, training and experience on individuals' economic performance and its further impact on the larger economy. In the 1960s, Becker's also undertook an economic study of crime and punishment. Becker proposed that many behaviors typically regarded as irrational, such as crime, are actually the product of rational choices made in constrained circumstances. Initially ignored by his more traditionally-minded peers, Becker's theories found an appreciative audience among non-economists through his monthly column in the magazine Business Week. After some years at Columbia University, Becker returned in 1970 to the University of Chicago, where he holds professorships in economics and sociology, as well as teaching in the Graduate School of Business. In recent years, Becker has used using economic theory to shed light on a range of family-related issues, including decisions regarding marriage, divorce, parental "investment" in children, and the dynamics of intra-familial self-sacrifice. His more recent books include Uncommon Sense and The Economics of Life. In this podcast, recorded at the Academy of Achievement's 2001 Summit in San Antonio, Texas, Dr. Becker discusses the concept of human capital, and the economic significance of investments in education, training, health and family. He places human beings and human behavior at the heart of modern economics. In 2007, President George W. Bush recognized Dr. Becker's achievement with the nation's highest civilian honor, the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

George F. Bass is the acknowledged father of underwater archeology. His excavations of shipwrecks around the world have revolutionized archeology and profoundly influenced our understanding of the earliest ages of civilization. He was a first-year doctoral candidate at the University of Pennsylvania when he led his first undersea excavation. After only six diving lessons at his local YMCA, he directed the excavation of a Bronze Age shipwreck off the Turkish coast, the first ancient wreck to be excavated on the seabed by a diving archaeologist. Bass found a cargo of raw materials delivered great distances across the Mediterranean. This excavation and his subsequent discoveries demonstrated that there was active marine commerce in the Near East in the Bronze Age, centuries earlier than scholars had previously believed. In 1972, Dr. Bass founded the Institute of Nautical Archaeology (INA), now based at Texas A&M University, where he also founded the graduate program in nautical archaeology. The institute has since expanded its research to four continents. In 1984, his excavation of a ship sunk around 1300 B.C. with a cargo of raw materials -- ivory, glass, incense, ebony, tin, and ten tons of copper ingots -- as well as artifacts of Near Eastern manufacture, largely vindicated his theory of marine commerce in the Bronze Age. President George W. Bush presented him with the National Medal of Science in 2002. In this video podcast, recorded at the Academy of Achievement's 2001 Summit in San Antonio, Texas, Dr. Bass recounts his career in underwater archaeology, ending with a brief slide presentation of his discoveries.

Since the discovery of the DNA molecule in the 1950s, scientists have had a rough understanding of its structure, but for almost 30 years they labored in darkness, unable to see the actual object of their study. It took Sir Aaron Klug to shine a light down this dark corridor. Drawing on the latest advances in computers, optics and mathematics, Sir Aaron used the electron microscope and his own knowledge of x-ray crystallography to generate the first three-dimensional images of genetic material, enabling researchers to lay eyes on the actual building blocks of life. Hailed by his peers as a pioneering "geographer of molecular geology," Aaron Klug received the Nobel Prize in 1982 for his innovative work investigating and mapping the structure of genes. Born in Lithuania and educated in South Africa, Aaron Klug has carried out his research in England since the early 1950s. He was knighted by the Queen in 1988. From 1995 to 2000 he served as President of the Royal Society, Britain's leading scientific organization, once headed by Sir Isaac Newton. An ardent supporter of unfettered scientific research, he is outspoken in his belief that "the human genome itself must be freely available to all humankind." In this podcast, recorded at the 2000 International Achievement Summit in London England, he recounts his career in science and the DNA structures he illuminated. He also discusses role as President of the Royal Society and the government's role in regulating genetic technology.

Sir John Vane (1927 - 2004) received the 1982 Nobel Prize in Medicine for discoveries that reach into the medicine cabinet of almost every home. For generations, we have known that aspirin relieves pain, but how and why it works remained a baffling mystery until 1971, when Dr. Vane determined that aspirin blocks the syntheses of certain prostaglandins, hormone-like substances that occur throughout the body and affect a wide variety of functions. Vane and his associates also learned that a specific prostaglandin called prostacyclin prevents blood clotting of the kind that often leads to strokes and heart attacks. Vane's research led to the development of medicines such as captotril, tracrium, zovirax and lamictal, as well as flolan, the lifesaving drug for pulmonary hypertension. Sir John led much of this work as Group Research and Development Director for the Wellcome Foundation. Sir John left Wellcome in 1985, and in the following year, founded the William Harvey Research Institute, which conducts fundamental research in the area of cardiovascular, inflammatory and metabolic diseases. Well before his death at age 77, it was estimated that his life's work had already saved thousands of lives. In this podcast, recorded at the 2000 International Achievement Summit in London, England, Sir John Vane shares his discoveries with the Academy's student delegates, explaining the means by which aspirin intersects with the enzymes in the human body to fight disease. He identifies the essential elements of a rewarding career in science: talent, serendipity, and a willingness to embrace the unusual.

Most scientists would consider a Nobel Prize the crowning achievement of a life's work; Frederick Sanger has won this honor not once, but twice. He received his first Nobel in 1958 for successfully determining the exact sequence of the 51 amino acids that make up a molecule of insulin. The method he pioneered can be used for the analysis of all proteins, and made the synthesis of insulin possible for the first time, with far-reaching effects for the treatment of diabetes. Dr. Sanger then set out to do for DNA what he had done for proteins. Methods he devised have enabled scientists to determine the sequence of hundreds of base compounds in a single day, work that had previously taken years to accomplish. Dr. Sanger demonstrated his method by performing the first complete analysis of an entire organism, a microscopic bacteriophage. In 1980, Dr. Sanger received a second Nobel for this work, which lies at the heart of contemporary genetic research, such as the Human Genome Project. Only four other people in history have won two Nobel Prizes. Two were past honorees of the Academy of Achievement, John Bardeen and Linus Pauling. The others were Marie Curie and Winston Churchill. Dr. Frederick Sanger is the only living member of this illustrious company. In this podcast, recorded at the 2000 International Achievement Summit in London, England, Dr. Sanger recalls a half-century of work as a biochemist. He recalls the techniques he developed for sequencing proteins and DNA, and shares the excitement of discovery with the Academy's student delegates.

Few have done more to tease out the fundamental mysteries of the universe than Dr. Gerard 't Hooft of the Institute for Theoretical Physics at Utrecht University in the Netherlands. For the last century, as physicists pried further into the atom to better understand this basic building block of the universe, they attempted to fit all they learned into the existing Standard Model Theory of particle physics. By the 1970s, so many conflicting adjustments had been made to the original theory that its very foundation had come into serious question. To resolve some of these conflicts, 't Hooft and his mentor, Martinus J.G. Veltman, applied newly developed computer technology; their calculations have enabled science to predict the behavior and properties of subatomic particles more accurately. They were awarded the 1999 Nobel Prize in Physics for placing the Standard Model Theory "on a firmer mathematical foundation." Ultimately, 't Hooft's work has brought physics closer to the development of a Unified Field Theory, which would provide a single framework for understanding all the forces of nature. In this podcast, recorded at the 2000 International Achievement Summit in London, England, Dr. 't Hooft traces his interest in science to his early childhood. In secondary school, he was already attending a professor uncle's lectures at the university. He shares some of his thought on theoretical physics and particle theory.