San Francisco, CA (August 14, 2009) –– The groundbreaking new book, Cosmic Conversations: Dialogues on the Nature of the Universe and the Search for Reality, is a lively and engaging collection of interviews conducted by astronomer Stephan Martin, who talks with some of today’s most innovative and cutting‐edge thinkers on the nature of the universe and our relationship to it. A compelling journey from the farthest reaches of outer space to the innermost realms of the human heart, Cosmic Conversations will change the way we look at the universe and ourselves.

Scientists, mystics, indigenous elders, and cultural creatives share their unique voices on the nature of reality, the interplay of science and religion, the future of humanity, and the role of humans in an evolving universe.

Among the luminaries interviewed:

• Barbara Marx‐Hubbard, President of the Foundation for Conscious Evolution

• Brian Swimme, mathematical cosmologist, Director of the Center for the Story of the Universe at the California Institute of Integral Studies

• Fred Alan Wolf, theoretical physicist, former resident physicist on the Discovery Channel

• Peter Russell, author of The Global Brain Awakens

• Bernard Haisch, founder of the California Institute for Physics and Astrophysics

• Richard Tarnas, author of The Passion of the Western Mind and Cosmos and Psyche

* Edgar Mitchell, Apollo astronaut and founder of the Institute of Noetic Sciences

*Gabriel Horn, Native American teacher and author of The Book of Ceremonies

*Duane Elgin, author of Voluntary Simplicity and The Living Universe

Professor Stephan Martin is Assistant Professor of Astronomy at Bristol Community College and former Observatory Supervisor at Williams College. A renowned specialist in extragalactic astronomy and the study of dark matter, he is currently focusing on the transformative potential of the insights of modern science and their integration into personal experience and everyday life. His writings and research have appeared in popular and professional publications spanning several disciplines, from observational astronomy to transpersonal psychology and indigenous shamanism.