Mark Buchanan is a physicist and author known for his work in popular science writing. Trained as a theoretical physicist, Buchanan has a Ph.D. from the University of Virginia and has held postdoctoral positions at the Institute for Theoretical Physics in Santa Barbara and at the University of Rome "La Sapienza". Instead of continuing in academia, he chose to focus on writing to make complex scientific ideas accessible to a broader audience. Buchanan has written several books covering topics such as chaos theory, complex systems, and financial markets, emphasizing the interconnectedness of various systems. His notable works include "Ubiquity: Why Catastrophes Happen," "The Social Atom," and "Forecast: What Physics, Meteorology, and the Natural Sciences Can Teach Us About Economics." He also contributes articles to science magazines and has written for publications such as Nature, Science, and The New York Times. Buchanan's writing often explores how principles from physics can be applied to understand patterns and behaviors in other fields, such as economics and sociology.