James P. Hogan was born in London on June 27, 1941. He left school at the age of sixteen and eventually began an intensive, broad-based five-year program at the Royal Aircraft Establishment covering the practical and theoretical sides of electrical, electronic, and mechanical engineering. He worked as a design engineer for several companies before moving to sales. He started writing science fiction books in the 1970s and became a full-time writer in 1979. He wrote 30 fiction and non-fiction books during his lifetime including Inherit the Stars, Voyage from Yesteryear, and Kicking the Sacred Cow. He won three Seiun-sho awards, which were voted for by Japanese science fiction fans. He died suddenly on July 12, 2010 at the age of 69.