Authors

Augusta Ada King, Countess of Lovelace (10 December 1815 – 27 November 1852), was an English mathematician and writer who is widely regarded as the first computer programmer. Born Ada Gordon, the sole child of the poet Lord Byron and his mathematicsloving wife Annabella Milbanke, she was raised under a strict regimen of science and mathematics to counteract any inherited poetic temperament. Educated privately by William Frend, William King, and the noted scientific author Mary Somerville, Lovelace’s mathematical talents led her at age seventeen to a lifelong friendship and working relationship with Charles Babbage, inventor of the Difference Engine and Analytical Engine. In 1842, she translated an article about Babbage’s Analytical Engine by the Italian mathematician Luigi Menabrea, supplementing it with extensive notes that tripled its length. Lovelace’s notes contained what is recognized as the first algorithm intended for implementation on a machine—a method for calculating Bernoulli numbers—earning her the title of the world’s first computer programmer. More significantly, she was the first to recognize that the machine had applications beyond pure calculation. She envisioned encoding and manipulating information such as music, anticipating by more than a century the modern understanding of computers as generalpurpose symbol processors. Though her contributions were largely forgotten after her death from uterine cancer at age 36, Lovelace’s legacy was rediscovered in the twentieth century. The programming language Ada was named in her honor, and the second Tuesday of October is now celebrated as Ada Lovelace Day, honoring women’s contributions to science, technology, engineering, and mathematics.

Alan Wilson Watts (1915–1973) was a British-born philosopher, writer, and speaker best known for interpreting and popularizing Eastern philosophy for Western audiences. Born in Chislehurst, England, he moved to the United States in 1938 and later became an Episcopal priest before leaving the ministry to pursue independent scholarship. Watts authored more than 25 books and numerous essays on subjects including Zen Buddhism, Taoism, Hinduism, and comparative religion. His accessible writing style and charismatic lectures helped introduce millions of Westerners to Eastern spiritual traditions during the countercultural movements of the 1950s and 1960s. Central to Watts’s philosophy was the idea that the individual ego is an illusion and that human beings are fundamentally connected to the universe. His explorations of consciousness, identity, and the nature of self intersect with transhumanist questions about human enhancement and the boundaries of individual existence.

Albert Einstein (1879–1955) was a Germanborn theoretical physicist who developed the theory of relativity, one of the two pillars of modern physics alongside quantum mechanics. Born in Ulm, Germany, Einstein showed early brilliance in mathematics and physics. His 1905 “miracle year” papers introduced special relativity and the famous equation E=mc2. His general theory of relativity (1915) revolutionized understanding of gravity, space, and time. Einstein’s philosophical reflections on science, religion, and the nature of reality continue to influence thought. He expressed a cosmic religious feeling—a sense of awe at the rationality and beauty of the universe—that he considered the strongest motivation for scientific research. His views on the relationship between science and spirituality remain relevant to discussions of faith and reason.

Athanasius of Alexandria (c. 296–373 AD) was a Christian theologian and the 20th Pope of Alexandria. He is best known for his role in the conflict with Arianism and his defense of Trinitarian theology. His work On the Incarnation articulates the doctrine of theosis—that God became man so that man might become god. This teaching, central to Eastern Orthodox theology, resonates deeply with Latter-day Saint beliefs about human divine potential. Athanasius attended the Council of Nicaea in 325 AD and spent much of his life defending its conclusions against Arian opposition, being exiled five times for his beliefs. His theological writings on the incarnation and deification remain influential in Christian thought.

Augustine of Hippo (354–430 CE) was a theologian and philosopher who served as the bishop of Hippo Regius in Roman North Africa. Born in Thagaste (modernday Algeria), he was raised by his devout Christian mother Monica and pagan father Patricius. His intellectual journey led him through Manichaeism before his famous conversion to Christianity in 386 CE. Augustine’s autobiographical Confessions and his monumental City of God remain foundational texts in Western philosophy and Christian theology. His adaptation of classical thought to Christian teaching created a theological system of great power and lasting influence, helping to lay the foundation for much of medieval and modern Christian thought. He was canonized by popular acclamation and declared a Doctor of the Church by Pope Boniface VIII in 1298. His ideas on grace, free will, and original sin have profoundly shaped Christian doctrine, and his philosophical investigations into time, memory, and the nature of evil continue to resonate with thinkers today.

