Francis Edwin Close, (born 24 July 1945) is a
particle physicist who is Emeritus Professor of Physics at the
University of Oxford
, mottoeng = The Lord is my light
, established =
, endowment = £6.1 billion (including colleges) (2019)
, budget = £2.145 billion (2019–20)
, chancellor ...
and a Fellow of
Exeter College, Oxford
(Let Exeter Flourish)
, old_names = ''Stapeldon Hall''
, named_for = Walter de Stapledon, Bishop of Exeter
, established =
, sister_college = Emmanuel College, Cambridge
, rector = Sir Richard Trainor
...
.
Education
Close was a pupil at
King's School, Peterborough (then a
grammar school
A grammar school is one of several different types of school in the history of education in the United Kingdom and other English-speaking countries, originally a school teaching Latin, but more recently an academically oriented secondary school ...
), where he was taught Latin by John Dexter, brother of author
Colin Dexter
Norman Colin Dexter (29 September 1930 – 21 March 2017) was an English crime writer known for his ''Inspector Morse'' series of novels, which were written between 1975 and 1999 and adapted as an ITV television series, ''Inspector Morse'', fr ...
. He took a BSc in Physics at
St Andrews University
(Aien aristeuein)
, motto_lang = grc
, mottoeng = Ever to ExcelorEver to be the Best
, established =
, type = Public research university
Ancient university
, endowment ...
graduating in 1967, before researching for a
DPhil
A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, Ph.D., or DPhil; Latin: or ') is the most common degree at the highest academic level awarded following a course of study. PhDs are awarded for programs across the whole breadth of academic fields. Because it is ...
in Theoretical Physics at
Magdalen College, Oxford, under the supervision of
Richard Dalitz
Richard Henry Dalitz, FRS (28 February 1925 – 13 January 2006) was an Australian physicist known for his work in particle physics.
Education and early life
Born in the town of Dimboola, Victoria, Dalitz studied physics and mathematics at Me ...
, which he was awarded in 1970. He is an atheist.
Career
In addition to his scientific research, he is known for his lectures and writings making science intelligible to a wider audience and promoting
physics outreach.
From Oxford he went to
Stanford University in California for two years as a Postdoctoral Fellow on the
Stanford Linear Accelerator Center. In 1973 he went to the
Daresbury Laboratory in Cheshire and then to
CERN in Switzerland from 1973–5. He joined the
Rutherford Appleton Laboratory in Oxfordshire in 1975 as a research physicist and was latterly Head of Theoretical Physics Division from 1991. He headed the communication and public education activities at CERN from 1997 to 2000. From 2001, he was Professor of Theoretical Physics at Oxford. He was a Visiting Professor at the
University of Birmingham
The University of Birmingham (informally Birmingham University) is a Public university, public research university located in Edgbaston, Birmingham, United Kingdom. It received its royal charter in 1900 as a successor to Queen's College, Birmingha ...
from 1996–2002.
Close lists his recreations as writing, singing, travel,
squash
Squash may refer to:
Sports
* Squash (sport), the high-speed racquet sport also known as squash racquets
* Squash (professional wrestling), an extremely one-sided match in professional wrestling
* Squash tennis, a game similar to squash but pla ...
and
Real tennis, and he is a member of
Harwell Squash Club.
Honours and awards
*He became a
Fellow of the Institute of Physics (FInstP) in 1991.
*The
Institute of Physics
The Institute of Physics (IOP) is a UK-based learned society and professional body that works to advance physics education, research and application.
It was founded in 1874 and has a worldwide membership of over 20,000. The IOP is the Physic ...
awarded him its 1996
Kelvin Medal and Prize
The Institute of Physics awards numerous prizes to acknowledge contributions to physics research, education and applications. It also offers smaller specific subject-group prizes, such as for PhD thesis submissions.
Bilateral awards
* The Max ...
, which is given "for outstanding contributions to the public understanding of physics".
*From 1993–9, he was Vice-President of the
British Association for the Advancement of Science.
*He was appointed an
OBE in 2000.
*Since 2003, he has been Chairman of the British team (BPhO) in the
International Physics Olympiad
The International Physics Olympiad (IPhO) is an annual physics competition for high school students. It is one of the International Science Olympiads. The first IPhO was held in Warsaw, Poland in 1967.
Each national delegation is made up of at ...
