The character arc of David Eagleman
A life drawn by Character Arc from the public record
Born on 25 April 1971 in New Mexico to a physician and a biology teacher. Between then and now sit an early fall from a roof that raised his interest in how the brain handles time, high school in Albuquerque, an undergraduate degree at Rice in British and American literature with a year at Oxford, a swerve into neuroscience, a teaching post at Stanford, several neurotechnology companies, a non-profit aligning law with neuroscience, bestsellers in thirty two languages, an international television series and a top ranked podcast. The line below draws the story so far, in order.
Drag along the line to move, pinch or use the buttons to look closer. Tap the line to pluck it, or any mark for its card. Drawn from the public record of his life; the sources are at the foot of the page.
Who is David Eagleman?
He fell off a roof, and time slowed down.
He was born in New Mexico to a physician father and a biology teacher mother. As a child he fell from a roof, and the experience, in which time appeared to stretch, raised his interest in understanding the neural basis of time perception. Most people who have that experience tell it as an anecdote. He made it the question.
He went to high school in Albuquerque and then to Rice University, where he majored in British and American literature and spent his junior year at Oxford. That is not the standard route into a neuroscience career, and it shows in everything he has written since: he can actually write.
He turned to neuroscience and now teaches it at Stanford. His work is on brain plasticity, time perception, synesthesia, and neurolaw, which is the question of what a legal system should do once it understands how brains actually work. He directs a non-profit, the Center for Science and Law, whose purpose is to align the legal system with modern neuroscience, and he has founded several neurotechnology companies.
He is a Guggenheim Fellow and a New York Times bestselling author published in thirty two languages. He wrote and presented an international television series about the brain, and hosts a podcast that has been ranked the number one science podcast on its platform several times and was nominated in 2024 for best science podcast of the year.
The moments
David Eagleman's timeline.
The 1970s
A fall from a roof
Milestone, and it changed everything. He fell, time stretched, and he spent his life asking why.
The 1980s
Albuquerque Academy
Everyday. A New Mexico education, with two scientists at home.
The 1990s
He reads literature
Milestone, and it changed everything. A future neuroscientist, spending his degree on novels.
Literature, or the roof question
Crossroads, decided.
The paths laid out: change field entirely, taken, or stay with the books. He teaches neuroscience at Stanford and is published in thirty two languages.
The swerve into science
Milestone, and it changed everything. He changed field entirely, and took the writing with him.
The 2000s
Four subjects at once
Milestone, and it changed his direction. Plasticity, time, synesthesia and the law, all in one career.
The Center for Science and Law
Milestone, and it changed everything. An organisation whose whole job is telling courts what a brain is.
The 2010s
Thirty two languages
Milestone, and it changed everything. Bestsellers in thirty two languages, written by a literature graduate.
The Brain, on television
Milestone, and it changed everything. His own series, written and presented, about the thing in your head.
The companies
Milestone, and it changed his direction. Several companies, built out of laboratory findings.
The 2020s
Number one science podcast
Milestone, and it changed his direction. Top of the science charts, several times over.
The laboratory, the companies and the microphone all run at once, and the question is still the one from the roof. What he set moving is a legal system slowly learning what a brain is, and several hundred thousand readers who found out that neuroscience can be written well.
Your turn
Every line draws a unique story.
His started with a fall off a roof and a question nobody else bothered to ask. Yours is already further along than you think, and drawing it takes about five minutes.
David Eagleman: frequently asked questions
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Where does this timeline of David Eagleman's life come from?
More character arcs
Lives that rhyme with his.
Sources
- David Eagleman, English Wikipedia biography, filed under living people.
- Stanford University records for his teaching post, and Center for Science and Law records.
- New York Times bestseller listings and Guggenheim Fellowship records.