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John D. Barrow
 
 
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John David Barrow FRS (born November 29, 1952, London
London

London is the capital of both England and the United Kingdom, and the most populous municipality in the European Union. An important settlement for two millennia, History of London goes back to its founding by the Roman Empire....
) is an English cosmologist
Physical cosmology

Physical cosmology, as a branch of astronomy, is the study of the largest-scale structures and dynamics of our universe and is concerned with fundamental questions about its formation and evolution....
, theoretical physicist
Physics

Physics is the natural science which examines basic concepts such as energy, force, and spacetime and all that derives from these, such as mass, charge, matter and its Motion ....
, and mathematician
Mathematician

A mathematician is a person whose primary area of study and/or research is the field of mathematics....
. He is currently Research Professor of Mathematical Sciences at the University of Cambridge
University of Cambridge

The University of Cambridge , located in Cambridge, England, is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation university in the Anglosphere....
. Barrow is also a writer of popular science and an amateur playwright
Playwright

A playwright, also known as a dramatist, is a person who writes dramatic literature or drama. These works may be written specifically to be performed by actors or they may be closet dramas or literary works written using dramatic forms but not meant for performance....
.

ow obtained his first degree in Mathematics
Mathematics

Mathematics is the study of quantity, structure, space, change, and related topics of pattern and form. Mathematicians seek out patterns whether found in numbers, space, natural science, computers, imaginary abstractions, or elsewhere....
 and physics
Physics

Physics is the natural science which examines basic concepts such as energy, force, and spacetime and all that derives from these, such as mass, charge, matter and its Motion ....
 from Van Mildert College
Van Mildert College

Van Mildert College, commonly known as Mildert, is a University of Durham#Colleges of the University of Durham in England. Founded in 1965, it takes its name from William Van Mildert, Bishop of Durham from 1826 to 1836 and a leading figure in the University's 1832 foundation....
 at the University of Durham in 1974. In 1977, he completed his doctorate in astrophysics
Astrophysics

Astrophysics is the branch of astronomy that deals with the physics of the universe, including the physical properties of astronomical objects such as galaxy, stars, planets, exoplanets, and the interstellar medium, as well as their interactions....
 at Magdalen College
Magdalen College, Oxford

Magdalen College redirects here, see also Magdalene College, CambridgeMagdalen College is one of the Colleges of the University of Oxford of the University of Oxford in England....
 in the University of Oxford
University of Oxford

The University of Oxford , located in the city of Oxford, Oxfordshire, England, is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation in the English-speaking world....
 under Dennis William Sciama
Dennis William Sciama

Dennis William Siahou Sciama FRS was a United Kingdom physicist who, through his own work and that of his students, played a major role in developing British physics after the Second World War....
.






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John David Barrow FRS (born November 29, 1952, London
London

London is the capital of both England and the United Kingdom, and the most populous municipality in the European Union. An important settlement for two millennia, History of London goes back to its founding by the Roman Empire....
) is an English cosmologist
Physical cosmology

Physical cosmology, as a branch of astronomy, is the study of the largest-scale structures and dynamics of our universe and is concerned with fundamental questions about its formation and evolution....
, theoretical physicist
Physics

Physics is the natural science which examines basic concepts such as energy, force, and spacetime and all that derives from these, such as mass, charge, matter and its Motion ....
, and mathematician
Mathematician

A mathematician is a person whose primary area of study and/or research is the field of mathematics....
. He is currently Research Professor of Mathematical Sciences at the University of Cambridge
University of Cambridge

The University of Cambridge , located in Cambridge, England, is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation university in the Anglosphere....
. Barrow is also a writer of popular science and an amateur playwright
Playwright

A playwright, also known as a dramatist, is a person who writes dramatic literature or drama. These works may be written specifically to be performed by actors or they may be closet dramas or literary works written using dramatic forms but not meant for performance....
.

