Editing Neal Stephenson (section)

==Early life==
Born on October 31, 1959, in [[Fort Meade]], [[Maryland]],<ref name=orwellclass/> Stephenson came from a family of engineers and scientists; his father is a professor of [[electrical engineering]] and his paternal grandfather was a [[physics]] professor.  His mother worked in a [[biochemistry]] laboratory and her father was a [[biochemistry]] professor. Stephenson's family moved to [[Champaign–Urbana metropolitan area|Champaign-Urbana, Illinois]], in 1960, and to [[Ames, Iowa]], in 1966. He graduated from [[Ames High School]] in 1977.<ref name=mac/>

Stephenson studied at [[Boston University]],<ref name =mac/> first specializing in physics, then switching to geography after he found that it would allow him to spend more time on the university mainframe.<ref name=yamamato/> He graduated in 1981 with a [[Bachelor of Arts|B.A.]] in [[geography]] and a minor in physics.<ref name=mac/> 

Since 1984, Stephenson has lived mostly in the [[Pacific Northwest]] and as of 2012 lived in [[Seattle]] with his family.<ref name=mac/>