Matt (Matthew) Ridley (born February 7, 1958 at Newcastle upon Tyne) is a British science writer. He received a doctorate in zoology from the University of Oxford before commencing a career in science journalism. He worked as a science correspondent for The Economist and The Daily Telegraph. He is the author of four acclaimed works of science popularization.

  • The Red Queen
  • The Origins of Virtue
  • Genome
  • Nature Via Nurture : Genes, Experience, and What Makes us Human

In these books Ridley explains the ideas that have grown out of the gene revolution in biology. In his commentary Ridley is relatively unabashed in revealing his personal commitment to a libertarian political philosophy, in constrast to Richard Dawkins, who, though similarly reductionist and atheistic, maintains a political fealty towards social democracy.