Life

Barrow obtained his first degree in Mathematics
Mathematics

Mathematics is the study of quantity, structure, space, change, and related topics of pattern and form. Mathematicians seek out patterns whether found in numbers, space, natural science, computers, imaginary abstractions, or elsewhere....
 and physics
Physics

Physics is the natural science which examines basic concepts such as energy, force, and spacetime and all that derives from these, such as mass, charge, matter and its Motion ....
 from Van Mildert College
Van Mildert College

Van Mildert College, commonly known as Mildert, is a University of Durham#Colleges of the University of Durham in England. Founded in 1965, it takes its name from William Van Mildert, Bishop of Durham from 1826 to 1836 and a leading figure in the University's 1832 foundation....
 at the University of Durham in 1974. In 1977, he completed his doctorate in astrophysics
Astrophysics

Astrophysics is the branch of astronomy that deals with the physics of the universe, including the physical properties of astronomical objects such as galaxy, stars, planets, exoplanets, and the interstellar medium, as well as their interactions....
 at Magdalen College
Magdalen College, Oxford

Magdalen College redirects here, see also Magdalene College, CambridgeMagdalen College is one of the Colleges of the University of Oxford of the University of Oxford in England....
 in the University of Oxford
University of Oxford

The University of Oxford , located in the city of Oxford, Oxfordshire, England, is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation in the English-speaking world....
 under Dennis William Sciama
Dennis William Sciama

Dennis William Siahou Sciama FRS was a United Kingdom physicist who, through his own work and that of his students, played a major role in developing British physics after the Second World War....
. He did two postdoctoral years in astronomy
Astronomy

Astronomy is the science of Astronomical object and Phenomenon that originate outside the Earth's atmosphere . It is concerned with the evolution, physics, chemistry, meteorology, and motion of celestial objects, as well as the physical cosmology....
 at the University of California, Berkeley
University of California, Berkeley

The University of California, Berkeley is a public university research university located in Berkeley, California, California, United States. The oldest of the ten major campuses affiliated with the University of California, Berkeley offers some 300 undergraduate and graduate degree programs in a wide range of disciplines....
.

In 1981 he joined the University of Sussex
University of Sussex

The University of Sussex is a British campus university situated next to the East Sussex village of Falmer, from Brighton. It was the first of the New Universities of Plate glass university....
, rising to the rank of Professor. In 1999, he became Professor in the Department of Applied Mathematics and Theoretical Physics at Cambridge University. He is Director of the Millennium Mathematics Project
Millennium Mathematics Project

The Millennium Mathematics Project was set up within the University of Cambridge in 1999 as a joint project between the Faculties of Mathematics and Education....
. From 2003–2007 he was Gresham Professor of Astronomy
Gresham Professor of Astronomy

The Professor of Astronomy at Gresham College, London, gives free educational lectures to the general public. The college was founded for this purpose in 1596 / 7, when it appointed seven professors; this has since increased to eight and in addition the college now has visiting professors....
 at Gresham College
Gresham College

File:Gresham College, 1740.jpgGresham College is an unusual institution of higher learning off Holborn in central London. It enrolls no students and grants no academic degrees....
, London, and he has been appointed as Gresham Professor of Geometry from 2008–2011; only one person has previously held two different Gresham chairs.

Barrow's writings, especially his The Anthropic Cosmological Principle
Anthropic principle

In physics and cosmology, the anthropic principle is the collective name for several ways of asserting that physical and chemistry theories, especially astrophysics and cosmology, need to take into account that there is life on Earth, and that one form of that life, Homo sapiens, has attained sapience....
 (with Frank J. Tipler
Frank J. Tipler

Frank Jennings Tipler III is a mathematical physics and a professor in the departments of mathematics and physics at Tulane University in New Orleans, Louisiana....
), summarise the state of the affairs of physical questions, often in the form of compendia of a large number of facts assembled from the works of great physicists, such as Paul Dirac
Paul Dirac

Paul Adrien Maurice Dirac, Order of Merit , Royal Society was a United Kingdom theoretical physicist. Dirac made fundamental contributions to the early development of both quantum mechanics and quantum electrodynamics....
. His popular approach to philosophical
Philosophy of science

The philosophy of science is concerned with the assumptions, foundations, and implications of science. The field is defined by an interest in one of a set of "traditional" problems or an interest in central or foundational concerns in science....
 issues posed by physical cosmology
Physical cosmology

Physical cosmology, as a branch of astronomy, is the study of the largest-scale structures and dynamics of our universe and is concerned with fundamental questions about its formation and evolution....
 have made his works accessible to the general reader. In 2008 he was awarded the Faraday Prize by the Royal Society.

