Jacob Needleman is Professor of Philosophy at San Francisco State University, and former Director of the Center for the study of New Religions at The Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley, California. He was educated in philosophy at Harvard, Yale, and the University of Freiburg, Germany. He has also served as Research Associate at the Rockefeller Institute for Medical Research, as a Research Fellow at Union Theological Seminary, as Adjunct Professor of Medical Ethics at the University of California Medical School and as guest Professor of Religious Studies at the Sorbonne, Paris (1992). He is the author of The New Religions, a pioneering study of the new American spirituality; A Little Book on Love, Money and the Meaning of Life; A Sense of the Cosmos: The Encounter of Modern Science and Ancient Truth; Lost Christianity; The Heart of Philosophy; The Way of the Physician; Time and the Soul; and Sorcerers, a novel. He was also general editor of the Element Books series, The Spirit of Philosophy. In addition to his teaching and writing, he serves as a consultant in the fields of psychology, education, medical ethics, philanthropy and business, and is increasingly well known as an organizer and moderator of conferences in these fields. He has also been featured on Bill Moyers’ acclaimed PBS series, “A World of Ideas.” His most recent books include: What is God?; An Unknown World: Notes On the Meaning of the Earth; and Necessary Wisdom.