Eric "Astro" Teller (born 29 May 1970) is an American entrepreneur, computer scientist, and author, with expertise in the field of intelligent technology.[1]
Early life and education
Teller was born in Cambridge, England, and raised in Evanston, Illinois. He is the son of Paul Teller, who was an instructor in the philosophy of science at the University of Illinois at Chicago and Chantal DeSoto, a buyer and clothing designer for Sears who later became a teacher of gifted children.[2] His grandparents include French economist and mathematician Gérard Debreu and Hungarian-born American theoretical physicist Edward Teller.[3] He received the nickname "Astro" after high school friends compared his flat-top haircut to AstroTurf, and he reportedly had the image of cartoon dog Astro from The Jetsons painted on his car door in college by his first wife, Elizabeth Jennings.[4]
After working as a faculty member at Stanford University, Teller became a business executive.
Since 2010, he has directed Google X (which has become X) laboratories.[5][6][7][8] Projects at Google X include Google Glass, Google Self-Driving Car Project, Google Contact Lens and Project Loon. Google X spun its project called Flux out into a stand-alone business in 2012.[9] Teller gave a TED Talk at TED2016 on the importance of failure in Google X's approach to pioneering new projects.[10][11] On 18 October 2016, it was announced that Teller would temporarily be in charge of X's Project Wing while the search for its next permanent leader was underway.[12]
Entrepreneur
Teller was the co-founder and chairman of BodyMedia,[1] makers of the BodyMedia FIT, Bodybugg, and Sensewear armbands (wearable devices that measure sleep, perspiration, motion, and calories burned).[13]
He is also co-founder, director, and former CEO of Cerebellum Capital.[14][15]
Speaker
In May 2001, Teller was featured on NPR's radio program All Things Considered, discussing how the good economy has shaped the attitudes of 30-year-olds towards their jobs.[16] He is the co-founder and co-host of the Solve for X annual event and internet community.[17]
He has lectured at the TEDMED Conference (2003 and 2004), South By Southwest (2013), and ideaCity (2004).[18][19][20] In 2008, he appeared as a political commentator on the national French television station France 24.[21][22][23]
Author
Teller's novel, Exegesis, was published in 1997.[24] It was translated into Dutch,[25] Japanese,[26] Danish,[27] German,[28] Italian[29] and Greeklish.
A second novel, Among These Savage Thoughts, was published in 2006. An experimental novel, it deals with the protagonist's journey to reinvent himself in the imaginary mountain society of Karabas.[30]
His third book, Sacred Cows, is a non-fiction work examining society's attitudes about marriage and divorce, co-written with his wife Danielle Teller. It was published by Diversion Books in 2014; in the same year, he gave a TEDxBoston talk on the book.[31][32]