Along with over 400 articles in journals, Barrow has published 17 books for a general readership, beginning with his 1983 The Left Hand of Creation. He has lectured at 10 Downing Street
10 Downing Street

Number 10 Downing Street is the residence and office of the First Lord of the Treasury and Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. The headquarters of Her Majesty's Government, it is situated on Downing Street in the City of Westminster in London, England....
, Windsor Castle
Windsor Castle

Windsor Castle, in Windsor, Berkshire in the England county of Berkshire, is the largest inhabited castle in the world and, dating back to the time of William I of England, is the oldest in continuous occupation....
, the Vatican
Vatican City

Vatican City , officially the State of the Vatican City , is a Landlocked country sovereignty city-state whose territory consists of a walled enclave within the city of Rome, the Capital of Italy....
, and on various occasions to the general public. In 2002, his play Infinities premiered in Milan
Milan

Milan is the second largest city of Italy, located in the plains of Lombardy. It is the capital in the Province of Milan, as well as the Regions of Italy capital of Lombardy....
, played in Valencia
Valencia (city in Spain)

Valencia is the capital of the Spanish Valencia and its Valencia . It is the third largest city in Spain and the 21st largest in the European Union....
, and won the .

He was awarded the 2006 Templeton Prize
Templeton Prize

The Templeton Prize for Progress Toward Research or Discoveries about Spiritual Realities is a prize given out annually by the Templeton Foundation....
 for "Progress Toward Research or Discoveries about Spiritual Realities" for his "writings about the relationship between life and the universe, and the nature of human understanding [which] have created new perspectives on questions of ultimate concern to science and religion". He is a member of a United Reformed Church
United Reformed Church

The United Reformed Church is a Christian denomination in Great Britain. The URC is the result of a union between the Presbyterian Church of England and the Congregational Church in England and Wales in 1972 and subsequent unions with the Re-formed Association of Churches of Christ in 1981 and the Congregational Union o...
, which he describes as teaching "a traditional deistic picture of the universe".

Books

In English:
  1. Cosmic Imagery: Key Images in the History of Science. ISBN-13: 978-0224075237
  2. New Theories of Everything. ISBN-13: 978-0192807212
  3. Between Inner Space and Outer Space: Essays on the Science, Art, and Philosophy of the Origin of the Universe
  4. Impossibility: Limits of Science and the Science of Limits. ISBN 0-09-977211-6
  5. Material Content of the Universe
  6. Pi in the Sky: Counting, Thinking, and Being
  7. Science and Ultimate Reality: Quantum Theory, Cosmology and Complexity
  8. The Anthropic Cosmological Principle
    Anthropic principle

    In physics and cosmology, the anthropic principle is the collective name for several ways of asserting that physical and chemistry theories, especially astrophysics and cosmology, need to take into account that there is life on Earth, and that one form of that life, Homo sapiens, has attained sapience....
     (with Frank J. Tipler
    Frank J. Tipler

    Frank Jennings Tipler III is a mathematical physics and a professor in the departments of mathematics and physics at Tulane University in New Orleans, Louisiana....
    ). Oxford Uni. Press. ISBN 0-19-282147-4
  9. The Artful Universe: The Cosmic Source of Human Creativity
  10. The Book of Nothing: Vacuums, Voids, and the Latest Ideas about the Origins of the Universe
  11. The Infinite Book: A Short Guide to the Boundless, Timeless and Endless
  12. The Left Hand of Creation: The Origin and Evolution of the Expanding Universe
  13. The Origin of the Universe: To the Edge of Space and Time
  14. The Universe That Discovered Itself
  15. The World Within the World
  16. Theories of Everything: The Quest for Ultimate Explanation
  17. The Constants of Nature: The Numbers that Encode the Deepest Secrets of the Universe
  18. 100 Essential Things You Didn't Know You Didn't Know


In other languages:
  1. L'Homme et le Cosmos (in French)
  2. Perché il Mondo è Matematico? (in Italian)


See also

  • Anthropic principle
    Anthropic principle

    In physics and cosmology, the anthropic principle is the collective name for several ways of asserting that physical and chemistry theories, especially astrophysics and cosmology, need to take into account that there is life on Earth, and that one form of that life, Homo sapiens, has attained sapience....
  • Final anthropic principle
    Final anthropic principle

    The final anthropic principle is defined by physicists John D. Barrow and Frank J. Tipler's 1986 book "The Anthropic Cosmological Principle" as a generalization of the anthropic principle as follows:...


External links



Publications available on the Internet