As a child, Leonard was interested in both mathematics, chemistry and organic chemistry. His interest turned to physics during a semester he took off from college to spend on a kibbutz in Israel, during which he had little to do at night beside reading The Feynman Lectures on Physics. While a doctoral student at the University of California, Berkeley and on the faculty at Caltech, he co-developed a new type of perturbation theory for eigenvalue problems in quantum mechanics Later, he did pioneering work on the quantum theory of dielectric media. Between 2008 and 2010, Mlodinow worked on a book with Stephen Hawking, entitled The Grand Design. Apart from his research and books on popular science, he has been a screenwriter for television series, including Star Trek: The Next Generation and MacGyver.

About TEDx
In the spirit of ideas worth spreading, TEDx is a program of local, self-organized events that bring people together to share a TED-like experience. At a TEDx event, TEDTalks video and live speakers combine to spark deep discussion and connection in a small group. These local, self-organized events are branded TEDx, where x = independently organized TED event. The TED Conference provides general guidance for the TEDx program, but individual TEDx events are self-organized.* (*Subject to certain rules and regulations)