Jack Cohen, FRSB (19 September 1933 – 6 May 2019) was a British reproductive biologist also known for his science books and involvement with science fiction.

Life

Cohen was born 19 September 1933 in Norwich, but grew up in

Stoke Newington Stoke Newington is an area occupying the north-west part of the London Borough of Hackney in north-east London, England. It is northeast of Charing Cross. The Manor of Stoke Newington gave its name to Stoke Newington the ancient parish. The ...

.''The Jewish Chronicle'' 6 July 2005 "Not only connections" His father was killed shortly after the end of the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, 1 September 1945. His grandfather was a

rabbi A rabbi () is a spiritual leader or religious teacher in Judaism. One becomes a rabbi by being ordained by another rabbi – known as ''semikha'' – following a course of study of Jewish history and texts such as the Talmud. The basic form of ...

and Cohen was an observant

Jew Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""Th ...

in his youth. He continued to attend the synagogue for cultural reasons. He was married three times, and had six children.

Academic career

Cohen studied at

University College, Hull , mottoeng = Bearing the Torch f learning, established = 1927 – University College Hull1954 – university status , type = Public , endowment = £18.8 million (2016) , budget = £190 million ...

, where he obtained a BSc (external degree of the University of London) in 1954. He obtained his PhD in

Zoology Zoology ()The pronunciation of zoology as is usually regarded as nonstandard, though it is not uncommon. is the branch of biology that studies the Animal, animal kingdom, including the anatomy, structure, embryology, evolution, Biological clas ...

at the same institution (by then

Hull University , mottoeng = Bearing the Torch f learning, established = 1927 – University College Hull1954 – university status , type = Public , endowment = £18.8 million (2016) , budget = £190 million ...

) in 1957. He went to the

University of Birmingham , mottoeng = Through efforts to heights , established = 1825 – Birmingham School of Medicine and Surgery1836 – Birmingham Royal School of Medicine and Surgery1843 – Queen's College1875 – Mason Science College1898 – Mason Univers ...

for post-doctoral work, and was appointed Lecturer in the Department of

and

Comparative physiology Comparative physiology is a List of academic disciplines, subdiscipline of physiology that studies and exploits the diversity of functional characteristics of various kinds of organisms. It is closely related to evolutionary physiology and environ ...

in 1959. He worked for a year at

Harvard Medical School Harvard Medical School (HMS) is the graduate medical school of Harvard University and is located in the Longwood Medical Area of Boston, Massachusetts. Founded in 1782, HMS is one of the oldest medical schools in the United States and is consi ...

then returned to

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the West ...

as a Senior Lecturer in 1968, a position he held until 1987. His former students include Sir

Paul Nurse Sir Paul Maxime Nurse (born 25 January 1949) is an English geneticist, former President of the Royal Society and Chief Executive and Director of the Francis Crick Institute. He was awarded the 2001 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine along ...

, winner of the 2001 Nobel Prize for Medicine. In 1974 the

awarded him a

DSc DSC may refer to: Academia * Doctor of Science (D.Sc.) * District Selection Committee, an entrance exam in India * Doctor of Surgical Chiropody, superseded in the 1960s by Doctor of Podiatric Medicine Educational institutions * Dalton State Col ...

for his work. From 1987 to 1989 he was Senior Embryological Advisor and Manager of Laboratories at the

IVF In vitro fertilisation (IVF) is a process of fertilisation where an egg is combined with sperm in vitro ("in glass"). The process involves monitoring and stimulating an individual's ovulatory process, removing an ovum or ova (egg or eggs) f ...

/Infertility Clinic of a London private hospital. From 1995 to 1996 he was Visiting Professor at the

Weizmann Institute The Weizmann Institute of Science ( he, מכון ויצמן למדע ''Machon Vaitzman LeMada'') is a public research university in Rehovot, Israel, established in 1934, 14 years before the State of Israel. It differs from other Israeli univ ...

, Israel. From 1996 to 2000 he was a consultant at the

University of Warwick The University of Warwick ( ; abbreviated as ''Warw.'' in post-nominal letters) is a public research university on the outskirts of Coventry between the West Midlands (county), West Midlands and Warwickshire, England. The university was founded i ...

