Artist Steven Adams created the illustration for “Planting the Seed.” After studying graphic design, Adams traveled to Europe for advanced training in design. Upon his return, he began working with publications including the Wall Street Journal, Harvard Business Review, Citigroup, the Washington Post, American Lawyer, and Chicago Tribune. He has won numerous awards, including having his work recognized by the Communication Arts Illustrations Annual. Adams lives in Montreal with his wife, two kids, and a cat.

Justin Ewers is making his first appearance in Prism as a reviewer of the new book Air Power: The Men, Machines and Ideas That Revolutionized War, From Kitty Hawk to Gulf War II. He is also working on a profile of NASA administrator Michael Griffin, which will appear in an upcoming issue. Ewers is a senior editor at U.S. News & World Report, covering culture, history, and higher education. When he can, he also writes about aviation.

Photographer Evan Kafka, who shot this month’s cover story, has an associate’s degree equivalent from Tesst Electronics School in his native Hyattsville, Md.  After working as an electronic communications technician for the Associated Press for three years in Washington, D.C., he earned a degree in photography from the Rochester Institute of Technology. Now a resident of Manhattan, Kafka shoots regularly for magazines including New York, Time Out New York, and Fortune.

Henry Petroski is a regular contributor to Prism with his Refractions column, which appears every other month. Petroski has 35 years of teaching experience, 25 at Duke University and five at both the University of Texas-Austin and the University of Illinois-Urbana-Champaign.  He is the author of a dozen books on various aspects of engineering, technology and design, including a study of failure, a history of American bridge building, a history of the pencil, and a memoir on what predisposed him to become an engineer.    

David Plunkert illustrated the opener for “A New (Virtual) Chapter.” His work has appeared in BusinessWeek, Forbes, Reader’s Digest, Time, and the Wall Street Journal. His work has received awards from Communications Arts, the Society of Illustrators, the Society of Publication Design, and American Illustration. He was included in the group show “America Illustrata,” which completed its international tour in 2000. Plunkert is a founding member of the Illustrators Partnership of America.