Charles Murray is a political scientist, author, and libertarian. He first came to national attention in 1984 with the publication of Losing Ground: American Social Policy 1950–1980 (Basic Books, 1984), which has been credited as the intellectual foundation for the Welfare Reform Act of 1996. His latest book, Real Education: Four Simple Truths for Bringing America's Schools Back to Reality (Crown Forum, 2008), provides a framework for rethinking what parents should demand from an educational system.