My daughter has had a much larger impact on my life than my parents.

Air Force gave me tremendous opportunities that excelled me in knowledge and experience. A free education.... damn.... how lucky can a guy get.

My son. He anchored me.

A couple of my teachers, who inspired me to move in new directions. And the first person I fell in love with, who broke my heart.

Too many to name on a personal level - most people I have been fortunate enough to spend time with have had some influence on me. As for perhaps the greatest impact on my life I need to go beyond my immediate circle to someone I never met - zoologist Desmond Morris, who wrote The Naked Ape. I was not exposed to evolution at all in high school, and only in the most perfunctory way in college. Professor Morris's book moved me from being a gentle skeptic regarding some of the claims of my religion to being an Atheist.

My grandfather and a college professor.

Probably my siblings. They were always supportive and encouraging to me; probably more than I deserved.

And, my daughter. My life would be far poorer without her in it.

Carl Sagan and Isaac Asimov were critical for inspiring my love of science and science communication

My brother

Parents have zero impact on my life.

Not a tough question....myself. I had the biggest impact on my life. Had I followed the example set by my family, my religion, my friends in youth, I'd be a sexual predator, spouse abusing, hypocrite. I got away from all that by following my OWN moral compass and by making conscious decisions to stay free of negativity and drama, and to work hard to improve "my lot" in life, for my own children's happiness, health and future success.

Well, the last 20 years.... my wife.
Before that, the instructors at CMA.

No-one. My mothers death when was 7 and my father's brutality ( most of which i was spared as it was visited on my sisters )had the biggest impact on me. Who then would i admire ? ?. Small acts of humanity inspire me.

I grew up with various family members NOT my parents so nothing there...I would have to say my friends...at the time...I wanted to be a part of something but I didnt know what...Religion has always left me doubting...the more I heard the less I knew....I created myself

I had three awesome mentors starting in HS, I've never thought about this but all three were atheist or agnostic.

The last guy is still my best friend 25 years later

This sounds silly but a lifeguard at the beach I always went to. He instilled in me the importance of supporting your children and my liberal beliefs.

My high school Chemistry and Physics teacher and four of the college professors I had!

I did: Not always the best impact, but certainly the most significant.

Jesus! Whenever I have an important decision to make I ask what would Jesus do and then I do something else.

Aside from my own curious and probing mind developing standards that have done well for me over the years, there have been four people in my life who have provided me with direction and discipline. Richard Feynman, Carl Sagan, James Chapman who opened the world of mathematics to me, and a chemistry professor named Robert Wells who demonstrated to me in the early years that chemistry was definitely not a road I wanted to travel. Three others whom I never met, but were strong influences for me were Bertrand Russell, Buckminster Fuller, and Freeman Dyson.

I've been impressed by a lot of people and there is a broad fan of folks who have influenced me in many ways, but those folks were the ones who actually had great impact on the direction I traveled.

My parents never did.