Pearce Wright (1933–2005), was a prominent

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

science journalist Science journalism conveys reporting about science to the public. The field typically involves interactions between scientists, journalists, and the public. Origins Modern science journalism dates back to '' Digdarshan'' (means showing the d ...

who became

science editor Science is a systematic endeavor that builds and organizes knowledge in the form of testable explanations and predictions about the universe. Science may be as old as the human species, and some of the earliest archeological evidence for ...

of ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper ''The Sunday Times'' (fou ...

''.

Biography

Pearce Wright was born in

Plymouth Plymouth () is a port city and unitary authority in South West England. It is located on the south coast of Devon, approximately south-west of Exeter and south-west of London. It is bordered by Cornwall to the west and south-west. Plymouth ...

on 23 February 1933 and educated at

Bedford School :''Bedford School is not to be confused with Bedford Girls' School, Bedford High School, Bedford Modern School, Old Bedford School in Bedford, Texas or Bedford Academy in Bedford, Nova Scotia.'' Bedford School is a public school (English indep ...

before training as a

radiologist Radiology ( ) is the medical discipline that uses medical imaging to diagnose diseases and guide their treatment, within the bodies of humans and other animals. It began with radiography (which is why its name has a root referring to radiatio ...

. He was a

journalist A journalist is an individual that collects/gathers information in form of text, audio, or pictures, processes them into a news-worthy form, and disseminates it to the public. The act or process mainly done by the journalist is called journalism ...

with ''

Electronics Weekly ''Electronics Weekly'' is a weekly trade journal for electronics professionals which was first published by Reed Business Information on 7 September 1960. It was the first British Electronics newspaper and its founding editor was Cyril C. Gee who ...

'', between 1960 and 1966, and joined the ''Times'' in 1966 as a technology reporter. He was science editor of the ''Times'' from 1974 to 1990. His big, early stories included the

Torrey Canyon oil spill The ''Torrey Canyon'' oil spill was one of the world's most serious oil spills. The supertanker ran aground on rocks off the south-west coast of the United Kingdom in 1967, spilling an estimated 25–36 million gallons (94–164 million litres) o ...

, off the

Isles of Scilly The Isles of Scilly (; kw, Syllan, ', or ) is an archipelago off the southwestern tip of Cornwall, England. One of the islands, St Agnes, is the most southerly point in Britain, being over further south than the most southerly point of the ...

in 1967, and the

Space Race The Space Race was a 20th-century competition between two Cold War rivals, the United States and the Soviet Union, to achieve superior spaceflight capability. It had its origins in the ballistic missile-based nuclear arms race between the tw ...

. He was chairman of the

Association of British Science Writers The Association of British Science Writers (ABSW) is the UK society for science writers, science journalists and science communicators. Founded in 1947, the ABSW exists to help those who write about science and technology, and to improve the sta ...

. Described by the ''

Financial Times The ''Financial Times'' (''FT'') is a British daily newspaper printed in broadsheet and published digitally that focuses on business and economic current affairs. Based in London, England, the paper is owned by a Japanese holding company, Nik ...

'' as one of the "three giants" of science journalism in his era, Wright died on 6 May 2005.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wright, Pearce 1933 births 2005 deaths People educated at Bedford School British male journalists British science journalists