From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Martin John Rees, Baron Rees of Ludlow, OM, PRS
(born 23 June 1942 in York[1]) is an
English cosmologist and astrophysicist. He has been Astronomer
Royal since 1995, and Master of Trinity College, Cambridge
since 2004.
Early
life and education
Rees was educated at Shrewsbury School and Trinity College, Cambridge
(where he read mathematics), and completed his doctorate under Dennis Sciama at Cambridge.
Career in
cosmology
After holding post-doctoral research positions in England and the United States, he
taught at Sussex University and the University of Cambridge, where
he was the Plumian
Professor until 1991, and the director of the Institute of
Astronomy. From 1992 to 2003, he was Royal Society Research
Professor, and from 2003 Professor of Cosmology and Astrophysics. He was
Professor of Astronomy at Gresham College, London, in 1975 and
became a Fellow of
the Royal Society in 1979. He also holds Visiting
Professorships at Imperial College London and at
the University of Leicester. In
2008 he received an honorary doctorate from Yale
University. He also received an honorary doctorate from McMaster
University, in Hamilton Ontario, on June 9, 2009.[2] He is
also a Member of Council of the Royal Institution of Great Britain. Rees is
the author of more than 500 research papers, and he has made
important contributions to the origin of cosmic microwave
background radiation, as well as to galaxy clustering and formation. His studies of
the distribution of quasars
proved to be a nail in the coffin of the steady state theory. He was also one of the
first to propose that enormous black holes power quasars. He is also a
well-respected author of books on astronomy and science intended for the lay public.
On 22 July 2005, Rees was elevated to a life peerage, sitting as a crossbencher in the
House of
Lords. On 6 September, he
was created Baron Rees of Ludlow, of Ludlow in the County of Shropshire.[3] In
2005, he was awarded the Crafoord Prize.[4] He
became President of the Royal Society on 1 December 2005.[5] [6] He is
an advocate of the memory of Joseph Rotblat.[7] He has
taken to speaking about humanity's future on Earth.[8][9][10][11][12][13] [14][15][16] [17][18]
Honours
Awards
Named after him
Publications
- Cosmic Coincidences: Dark Matter, Mankind, and Anthropic
Cosmology (coauthor John Gribbin), 1989, Bantam, ISBN
0-553-34740-3
- New Perspectives in Astrophysical Cosmology, 1995,
ISBN 0-521-64544-1
- Gravity's Fatal Attraction: Black Holes in the
Universe, 1995, ISBN 0-7167-6029-0
- Before the Beginning - Our Universe and Others, 1997,
ISBN 0-7382-0033-6
- Just Six Numbers: The Deep Forces That Shape the
Universe, 2000, ISBN 0-465-03673-2
- Our Cosmic Habitat, 2001, ISBN 0-691-11477-3
- Our Final
Hour: A Scientist's Warning: How Terror, Error, and
Environmental Disaster Threaten Humankind's Future In This
Century—On Earth and Beyond (UK title: Our Final Century:
Will the Human Race Survive the Twenty-first Century?), 2003,
ISBN 0-465-06862-6
See also
References
- ^
GRO Register of Births: SEP 1942 9c 1465 YORK - Martin J. Rees, mmn
= Bett
- ^
Honorary Degrees from
McMaster
- ^
Sir Martin Rees appointed to
Lords (1 August 2005)
- ^
Professor Sir Martin Rees wins
Crafoord Prize (10 February 2005)
- ^
Martin Rees tipped to head
Royal Society (29 March 2005)
- ^
Martin Rees nomination for new
President of the Royal Society (29 March 2005)
- ^
Dark Materials: The legacy of
Joseph Rotblat 2006-06-10
- ^
Podcast of Lecture "The World
in 2050" given at the James
Martin 21st Century School, University of Oxford, February
2009
- ^
Martin Rees: Alien life could
be out there (31 May 2002)
- ^
Sir Martin Rees: Prophet of
doom? (25 April 2003)
- ^
A future full of hopes and
fears (16 July 2005)
- ^
Science: The Coming
Century from The New York Review of
Books
- ^
Transcript of an
interview with Joan Bakewell, in her "Belief" series, on
BBC Radio 3, 2006-04-13.
- ^
Martin Rees interviewed by
Alan Macfarlane, 22nd August 2007 (film)
- ^
Martin Rees in conversation
on the BBC World Service discussion programme The Forum
- ^
God, the universe and me:
Martin Rees, the new president of the Royal Society, has some
surprising views about our place in creation, finds Stuart
Wavell 2005-12-18
- ^
Spaceflight or Extinction:
Martin Rees Excerpts from Our Final Hour
- ^
Martin Rees - "Einstein's
legacy as scientist and icon" talk at the Royal Society
External
links
| Persondata |
| NAME |
Rees, Martin John |
| ALTERNATIVE
NAMES |
|
| SHORT
DESCRIPTION |
English Astronomer |
| DATE OF BIRTH |
23 June 1942 |
| PLACE OF
BIRTH |
York, England |
| DATE OF DEATH |
|
| PLACE OF
DEATH |
|
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