João Magueijo (born 1967) is a

Portuguese Portuguese may refer to: * anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Portugal ** Portuguese cuisine, traditional foods ** Portuguese language, a Romance language *** Portuguese dialects, variants of the Portuguese language ** Portu ...

cosmologist Cosmology () is a branch of physics and metaphysics dealing with the nature of the universe. The term ''cosmology'' was first used in English in 1656 in Thomas Blount's ''Glossographia'', and in 1731 taken up in Latin by German philosopher ...

and professor in

theoretical physics Theoretical physics is a branch of physics that employs mathematical models and abstractions of physical objects and systems to rationalize, explain and predict natural phenomena. This is in contrast to experimental physics, which uses experim ...

Imperial College London Imperial College London (legally Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine) is a public research university in London, United Kingdom. Its history began with Prince Albert, consort of Queen Victoria, who developed his vision for a cu ...

. He is a pioneer of the varying speed of light (VSL) theory.

Education and career

João Magueijo studied physics at the

University of Lisbon The University of Lisbon (ULisboa; pt, Universidade de Lisboa, ) is a public research university in Lisbon, and the largest university in Portugal. It was founded in 2013, from the merger of two previous public universities located in Lisbon, th ...

. He undertook graduate work and

Ph.D. 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 ...

Cambridge University The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209 and granted a royal charter by Henry III of England, Henry III in 1231, Cambridge is the world' ...

. He was awarded a research fellowship at St John's College, Cambridge. He has been a faculty member at

Princeton Princeton University is a private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and one of the ni ...

and Cambridge and is currently a professor at

where he teaches undergraduates

General Relativity General relativity, also known as the general theory of relativity and Einstein's theory of gravity, is the geometric theory of gravitation published by Albert Einstein in 1915 and is the current description of gravitation in modern physics ...

and postgraduates Advanced General Relativity. In 1998, Magueijo teamed with Andreas Albrecht to work on the varying speed of light (VSL) theory of

cosmology Cosmology () is a branch of physics and metaphysics dealing with the nature of the universe. The term ''cosmology'' was first used in English in 1656 in Thomas Blount's ''Glossographia'', and in 1731 taken up in Latin by German philosopher ...

, which proposes that the speed of light was up to in the early universe. This would explain the

horizon problem The horizon problem (also known as the homogeneity problem) is a cosmological fine-tuning problem within the Big Bang model of the universe. It arises due to the difficulty in explaining the observed homogeneity of causally disconnected region ...

(since distant regions of the expanding universe would have had time to interact and homogenize their properties) and is presented as an alternative to the more mainstream theory of cosmic inflation. Magueijo discusses his personal struggles pursuing VSL in his 2003 book, ''Faster Than The Speed of Light, The Story of a Scientific Speculation''. He was associated with a misunderstanding over priority concerning VSL with John Moffat. He was also the host of the Science Channel special ''João Magueijo's Big Bang'', which premiered on 13 May 2008. In 2009, he published ''A Brilliant Darkness'', an account of the life and science of vanished physicist

Ettore Majorana Ettore Majorana (,, uploaded 19 April 2013, retrieved 14 December 2019 ; born on 5 August 1906 – possibly dying after 1959) was an Italian theoretical physicist who worked on neutrino masses. On 25 March 1938, he disappeared under mysteri ...

. In 2014, he published ''Bifes Mal Passados'', describing his observations on the United Kingdom. In this book, Magueijo described British culture as one of the "most rotten societies in the world", and wrote that "When you visit English homes, or the toilets at schools or in student lodgings, they are all so disgusting that even my grandmother's poultry cage is cleaner". British people were described as "unrestrained wild beasts". The book was only published in Portugal, where it sold 20,000 copies. João Magueijo has been interviewed by Morgan Freeman in season 2 of ''

Through the Wormhole ''Through the Wormhole'' is an American science documentary television series narrated and hosted by American actor Morgan Freeman. It began airing on Science Channel in the United States on June 9, 2010. The series concluded its run on May 16 ...

''.

Books

* ''Bifes Mal Passados: Passeios e outras catástrofes por terras de Sua Majestade'', Gradiva, 2014, * ''A Brilliant Darkness: The Extraordinary Life and Disappearance of Ettore Majorana, the Troubled Genius of the Nuclear Age'', Basic Books, 2009/2010, * ''Faster than the Speed of Light: The Story of a Scientific Speculation'', Basic Books, 2003,

References

* * * )

External links

''João Magueijo's Big Bang'' on the Science Channel

{{DEFAULTSORT:Magueijo, Joao Cosmologists Portuguese physicists Science writers 1967 births Living people Academics of Imperial College London 20th-century astronomers Princeton University faculty Academics of the University of Cambridge People from Évora University of Lisbon alumni

Education and career

See also

Books

References

External links