Isaac Albert Arthur (born September 20, 1980)[3] is a science educator, YouTuber, futurist and president of the American National Space Society.[4] He is best known as producer of his YouTube channel, Science & Futurism With Isaac Arthur (SFIA), where he discusses a broad variety of topics on futurism and space colonization.[5]
Isaac Arthur | |
|---|---|
| Born | September 20, 1980 |
| Education | BS in Physics |
| Alma mater | Kent State University |
| Occupation(s) | Science communicator Board of Elections commissioner[1] |
| Known for | Science & Futurism with Isaac Arthur |
| Spouse | Sarah Fowler Arthur[2] |
| Military career | |
| Allegiance | United States |
| Service | United States Army |
| Years of service | 2003-2010 |
| Website | https://www.isaacarthur.net/ |
Early life and education
editArthur was raised by his mother and his grandfather, Alan Arthur, along with an older sister. He was homeschooled from the age of ten, and dropped out of high school at age twelve. He received his GED at the age of sixteen.
In 2001, he graduated at the top of his class with a degree in physics from Kent State University and began to pursue a graduate degree in biophysics.[6] Arthur became involved in local politics and now serves as chairman of the Ashtabula County board of elections.[1][6][7][8] His wife, Sarah Fowler Arthur has represented Ohio's 99th district in the Ohio state legislature since 2021.[9] Arthur enlisted in the US Army in 2003 and was deployed to Iraq from 2005 to 2007. He left the military in 2010, returning to his home in Ashtabula, Ohio.
Science & Futurism with Isaac Arthur
editArthur began the educational YouTube channel Science & Futurism with Isaac Arthur in 2012. In September 2014, he released the first video on the channel on the topic of megastructures.[13] As of March 7, 2023, the channel has over 795,000 
subscribers and 450 videos.[14]
Arthur joined the United States Air Force Academy space policy course as a visiting lecturer, contributed to the academy's simultaneous transition to remote education during the COVID-19 pandemic and the launch of the graduation of USAFA cadets into the United States Space Force.[citation needed]
Arthur serves on his hometown board of elections by day, spending the majority of his personal time working on production of his videos.[6] He collaborates with other science communicators, including Paul Sutter[15] and Fraser Cain,[16][17] and acts as an analyst and consultant for science fiction novels and games, such as HADES 9.[18] His channel is dedicated to topics including space colonization in the near and far future, futurism, artificial intelligence, and transhumanism, among others, especially in the context of thermodynamics, economics, science fiction, the Fermi paradox, and the Dyson dilemma. The channel's main focus is to speculate on how humanity or other hypothetical advanced civilizations may behave logistically, technologically, and socially, in the near and distant future under the laws of known science.[14]
The channel releases new episodes every Thursday, which tend to be around thirty minutes in length and are roughly organized into series:[19]
- Advanced Civilizations
- Alien Civilizations
- Post Scarcity Civilizations
- Civilizations at the End of Time
- Cyborgs, Androids, Transhumanism & AI
- Fermi Paradox
- Interstellar Warfare
- Megastructures
- Upward Bound
- Outward Bound
Outward Bound's main protagonist is the traveler, featured across the series.
Arthur collaborates with other YouTubers and science communicators.[20]
National Space Society
editIn 2020, Arthur was named the recipient of the National Space Society Space Pioneer Award for Education via Mass Media for his YouTube channel.[21]
On March 1, 2023, Arthur was elected president of the National Space Society.[22]
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ a b Eck, Joshua (26 October 2015). "SECRETARY HUSTED APPOINTS ISAAC ARTHUR TO THE ASHTABULA COUNTY BOARD OF ELECTIONS". Ohio Secretary of State Media Center. Ohio Secretary of State. Retrieved 30 July 2018.[permanent dead link]
- ^ "Sarah Fowler Arthur Biography". OhioHouse.gov.
- ^ "SFIA Monthly Livestream: January 20, 2019 at c. 52min 12sec". YouTube. Retrieved 20 January 2019.
- ^ Brown, Leah (November 16, 2017). "Futurist Isaac Arthur predicts robots will replace white collar, not blue collar, jobs first". TechRepublic. Retrieved 6 August 2018.
- ^ Barna, Ben (August 16, 2019). "14 Space Enthusiasts Predict Our Future In The Cosmos". Interview Magazine. Retrieved December 15, 2019.
The day will come when we shoot our first science-fiction film in orbit, or a middle-class fan can buy a ticket to visit the set, or to catch a zero-gravity sports game. But the greatest achievement of all will be when traveling to the moon is mundane.
- ^ a b c "GitHub 100k subscriber special". GitHub. Retrieved 20 January 2019.
- ^ "Ashtabula County Board of Elections". Ashtabula County Board of Elections. Archived from the original on 8 August 2018. Retrieved 30 July 2018.
- ^ Todd, Mark (August 16, 2018). "Almost every issue approved for ballot". Star Beacon. Retrieved September 12, 2018.
Isaac Arthur, board chairman, agreed. 'We're going from a secured police station to Fort Knox,' he said.
- ^ "Sarah Fowler Arthur Biography". Ohio House of Representatives. Retrieved 2023-08-23.
- ^ Brown, Leah (13 November 2017). "How disruptive technologies shape the way we work". TechRepublic. Archived from the original on 7 August 2018. Retrieved 6 August 2018.
- ^ Brown, Leah (25 August 2017). "Far-future tech: How to build a solar megastructure". TechRepublic. Retrieved 6 August 2018.
- ^ Todd, Mark (July 30, 2018). "Geneva resident's science programs a hit on YouTube". Star Beacon. Retrieved 6 August 2018.
- ^ Arthur, Isaac. "Megastructures (Original Summary Version)". YouTube. Retrieved 30 July 2018.
- ^ a b Arthur, Isaac. "Science & Futurism with Isaac Arthur". Isaac Arthur - YouTube. Retrieved 4 March 2020.
- ^ Sutter, Paul (January 18, 2018). "The Compendium of Doom, Part 2 (Collab w/ Issac Arthur)". Paul Sutter. Archived from the original on September 13, 2018. Retrieved September 12, 2018.
- ^ "Author: Isaac Arthur". Universe Today. Retrieved September 12, 2018.
- ^ "Open Space: Live QA With Fraser Cain, Guest: Isaac Arthur". Space TV. 24 April 2018. Retrieved September 12, 2018.
- ^ Nick, Matt, Dan, Luuk, Ryan. "HADES 9 Update: March 8, 2018". HADES 9. Retrieved 30 July 2018.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - ^ Arthur, Isaac. "Home - IsaacArthur.net". IsaacArthur.net. Science & Futurism with Isaac Arthur, LLC. Retrieved 30 July 2018.
- ^ Cain, Fraser (18 November 2016). "Colonizing the Solar System". Universe Today. Retrieved 8 August 2018.
- ^ "National Space Society to Honor Isaac Arthur at Its 2020 International Space Development Conference". National Space Society. March 2, 2020. Retrieved March 3, 2020.
- ^ "National Space Society Executive Committee Officers". 16 September 2017. Retrieved March 9, 2023.