Basil of Caesarea (330–379 AD), known as Basil the Great, was a bishop and influential theologian who supported the Nicene Creed. He was one of the Cappadocian Fathers, along with his brother Gregory of Nyssa and friend Gregory of Nazianzus. Basil made significant contributions to Christian monasticism and liturgy. His writings on the Holy Spirit explore how souls illuminated by the Spirit become spiritual themselves and send forth grace to others, becoming like God through divine participation. He established guidelines for monastic life that influenced both Eastern and Western monasticism, and his liturgy is still used in Eastern Orthodox churches. Basil’s theology of deification emphasizes the transformative work of the Holy Spirit in making humans partakers of the divine nature.

Bathsheba Wilson Bigler Smith (1822–1910) served as the fourth general president of the Relief Society from 1901 until her death. Born in what is now West Virginia, she was raised on her family’s 300-acre plantation before joining the Church in 1837 at age fifteen. She married George A. Smith, the youngest member of the Quorum of the Twelve, in 1841. At age nineteen, Bathsheba was the youngest woman present at the organization of the Relief Society in Nauvoo in 1842. She later served as matron of the Salt Lake Temple, a member of the Deseret Hospital board, and a leader in the western woman’s suffrage movement. In 1888, she became second counselor in the Relief Society general presidency. As Relief Society general president, Smith oversaw construction of the original Relief Society Building (completed 1909) and introduced classes on childrearing, industry, and marriage. Under her leadership, Relief Society wheat was shared with earthquake survivors in San Francisco and famine victims in China. She was the first woman granted a funeral service in the Salt Lake Tabernacle.

Benjamin Franklin (January 17, 1706 – April 17, 1790) was an American polymath, statesman, scientist, inventor, writer, printer, philosopher, and Founding Father of the United States. Among the most influential intellectuals of the Enlightenment, Franklin earned the title “The First American” for his tireless advocacy of colonial unity and his diplomatic efforts to secure French support during the American Revolution. Born in Boston, Massachusetts, Franklin received only two years of formal schooling before beginning work in his father’s candlemaking shop. At age twelve, he became an apprentice to his brother James, a printer, where he developed his love of reading and writing. By age seventeen, he had run away to Philadelphia, where he would build his fortune and reputation. Franklin’s scientific contributions were remarkable. His experiments with electricity, including the famous kite experiment, established the nature of lightning and led to the invention of the lightning rod. He also invented bifocal glasses, the Franklin stove, and the glass armonica. His curiosity extended to oceanography, meteorology, and demography. As a civic leader, Franklin founded the American Philosophical Society, the first lending library, the University of Pennsylvania, and the first fire department in Philadelphia. His wit and wisdom, expressed through Poor Richard’s Almanack, shaped American culture for generations. Franklin’s vision of human progress through science and reason resonates strongly with transhumanist thought. His belief that future generations would master nature, extend human life, and achieve powers beyond imagination prefigured modern discussions of technological enhancement and human flourishing.

Brent Allsop is an American technologist and transhumanist activist who founded Canonizer, a collaborative wikisurvey platform for building consensus. He has been active in the transhumanist community for decades, advocating for life extension.

Brigham Young (1 June 1801 – 29 August 1877) was the second President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and the architect of the Mormon settlement of the American West. Born in poverty in Whitingham, Vermont, he had only eleven days of formal schooling but became an accomplished carpenter and craftsman. Young joined the Church in 1832 after two years of examining the Book of Mormon, and was called to the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles in 1835. Following Joseph Smith’s assassination in 1844, Young assumed leadership of the Church and organized the epic westward migration. In 1847, he led the first group of pioneers 1,300 miles across the Great Plains to the Salt Lake Valley, declaring upon arrival, “This is the right place.” Nicknamed “American Moses,” Young supervised the overland trek of 60,000 to 70,000 pioneers and founded 350 to 400 settlements across the western territories. Four days after arriving in the barren Salt Lake Valley, he designated the exact location for the Salt Lake Temple. He established the Perpetual Emigration Fund, which helped some 30,000 immigrants reach America. Despite limited formal education, he founded the institutions that became Brigham Young University and the University of Utah. Young served as the first governor of Utah Territory from 1850. He practiced plural marriage, with at least 20 wives who bore him 57 children. At his death, he was the wealthiest man in Utah. His extraordinary organizational abilities and vision transformed a persecuted religious community into a thriving civilization in the desert.