Massimo Villata

Massimo Villata is an Italian astrophysicist and science fiction writer. He graduated from the University of Turin with honors in physics and at the end of his PhD won a competition at the Observatory of Turin, where he still work today. His main field of research is extragalactic astronomy. He specializes in the study of blazars (extremely energetic and variable active galactic nuclei), and since 2000 he has been President of the International Consortium of Optical and Radio Telescopes (WEBT--Whole Earth Blazar Telescope). He is the author of more than three hundred scientific publications and also employs his knowledge in the writing of science fiction novels under the pseudonym Max Wells, inspired by the famous Scottish physicist James Clerk Maxwell.