Joel de Rosnay

Joel de Rosnay (born 1937), Ph.D from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, is a Mauritian-born French futurist, science writer, and molecular biologist.

Former research associate at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in the field of biology and computer graphics, he was successively science attache to the French Embassy in the United States, and Scientific Director of European Enterprises Development Company (a venture capital group) from 1971 to 1975. From 1975 to 1985 he was Director of Research Applications at l'Institut Pasteur (the Pasteur Institute in Paris). Until 2002, he was Director of Forecasting and Assessment at the Cite des Sciences et de l'Industrie in Paris, where he remains a special adviser. He is President of Biotics International, a consulting company specialized in the impact of new technologies on industries.

De Rosnay has written many books and essays on molecular biology, the sciences of complexity, emerging information technology, and their implications for the future evolution of humanity. Most of these are listed on his webpage, "Crossroads to the future". He was one of the first to understand the role of the Internet in promoting the emergence of a global brain. Some of his books, such as The Macroscope and The Symbiotic Man (ISBN 0071357440), have been translated into English. He regularly appears on French TV and is interviewed by the media as a specialist in explaining complex new scientific developments to a lay audience.

His last book La Revolte du pronetariat (pronetaire) talks largely about the Wiki, the era of media of masses.

His wife Stella is the daughter of Gladwyn Jebb, 1st Baron Gladwyn. His daughter is novelist Tatiana de Rosnay.