Marcelo Gleiser (born March 19, 1959) is a Brazilian physicist and astronomer. He is currently Professor of Physics and Astronomy at

Dartmouth College Dartmouth College (; ) is a private research university in Hanover, New Hampshire. Established in 1769 by Eleazar Wheelock, it is one of the nine colonial colleges chartered before the American Revolution. Although founded to educate Native A ...

and was the 2019 recipient of the

Templeton Prize The Templeton Prize is an annual award granted to a living person, in the estimation of the judges, "whose exemplary achievements advance Sir John Templeton's philanthropic vision: harnessing the power of the sciences to explore the deepest quest ...

Early life and education

Gleiser received his bachelor's degree in 1981 from the

Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio de Janeiro The Pontifical Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro ( pt, Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio de Janeiro, PUC-Rio) is a Jesuit, Catholic, pontifical university in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. It is the joint responsibility of the Catholic ...

, his

M.Sc. A Master of Science ( la, Magisterii Scientiae; abbreviated MS, M.S., MSc, M.Sc., SM, S.M., ScM or Sc.M.) is a master's degree in the field of science awarded by universities in many countries or a person holding such a degree. In contrast to ...

degree in 1982 from the

Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro The Federal University of Rio de Janeiro or University of Brazil (UFRJ; pt, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro or ') is a public research university located in the state of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. It is the largest federal university in the ...

, and his

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 ...

in 1986 from

King's College London King's College London (informally King's or KCL) is a public research university located in London, England. King's was established by royal charter in 1829 under the patronage of King George IV and the Duke of Wellington. In 1836, King's ...

. After this he worked as a postdoctoral researcher at

Fermilab Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory (Fermilab), located just outside Batavia, Illinois, near Chicago, is a United States Department of Energy national laboratory specializing in high-energy particle physics. Since 2007, Fermilab has been operat ...

until 1988 and from then until 1991 at the

Kavli Institute for Theoretical Physics The Kavli Institute for Theoretical Physics (KITP) is a research institute of the University of California, Santa Barbara. KITP is one of the most renowned institutes for theoretical physics in the world, and brings theorists in physics and rela ...

Academic career

Since 1991, Gleiser has taught at

, where he was awarded the Appleton Professorship of Natural Philosophy in 1999, and is currently a professor of physics and astronomy. His current research interests include the physics of the early Universe, the nature of physical complexity, and questions related to the origin of life on Earth and elsewhere in the Universe. He has contributed seminal ideas in the interface between particle physics and cosmology, in particular on the dynamics of phase transitions and spontaneous symmetry breaking. He is the co-discoverer of " oscillons," time-dependent long-lived field configurations which are present in many physical systems from cosmology to vibrating grains. In 2012, he pioneered the use of concepts from

information theory Information theory is the scientific study of the quantification (science), quantification, computer data storage, storage, and telecommunication, communication of information. The field was originally established by the works of Harry Nyquist a ...

as a measure of complexity in nature. The author of over one hundred papers in peer-reviewed journals, Gleiser has also published six popular science books in the US: "Great Minds Don't Think Alike" (2022), "The Simple Beauty of the Unexpected" (2016), "The Island of Knowledge" (2014), ''A Tear at the Edge of Creation'' (2010), ''The Prophet and the Astronomer'' (2002), and ''The Dancing Universe'' (1997/2005). Translated into 17 languages, Gleiser's books offer a uniquely broad cultural view of science and its relation with religion and philosophy. "The Simple Beauty of the Unexpected", "The Prophet and the Astronomer" and "The Dancing Universe" won the Jabuti Award for best nonfiction in Brazil. Apart from his contributions to magazines and newspapers in the US and abroad, Gleiser writes a weekly science column for the Brazilian ''

Folha de S.Paulo ''Folha de S.Paulo'' (sometimes spelled ''Folha de São Paulo''), also known as simply ''Folha'' (, ''Sheet''), is a Brazilian daily newspaper founded in 1921 under the name ''Folha da Noite'' and published in São Paulo by the Folha da Manhã c ...

'' newspaper. He is a Fellow of the

American Physical Society The American Physical Society (APS) is a not-for-profit membership organization of professionals in physics and related disciplines, comprising nearly fifty divisions, sections, and other units. Its mission is the advancement and diffusion of k ...

, and currently serves as General Councilor. He has been awarded the Presidential Faculty Fellows Award from the White House and the National Science Foundation. He is also a member of the Brazilian Academy of Philosophy. In Brazil, he received the José Reis Award for the Public Understanding of Science from the

Brazilian National Research Council The Brazilian National Council for Scientific and Technological Development (CNPq, pt, Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico, earlier ) is an organization of the Brazilian federal government under the Ministry of Scienc ...

and th
Brazilian Diaspora Prize
. He has been featured in several TV documentaries, including "Stephen Hawking's Universe," the History Channel's "Beyond the Big Bang" (2007) and "How Life Began" (2008), "Through the Wormhole with Morgan Freeman" (2014), Oprah Winfrey's "Belief", as well as many radio programs, including Fresh Air, Radiolab, On Being, and many others. In Brazil, his two science series for TV Globo's "Fantastico" were watched by over 30 million viewers. He is the co-founder of the science and culture blog,13.7
/ref> hosted by

National Public Radio National Public Radio (NPR, stylized in all lowercase) is an American privately and state funded nonprofit media organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It differs from other n ...

from 2011 to 2018, a science blog now hosted b
BigThink
under the new name 13.8: Science, Culture, and Meaning. In 2015 he founded the Institute for Cross-Disciplinary Engagement at Dartmouth, dedicated to foster a constructive dialogue between the sciences and the humanities. O
19 March 2019
he received the

for his works exploring the complex relationship between science, philosophy, and religion as complementary pathways for humankind's search for meaning.

Personal life

He is married to psychotherapis
Kari Gleiser
They live in Hanover, New Hampshire with their two sons: Lucian Jacob Gleiser, a varsity runner for the Hanover High School track and field and cross country teams, and younger brother, Gabriel Gleiser. He is also the father o
Andrew Philip GleiserEric Isaac Gleiser
an
Tali Sarah Gleiser
from his former marriage to Wendy Lynn Gleiser. Aside from his work in science and philosophy, Gleiser is a passionate endurance trail runner, frequently participating in

ultramarathons An ultramarathon, also called ultra distance or ultra running, is any footrace longer than the traditional marathon length of . Various distances are raced competitively, from the shortest common ultramarathon of to over . 50k and 100k are bot ...

in the US and Europe.

Bibliography (English)

* ''The Dancing Universe: From Creation Myths to the Big Bang'', Plume (November 1, 1998), * ''The Prophet and the Astronomer: Apocalyptic Science and the End of the World'', W. W. Norton & Company (July 21, 2003), * ''A Tear at the Edge of Creation: A Radical New Vision for Life in an Imperfect Universe'', Free Press (April 6, 2010), * ''The Island of Knowledge: The Limits of Science and the Search for Meaning'',

Basic Books Basic Books is a book publisher founded in 1950 and located in New York, now an imprint of Hachette Book Group. It publishes books in the fields of psychology, philosophy, economics, science, politics, sociology, current affairs, and history. H ...

(June 3, 2014), * The Simple Beauty of the Unexpected: A Natural Philosopher's Quest for Trout and the Meaning of Everything
ForeEdge
(June 7, 2016), *Great Minds Don't Think Alike: Debates on Consciousness, Reality, Intelligence, Faith, Time, AI, Immortality, and the Human

(February, 2022),

References

External links