Sean Carroll is the kind of guy who unintentionally reminds me of how little I know, but I always love learning that from him because he's just so freakin' interesting. I'll just quote from his bio:
I'm the Homewood Professor of Natural Philosophy -- in effect, a joint appointment between physics and philosophy -- at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, and fractal faculty at the Santa Fe Institute. Most of my career has been spent doing research on cosmology, field theory, and gravitation, looking at topics such as dark matter and dark energy, modified gravity, topological defects, extra dimensions, and violations of fundamental symmetries. These days my focus has shifted to more foundational questions, both in quantum mechanics (origin of probability, emergence of space and time) and statistical mechanics (entropy and the arrow of time, emergence and causation, dynamics of complexity), bringing a more philosophical dimension to my work.
Sean's newest book is The Biggest Ideas in the Universe: Vol. 1: SPACE, TIME, AND MOTION
More about Sean here: Sean Carroll – Preposterous Universe