, jointly to the Ecosystems Unit of the Biology Dept and the Mathematics Institute. He was an Honorary Professor at the Mathematics Institute of the

and a Visiting Professor at

Durham Business School Durham University Business School is the business school of Durham University and is located in Durham, England. Established in 1965, it holds triple accreditation (AACSB, AMBA and EQUIS). It is currently ranked between 7th and 67th in the wo ...

. He published in prestigious journals such as ''Nature'' and wrote textbooks such as ''Living Embryos – an Introduction to the Study of Animal Development'' (1967) and ''Reproduction'' (1977). His theory of sperm redundancy was important in studies of fertility and treatment of infertility. He was a Fellow of the

Institute of Biology The Institute of Biology (IoB) was a professional body for biologists, primarily those working in the United Kingdom. The Institute was founded in 1950 by the Biological Council: the then umbrella body for Britain's many learned biological societies ...

Other activities

Cohen worked as a consultant for

science fiction television Science fiction first appeared in television programming in the late 1930s, during what is called the Golden Age of Science Fiction. Special effects and other production techniques allow creators to present a living visual image of an imaginary ...

shows and science fiction novels regarding the creation of plausible

alien Alien primarily refers to: * Alien (law), a person in a country who is not a national of that country ** Enemy alien, the above in times of war * Extraterrestrial life, life which does not originate from Earth ** Specifically, intelligent extrater ...

s. The writers who acknowledged his assistance included

Anne McCaffrey Anne Inez McCaffrey (1 April 1926 – 21 November 2011) was an American-Irish writer known for the ''Dragonriders of Pern'' science fiction series. She was the first woman to win a Hugo Award for fiction (Best Novella, ''Weyr Search'', 19 ...

for the ''

Dragonriders of Pern ''Dragonriders of Pern'' is a science fantasy series written primarily by American author Anne McCaffrey, who initiated it in 1967. Beginning in 2003, her middle child Todd McCaffrey has written Pern novels, both solo and jointly with Anne. ...

''; Harry Harrison for his '' Eden'' trilogy;

Larry Niven Laurence van Cott Niven (; born April 30, 1938) is an American science fiction writer. His best-known works are ''Ringworld'' (1970), which received Hugo, Locus, Ditmar, and Nebula awards, and, with Jerry Pournelle, ''The Mote in God's Eye'' ...

Jerry Pournelle Jerry Eugene Pournelle (; August 7, 1933 – September 8, 2017) was an American scientist in the area of operations research and human factors research, a science fiction writer, essayist, journalist, and one of the first bloggers. In the 1960s ...

and Steven Barnes for their '' Legacy of Heorot''; James White of

Sector General ''Sector General'' is a series of twelve science fiction novels and various short stories by the Northern Irish author James White. The series derives its name from the setting of the majority of the books, the Sector 12 General Hospital, a hug ...

fame;An interview with Dr. Jack Cohen
Astrobiology: The Living Universe

David Gerrold David Gerrold (born Jerrold David Friedman; January 24, 1944)Reginald, R. (September 12, 2010)''Science Fiction and Fantasy Literature, Volume 2'' Borgo Press p. 911. Archived at Google Books. Retrieved June 23, 2013. is an American science fic ...

for the

Chtorr ''The War Against the Chtorr'' is a series of science fiction novels by American writer David Gerrold. The Chtorr series was originally planned as a trilogy, but as the story became more intricate, Gerrold realized that three books would not be ...

ecology; and

Terry Pratchett Sir Terence David John Pratchett (28 April 1948 – 12 March 2015) was an English humourist, satirist, and author of fantasy novels, especially comical works. He is best known for his ''Discworld'' series of 41 novels. Pratchett's first nov ...

for several works. Cohen and fellow

researcher Ian Stewart, a mathematician, collaborated with Terry Pratchett to write four ''

Science of Discworld ''The Science of Discworld'' is a 1999 book by novelist Terry Pratchett and popular science writers (and University of Warwick science researchers) Ian Stewart and Jack Cohen. Three sequels, '' The Science of Discworld II: The Globe'', '' The ...

'' books, which accompany his ''Discworld'' series. Pratchett made them both "Honorary Wizards of the Unseen University" at the same 1999 ceremony where the University of Warwick gave Pratchett an honorary degree. Anne McCaffrey dedicated ''All the Weyrs of Pern'' (1991) to Jack and Judy Cohen and credited Jack with making fact of her fiction. Cohen and Stewart also co-authored books on

epistemology Epistemology (; ), or the theory of knowledge, is the branch of philosophy concerned with knowledge. Epistemology is considered a major subfield of philosophy, along with other major subfields such as ethics, logic, and metaphysics. Episte ...

