Post by brittany on Jun 20, 2008 21:48:39 GMT -5
Article by Carmel Thomason
6/18/2008
AT first glance Prof Brian Cox appears to be an anomaly in the line-up for the Tony Wilson Experience. After all, what has a physicist got in common with comedians, musicians and script-writers?
Then I remember, he used to be in pop band D:REAM in the 90s although this link seems tenuous for someone now at the top of his academic field.
"Physics is a creative endeavour," offers Brian enthusiastically. "As a scientist you are constantly trying to find new ways of answering questions. In my case, it's really fundamental questions, such as, why is there a universe at all and why is it built the way it is?
"Those are questions that cross your mind when you are writing songs or books or making films. This is just another way, and an incredibly useful way, of going about answering those questions."
Still, it is a stretch to see physics as being cool and exciting, but it is testament to Brian's enthusiasm that he is able to encourage doubters to make that leap. It's clear he hasn't ended up as a physicist because it didn't work out being a pop star.
"As a child, physics and astronomy were the first things I was interested in," he says. "I remember going from junior to senior school at 11 and being so excited because I'd be doing physics - I was such a geek.
"Then I got into music, I just wanted to play synthesizers and got interested in electronic keyboards. I suppose that overtook my other ambition for a while - when you are 16, no matter what interests you have, you want to be a pop star."
PhD
After studying for a PhD in high energy particle physics, Brian took a job as a university research scientist, working his way up the academic ladder, now a professor in Manchester and at the CERN laboratory in Geneva, Switzerland. A keen exponent of his subject he also popularises science through radio, TV and podcasts.
He was also an adviser on Danny Boyle's sci-fi thriller, Sunshine and fronted scientific documentaries for BBC's Horizon, the latest of which, What Time Is It? is about the concept of time the universe.
"Radio 4 were the first people to ask me to do something and I'm sure it was just because I'd been on Top Of The Pops," he jokes. "I think somehow they decided if I'd done that then I could present science documentaries.
"Finding out how the universe works is an incredibly exciting thing to do with your life as well as being important.
"I think it's also important to make sure that there are a new generation of scientists to continue to learn how the world works - it's what our entire society is based on." It is this passionate image of science Brian is hoping young people will take away from the Tony Wilson Experience.
"Particle physics has given us so many things in everyday use - medical imaging scanners, the technology that allows us to build x-ray machines. The World Wide Web - was invented in CERN the lab I work at," he adds.
"I take lots of people around CERN who say, `I wish I'd known this is what science was like when I was at school, because if I'd known what you could do then I might have done it'.
"At CERN we are now researching what happened just after the Big Bang - so we are asking questions like, how did the universe begin? Why is the universe the way it is? Those are questions that capture the imagination of everyone, particularly teenagers."
Brian Cox will be speaking from 11am on Sunday.
SOURCE
6/18/2008
AT first glance Prof Brian Cox appears to be an anomaly in the line-up for the Tony Wilson Experience. After all, what has a physicist got in common with comedians, musicians and script-writers?
Then I remember, he used to be in pop band D:REAM in the 90s although this link seems tenuous for someone now at the top of his academic field.
"Physics is a creative endeavour," offers Brian enthusiastically. "As a scientist you are constantly trying to find new ways of answering questions. In my case, it's really fundamental questions, such as, why is there a universe at all and why is it built the way it is?
"Those are questions that cross your mind when you are writing songs or books or making films. This is just another way, and an incredibly useful way, of going about answering those questions."
Still, it is a stretch to see physics as being cool and exciting, but it is testament to Brian's enthusiasm that he is able to encourage doubters to make that leap. It's clear he hasn't ended up as a physicist because it didn't work out being a pop star.
"As a child, physics and astronomy were the first things I was interested in," he says. "I remember going from junior to senior school at 11 and being so excited because I'd be doing physics - I was such a geek.
"Then I got into music, I just wanted to play synthesizers and got interested in electronic keyboards. I suppose that overtook my other ambition for a while - when you are 16, no matter what interests you have, you want to be a pop star."
PhD
After studying for a PhD in high energy particle physics, Brian took a job as a university research scientist, working his way up the academic ladder, now a professor in Manchester and at the CERN laboratory in Geneva, Switzerland. A keen exponent of his subject he also popularises science through radio, TV and podcasts.
He was also an adviser on Danny Boyle's sci-fi thriller, Sunshine and fronted scientific documentaries for BBC's Horizon, the latest of which, What Time Is It? is about the concept of time the universe.
"Radio 4 were the first people to ask me to do something and I'm sure it was just because I'd been on Top Of The Pops," he jokes. "I think somehow they decided if I'd done that then I could present science documentaries.
"Finding out how the universe works is an incredibly exciting thing to do with your life as well as being important.
"I think it's also important to make sure that there are a new generation of scientists to continue to learn how the world works - it's what our entire society is based on." It is this passionate image of science Brian is hoping young people will take away from the Tony Wilson Experience.
"Particle physics has given us so many things in everyday use - medical imaging scanners, the technology that allows us to build x-ray machines. The World Wide Web - was invented in CERN the lab I work at," he adds.
"I take lots of people around CERN who say, `I wish I'd known this is what science was like when I was at school, because if I'd known what you could do then I might have done it'.
"At CERN we are now researching what happened just after the Big Bang - so we are asking questions like, how did the universe begin? Why is the universe the way it is? Those are questions that capture the imagination of everyone, particularly teenagers."
Brian Cox will be speaking from 11am on Sunday.
SOURCE