, based at the
University of Leicester
, mottoeng = So that they may have life
, established =
, type = public research university
, endowment = £20.0 million
, budget = £326 million
, chancellor = David Willetts
, vice_chancellor = Nishan Canagarajah
, head_lab ...
.
*2013 Awarded the Royal Society
Michael Faraday Prize
The Royal Society of London Michael Faraday Prize is awarded for "excellence in communicating science to UK audiences". Named after Michael Faraday, the medal itself is made of silver gilt, and is accompanied by a purse of £2500.
Background
...
*He became a
Fellow of the Royal Society
Fellowship of the Royal Society (FRS, ForMemRS and HonFRS) is an award granted by the judges of the Royal Society of London to individuals who have made a "substantial contribution to the improvement of natural knowledge, including mathemat ...
(FRS) in 2021.
Christmas lectures
His
Royal Institution Christmas Lectures
The Royal Institution Christmas Lectures are a series of lectures on a single topic each, which have been held at the Royal Institution in London each year since 1825, missing 1939–1942 because of the Second World War. The lectures present sc ...
in 1993, entitled ''The Cosmic Onion'', gave their name to one of his books. He was a Member on the Council of the Royal Institution from 1997–9. From 2000 to 2003 he gave public lectures as Professor of Astronomy at
Gresham College
Gresham College is an institution of higher learning located at Barnard's Inn Hall off Holborn in Central London, England. It does not enroll students or award degrees. It was founded in 1596 under the will of Sir Thomas Gresham, and hosts ove ...
, London.
Publications
In his book, ''Lucifer's Legacy: The Meaning of Asymmetry'', Close wrote: "Fundamental physical science involves observing how the universe functions and trying to find regularities that can be encoded into laws. To test if these are right, we do experiments. We hope that the experiments won't always work out, because it is when our ideas fail that we extend our experience. The art of research is to ask the right questions and discover where your understanding breaks down."
His 2010 book ''Neutrino'' discusses the
tiny, difficult-to-detect particle emitted from radioactive transitions and generated by stars. Also discussed are the contributions of
John Bahcall,
Ray Davis,
Bruno Pontecorvo
Bruno Pontecorvo (; russian: Бру́но Макси́мович Понтеко́рво, ''Bruno Maksimovich Pontecorvo''; 22 August 1913 – 24 September 1993) was an Italian and Soviet nuclear physicist, an early assistant of Enrico Fermi and ...
, and others who made a scientific understanding of this fundamental building block of the universe.
In ''The Infinity Puzzle: Quantum Field Theory and the Hunt for an Orderly Universe'' (2013), Close focuses on the discovery of the mass mechanism, the so-called
Higgs-mechanism.
In his 2019 book, ''Trinity: The Treachery and Pursuit of the Most Dangerous Spy in History'', Close recounts the life and the espionage of
Klaus Fuchs who passed atomic secrets to the Soviets during the race for development of the nuclear bomb. He concludes that "it was primarily Fuchs who enabled the Soviets to catch up with Americans".
Other books include: ''Particle Physics:
A Very Short Introduction
''Very Short Introductions'' (''VSI'') is a book series published by the Oxford University Press (OUP). The books are concise introductions to particular subjects, intended for a general audience but written by experts. Most are under 200 page ...
'' , ''Antimatter'' and ''Nothing'' .
See also
*
Gresham Professor of Astronomy
Works
*
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**rev. ed.
*
**rev. ed.
* (Published in the US as ''Apocalypse When?'')
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References
External links
Frank Close at st-andrews.ac.ukFrank Close at Exeter CollegeInterview in ''The Guardian'', 1 June 2004Radio 4 Museum of Curiosity 5 March 2008Frank Close's page,
Conville and Walsh literary agents
*
Scientific publications of Frank Closeon
INSPIRE-HEP
Jodcast Interview with Professor Frank Close on the life, research and disappearance of Bruno PontecorvoContributor to discussion on Eclipses for BBC Radio 4 programme In Our Time
Video clips
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*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Close, Frank
1945 births
Alumni of Magdalen College, Oxford
Alumni of the University of St Andrews
English atheists
British physicists
Theoretical physicists
Particle physicists
Quantum physicists
People associated with CERN
Fellows of Exeter College, Oxford
Living people
Officers of the Order of the British Empire
People educated at The King's School, Peterborough
People from Peterborough
Professors of Gresham College