Per Högselius grew up in Stockholm, Sweden. As a child he dreamed about becoming an astronomer, which led him to study physics at university. In his teens he discovered literature and the drama of world history. A hopeless romantic, he wished he had lived in the nineteenth century. He became a passionate traveller, targeting not so much the distant corners of the world but the nearby post-Cold War lands of the Baltic Sea region. His journeys there became the basis for his first non-academic book in Swedish, the historical travelogue Östersjövägar (Baltic Sea Paths, 2007). Later on, he fell in love with Central Asia and China. Meanwhile Per has pursued an academic career in the history of science, technology and environment, where he enjoys juxtaposing different genres and styles of writing in exploring human experiences with technology and nature. He writes regularly for the leading Swedish daily Svenska Dagbladet.