. Cohen was a member of the high IQ society Mensa.Mensa
Frequently Asked Questions He was one of the small group of British Mensans who persuaded science fiction author

Isaac Asimov yi, יצחק אזימאװ , birth_date = , birth_place = Petrovichi, Russian SFSR , spouse = , relatives = , children = 2 , death_date = , death_place = Manhattan, New York City, U.S. , nationality = Russian (1920–1922)Soviet (192 ...

to visit the United Kingdom in June 1974. He had a long-standing interest in the design and natural balance of (particularly manmade) lake ecosystems, having designed new filtration systems but also led in reinstating Victorian designed systems at various locations around the UK. In 2009, he became a

patron Patronage is the support, encouragement, privilege, or financial aid that an organization or individual bestows on another. In the history of art, arts patronage refers to the support that kings, popes, and the wealthy have provided to artists su ...

of the anti-circumcision charity

NORM-UK Male circumcision has been a subject of controversy for a number of reasons including religious, ethics of circumcision, ethical, sexual, and medical. During the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the primary justification for circumcision wa ...

. His hobbies, according to the author profiles in his books, included

boomerang A boomerang () is a thrown tool, typically constructed with aerofoil sections and designed to spin about an axis perpendicular to the direction of its flight. A returning boomerang is designed to return to the thrower, while a non-returning b ...

-throwing and keeping strange animals.

Books

*''

The Science of Discworld ''The Science of Discworld'' is a 1999 book by novelist Terry Pratchett and popular science writers (and University of Warwick science researchers) Ian Stewart and Jack Cohen. Three sequels, '' The Science of Discworld II: The Globe'', '' The S ...

'', with Ian Stewart and

*'' The Science of Discworld II: The Globe'', with Ian Stewart and

*'' The Science of Discworld III: Darwin's Watch'', with Ian Stewart and

*'' The Science of Discworld IV: Judgement Day'', with Ian Stewart and

*''

Figments of Reality ''Figments of Reality: The Evolution of the Curious Mind'' (1997) is a book about the evolution of the intelligent and conscious human mind by biologist Jack Cohen and mathematician Ian Stewart. Overview In this book Cohen and Stewart give th ...

'', with Ian Stewart (non-fiction) *''

The Collapse of Chaos ''The Collapse of Chaos: Discovering Simplicity in a Complex World'' (1994) is a book about complexity theory and the nature of scientific explanation written by biologist Jack Cohen and mathematician A mathematician is someone who uses ...

'', with Ian Stewart (non-fiction) *'' Evolving the Alien: The Science of Extraterrestrial Life'', with Ian Stewart. The American and second editions were published as ''What Does a Martian Look Like? The Science of Extraterrestrial Life'' *'' Wheelers'', with Ian Stewart (fiction) *''

Heaven Heaven or the heavens, is a common religious cosmological or transcendent supernatural place where beings such as deities, angels, souls, saints, or venerated ancestors are said to originate, be enthroned, or reside. According to the belie ...

'' (fiction), with Ian Stewart, , Aspect (May 2004) * ''Living Embryos'', Pergamon (1967) * ''Reproduction'', Butterworths (1977) * ''Spermatozoa, Antibodies and Infertility'' (1978) with W. F. Hendry * ''Living Embryos'' (1981) with B. D. Massey * ''Animal Reproduction: parents making parents'' (1984) with B. D. Massey * ''The Privileged Ape'' (1989) * ''Stop Working and Start Thinking'' (2000) with Graham Medley

References

External links

Dr. Jack Cohen official website

Terry Pratchett Receives Honorary Degree from University of Warwick
—with his "Wizard Making" of Jack Cohen and Ian Stewart at the University of Warwick
The kohanim: interview with Jack Cohen and Ian Stewart on the kohanim and genetics

Podcast of debate at University of Warwick on Intelligent Design
between Steve Fuller and Jack Cohen {{DEFAULTSORT:Cohen, Jack 1933 births 2019 deaths Academics of the University of Birmingham Academics of Durham University Academics of the University of Warwick Alumni of the University of Birmingham Alumni of the University of Hull British biologists British Jews British science writers Fellows of the Royal Society of Biology Genital integrity activists Harvard Medical School faculty Mensans Scientists from Norwich Science fiction fans