Terry Garcia, Co-Author: Terry Garcia was Executive Vice President and Chief Science and Exploration Officer at National Geographic for 17 years. In 2010, President Obama appointed him to the National Commision on the BP Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill and Offshore Drilling. In 2011, Garcia received Peru's highest civilian award for helping repatriate ancient artifacts from Machu Picchu. He is President of Exploration Ventures.

Chris Rainier, Co-Author: Chris Rainier is a documentary photographer and National Geographic Explorer known for documenting endangered cultures and traditional languages. He is a fellow at London's Royal Geographical Society and director of the Cultural Sanctuaries Foundation, a global program for preserving biodiversity and cultural heritage. He has photographed on every continent, covering cultures from the Stone Age tribes of New Guinea to ancient tattoo body marking.

Sir Richard Branson, Foreword: SIR RICHARD BRANSON is the founder of the Virgin Group, one of the world’s most irresistible brands, which has expanded into many diverse sectors, including travel, telecommunications, health, banking, music, and leisure. Having started Virgin as a mail-order record retailer in 1970, Branson founded Virgin Records. After the first Virgin artist, Mike Oldfield, released Tubular Bells, Virgin Records went on to sign household names including the Sex Pistols and the Rolling Stones. There are now more than forty Virgin companies worldwide in over thirty-five countries. Branson has challenged himself with many record-breaking adventures, including the fastest-ever Atlantic Ocean crossing, a series of oceanic balloon journeys, and kitesurfing across the English Channel. He has described Virgin Galactic, the world’s first commercial spaceline, as being “the greatest adventure of all.” Branson has nearly forty million followers on social media and blogs regularly on issues including entrepreneurship, the environment, and adventure to purpose. Since starting the youth culture magazine Student at age fifteen, he has found entrepreneurial ways to drive positive change in the world. In 2004, Branson established Virgin Unite, the nonprofit foundation of the Virgin Group, which unites people and entrepreneurial ideas to create opportunities for a better world. Most of his time is now spent building businesses that will make a positive difference in the world and working with Virgin Unite and organizations it has incubated, such as The Elders, The B Team, and Ocean Unite. Read more at www.virgin.com/branson-family/richard-branson-blog.