Hubert Reeves (born July 13, 1932), is a

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

astrophysicist and popularizer of science.

Early life and education

Reeves was born in

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous city in the Canadian province of Quebec. Founded in 1642 as '' Ville-Marie'', or "City of Mary", it is named after Mount Royal, the triple- ...

on July 13, 1932, and as a child lived in Léry. Reeves attended

Collège Jean-de-Brébeuf , motto_translation = I chose the path of truth , established = , type = Private secondary school and Collegiate , religious_affiliation = Non-denominational, formerly Jesuit , endowment = , dean ...

, a prestigious

French-language French ( or ) is a Romance language of the Indo-European family. It descended from the Vulgar Latin of the Roman Empire, as did all Romance languages. French evolved from Gallo-Romance, the Latin spoken in Gaul, and more specifically in No ...

college in

. He obtained a BSc degree in

physics Physics is the natural science that studies matter, its fundamental constituents, its motion and behavior through space and time, and the related entities of energy and force. "Physical science is that department of knowledge which ...

from the

Université de Montréal The Université de Montréal (UdeM; ; translates to University of Montreal) is a French-language public research university in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The university's main campus is located in the Côte-des-Neiges neighborhood of Côte- ...

in 1953, an MSc degree from

McGill University McGill University (french: link=no, Université McGill) is an English-language public research university located in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Founded in 1821 by royal charter granted by King George IV,Frost, Stanley Brice. ''McGill Univer ...

in 1956 with a thesis entitled "Formation of Positronium in Hydrogen and Helium" and a PhD degree at

Cornell University Cornell University is a private statutory land-grant research university based in Ithaca, New York. It is a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1865 by Ezra Cornell and Andrew Dickson White, Cornell was founded with the intention to tea ...

in 1960. His PhD thesis was "Thermonuclear Reaction Involving Medium Light Nuclei."

Career

From 1960 to 1964, he taught physics at the Université de Montréal and worked as an advisor to

NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agency of the US federal government responsible for the civil space program, aeronautics research, and space research. NASA was established in 1958, succeedin ...

. He has been a Director of Research at the French National Centre for Scientific Research (

CNRS The French National Centre for Scientific Research (french: link=no, Centre national de la recherche scientifique, CNRS) is the French state research organisation and is the largest fundamental science agency in Europe. In 2016, it employed 31,63 ...

) since 1965.

Personal life

Reeves resides in

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. Si ...

, France. He often speaks on television, promoting science.

Honours and recognition

* In 1976, he was made Knight of

Ordre national du Mérite The Ordre national du Mérite (; en, National Order of Merit) is a French order of merit with membership awarded by the President of the French Republic, founded on 3 December 1963 by President Charles de Gaulle. The reason for the order's estab ...

(France). * In 1986, he was made Knight of the

Légion d'Honneur The National Order of the Legion of Honour (french: Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur), formerly the Royal Order of the Legion of Honour ('), is the highest French order of merit, both military and civil. Established in 1802 by Napoleon ...

(France). He was promoted to Officer in 1994 and to Commander in 2003. * In 1991, he was made an Officer of the

Order of Canada The Order of Canada (french: Ordre du Canada; abbreviated as OC) is a Canadian state order and the second-highest honour for merit in the system of orders, decorations, and medals of Canada, after the Order of Merit. To coincide with the cen ...

and was promoted to Companion in 2003. * In 1994, he was made Officer of the

National Order of Quebec The National Order of Quebec, termed officially in French as ''l'Ordre national du Québec'', and in English abbreviation as the Order of Quebec, is an order of merit in the Canadian province of Quebec. Instituted in 1984 when Lieutenant Govern ...

. He was promoted to Grand Officer in 2017. * Asteroid 9631 Hubertreeves is named after Reeves: see

Meanings of asteroid names (9501-10000) This is a list of minor planets which have been officially named by the Working Group Small Body Nomenclature (WGSBN) of the International Astronomical Union (IAU). The list consists of partial pages, each covering a number range of 1,000 bodies ci ...

. * In 2011, the

Prix Hubert-Reeves The Prix Hubert-Reeves is a literary prize created in 2011 by the Association of Science Communicators of Quebec (in French Association des communicateurs scientifiques du Québec - ACS) honoring astrophysicist and French Canadian science commu ...

was created. * In 2019, he received the Prix Jules Janssen, the highest award of the

Société astronomique de France The Société astronomique de France (SAF; ), the French astronomical society, is a non-profit association in the public interest organized under French law ( Association loi de 1901). Founded by astronomer Camille Flammarion in 1887, its purpose ...

Selected publications

* * * * * * * * * * Reeves, Hubert; Boutinot, Nelly; Casanave, Daniel; Champion, Claire (2017). ''Hubert Reeves nous explique la biodiversité''. Bruxelles: Le Lombard. . * Reeves, Hubert; Boutinot, Nelly; Casanave, Daniel; Champion, Claire (2018). ''Hubert Reeves nous explique la forêt''. Bruxelles: Le Lombard. . * Reeves, Hubert; Vandermeulen, David; Casanave, Daniel (2019). ''Hubert Reeves nous explique les océans''. Bruxelles: Le Lombard. . * Reeves, Hubert, Michel Cassé, Étienne Klein, Marc Lachièze-Rey, Roland Lehoucq, Jean-Pierre Luminet, Nathalie Palanque-Delabrouille, Nicolas Prantzos, and

Sylvie Vauclair Sylvie Vauclair (born on March 7, 1946, in Saint-Germain-en-Laye) is a French astrophysicist (at the Institut de Recherche en Astrophysique et Planétologie), and professor emeritus (at the Toulouse III - Paul Sabatier University), where she t ...

. (2019). ''Petite histoire de la matière et de l'univers''. File:Canadian Astrophysicist Hubert Reeves - Conference on the decline of biodiversity, UNESCO Headquarters, Paris.jpg, Conference on the decline of biodiversity, UNESCO Headquarters, Paris in 2009 File:Hubert Reeves by Olivier Meyer.jpg, Hubert Reeves in

La Sorbonne The University of Paris (french: link=no, Université de Paris), metonymically known as the Sorbonne (), was the leading university in Paris, France, active from 1150 to 1970, with the exception between 1793 and 1806 under the French Revolution ...

(Paris, France) photographed in 2001 by Olivier Meyer

References

External links

* *
Biography in English
{{DEFAULTSORT:Reeves, Hubert 1932 births Living people Albert Einstein Medal recipients Canadian astrophysicists Canadian environmentalists Canadian expatriates in France Canadian people of English descent Canadian people of French descent Canadian science writers Companions of the Order of Canada Cornell University alumni French National Centre for Scientific Research scientists McGill University alumni Scientists from Montreal Scientists from Paris Commanders of the Legion of Honour Knights of the Ordre national du Mérite Grand Officers of the National Order of Quebec Université de Montréal alumni Writers from Montreal Writers from Paris 20th-century Canadian astronomers 20th-century Canadian male writers 20th-century Canadian non-fiction writers 20th-century Canadian physicists 20th-century French physicists 21st-century French physicists Research directors of the French National Centre for Scientific Research