The World Science Festival was created by Brian Greene who was a Columbia University Physics professor and his wife Emmy who has won many awards as a television journalist. In 2005, Greene was invited to speak in Della Scienza festival in Genoa. Since then, the two wished similar festival also in New York that would provide a chance to bring science to the public. So in 2006 they established a Science Festival Foundation with Greene as the chairman. The festival occurs in the End of May and First week of June in New York City in the United States.

The festival lasts five day’s and has over forty events. The festival is a celebration of science and discovery. It also exhibits film, theatre, music, food and story telling about science.