Born in 1960, Lesch is a German astrophysicist, natural philosopher and television presenter. He studied physics and philosophy in Giessen and Bonn, and later worked at the Max Planck Institute for radio astronomy (MPIfR). He was a visiting lecturer at the University of Toronto in 1992 and went on to qualify as a professor in 1994. Lesch is widely known in his roles of television presenter and author, with all his recent books reaching the best-seller lists. 'Sprung über den Abgrund' was published jointly with Martin Herrmann at Residenz Verlag (2022).