Douglas Adams

Douglas Noël Adams was a renowned English author, comic radio dramatist, and musician, best known for his Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy series. The series started as a radio show and expanded into a popular "trilogy" of five books, which sold over fifteen million copies during his lifetime. The series also spawned a television series, comic book series, computer game, and a feature film.

Apart from his work on Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Adams was also a scriptwriter for the science fiction television series Doctor Who and served as its script editor during the seventeenth season. He was known for his witty and extremely incisive brand of irreverent science-fiction, which shed light on some of the greatest philosophical questions known to mankind. His other notable works include the Dirk Gently novels and the co-written Liff books and Last Chance to See.

Adams was born in 1952 and died in May 2001 due to a heart attack. He was an environmental activist and had a keen interest in technology, being the first person in Europe to purchase a Mac. He was also known for his love for fast cars, cameras, and other "techno gizmos". Towards the end of his life, he was a sought-after lecturer on topics including technology and the environment. A posthumous collection of essays and other material, including an incomplete novel, was published as The Salmon of Doubt in 2002.