George van Hal (b. 1980) studied astronomy and now works as a science editor for Dutch newspaper de Volkskrant, in which capacity he mostly writes about astronomy, physics and space exploration. He has published seven books in the popular science genre on the same subjects.
Apart from writing about scientific breakthroughs – anything from elementary particles to the deep mysteries of the outer cosmos – he also regularly dives into the real science behind science fiction stories. After all, be it time travel, the development of intelligent robots, the search for alien life forms or even superheroes and zombies, a lot of concepts from science fiction books and Hollywood movies have their roots in fascinating real-world science.
On this same subject he wrote a regular column for the newspaper for over a year and made several video columns for the popular science show Atlas on national television. He also wrote two books about it: Robots, aliens en popcorn (Atlas Contact, 2015) and Van lightsaber tot tijdmachine, due out in May with Nieuwezijds Publishers. Finally, he regularly gives public lectures on science and science fiction throughout the Netherlands and Flanders, at venues ranging from science festivals and major theatres to local community centres.
