Nathan Myhrvold looms as one of today's great polymaths. Master's degrees in geophysics and space physics at age 19, doctorate in mathematical and theoretical physics and an apprenticeship under Stephen Hawking, presidency of a software company-and all this before becoming Microsoft's chief technology officer. He spearheaded the founding of Microsoft Research, one of the world's most influential computer science labs, and played a leading role in a number of the company's development projects, including some that contributed to Windows NT and Windows CE. Along the way he found time to train as a gourmet chef and learn to drive race cars. More recently, Myhrvold's been digging for dinosaurs and mastering photography: his office is adorned with photos from trips to Hawaiian volcanoes, Alaskan tundra and the California desert.

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