Clifford Stoll

Clifford Stoll is an American astronomer, author, and teacher. He earned a bachelor’s degree in astronomy from the University at Buffalo and a PhD from the University of Arizona. While working as a systems administrator at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, he investigated a computer intrusion that led to the identification of hacker Markus Hess and later recounted the case in The Cuckoo’s Egg: Tracking a Spy Through the Maze of Computer Espionage.

Stoll is also the author of Silicon Snake Oil and High-Tech Heretic: Reflections of a Computer Contrarian, which examines the role of computers in education and society. He has worked in astronomy and astrophysics at institutions including the Space Telescope Institute, Kitt Peak National Observatory, and the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics.