John Freely was born in New York in 1926 and joined the US Navy at the age of 17, serving during the last two years of World War II. He has a PhD in physics from New York University and did postdoctoral studies in the history of science at Oxford. He is Professor of Physics at Bosphorus University in Istanbul, where he has taught physics and the history of science since 1960. He has also taught in New York, Boston, London and Athens. He has written more than 40 books, including works in the history of science and travel. His most recent book in the history of science is Light From the East: How the Science of Medieval Islam Helped to Shape the Western World (2011). His recent books on history and travel include The Grand Turk, Storm on Horseback, Children of Achilles, The Cyclades, The Ionian Islands (all I.B.Tauris), Crete, The Western Shores of Turkey, Strolling Through Athens, Strolling Through Venice and the bestselling Strolling Through Istanbul (all Tauris Parke Paperbacks).
