Frank Close

Frank Close (born July 24 1945, Hinckley) OBE is a noted particle physicist who is currently Professor of Physics at the University of Oxford and a Fellow of Exeter College, Oxford.

Early life

He went to the King's School, Peterborough (then a grammar school), where he was taught Latin by John Dexter, brother of author Colin Dexter. He took a BSc in [http://www.st-andrews.ac.uk/physics Physics] at St Andrews University graduating in 1967, before reading for a DPhil in Theoretical Physics at Magdalen College, Oxford, being taught by Richard Dalitz, which he was awarded in 1970.

Career

In addition to his scientific research, he is known for his lectures and writings making science intelligible to a wider audience.

From Oxford he went to Stanford University in California for two years as a Postdoctoral Fellow on the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center. In 1973 he went to the Daresbury Laboratory in Cheshire and then to CERN in Switzerland from 1973-5. He joined the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory in Oxfordshire in 1975 as a research physicist and was latterly Head of Theoretical Physics Division from 1991. He headed the communication and public education activities at CERN from 1997 to 2000. From 2001, he was Professor of Theoretical Physics at Oxford. He was a Visiting Professor at the University of Birmingham from 1996-2002.

Recognition

The Institute of Physics awarded him its 1996 [http://www.iop.org/activity/awards/Subject_Awards/The_Kelvin_Medal_and_Prize/page_1787.html Kelvin Medal and Prize] , which is given for "for outstanding contributions to the public understanding of physics". He became a Fellow of the Institute of Physics in 1991. He was given the OBE in 2000. From 1993-9, he was Vice-President of the British Association for the Advancement of Science. Since 2003, he has been Chairman of the [http://www.le.ac.uk/physics/BPhO/index.shtml British team] (BPhO) in the International Physics Olympiad, based at the University of Leicester.

Christmas lectures

His Royal Institution Christmas Lectures in 1993, entitled "The Cosmic Onion", gave their name to one of his books. He was a Member on the Council of the Royal Institution from 1997-9. From 2000 to 2003 he gave public lectures as Professor of Astronomy at Gresham College, London.

Publications

In his book, "Lucifer's Legacy: The Meaning of Asymmetry", Close wrote: "Fundamental physical science involves observing how the universe functions and trying to find regularities that can be encoded into laws. To test it these are right, we do experiments. We hope that the experiments won't always work out, because it is when our ideas fail that we extend our experience. The art of research is to ask the right questions and discover where your understanding breaks down." [http://www.nationalpost.com/related/topics/story.html?id=798217]

ee also

* Gresham Professor of Astronomy

Works

*cite book|last=Close|first=F. E.|title=An Introduction to Quarks and Partons|year=1979|publisher=Academic Press|location=London|id=ISBN 0-12-175150-3
*cite book|last=Close|first=Frank|title=The Cosmic Onion: Quarks and the Nature of the Universe|year=1983|publisher=Heinemann Educational|location=London|id=ISBN 0-435-69170-8
**rev. ed. cite book|title=The New Cosmic Onion: Quarks and the Nature of the Universe|year=2006|publisher=Taylor & Francis|location=London|id=ISBN 1-58488-798-2
*cite book|last=Close|first=Frank|coauthors=Michael Marten, and Christine Sutton|title=The Particle Explosion|year=1987|publisher=Oxford University Press|location=Oxford|id=ISBN 0-19-851965-6
**rev. ed. cite book|title=The Particle Odyssey: A Journey to the Heart of the Matter|year=2002|publisher=Oxford University Press|location=Oxford|id=ISBN 0-19-850486-1
*cite book|last=Close|first=Frank|title=End: Cosmic Catastrophe and the Fate of the Universe|year=1988|publisher=Simon & Schuster|location=London|id=ISBN 0-671-65461-6 (Published in the U.S. as "Apocalypse When?")
*cite book|last=Close|first=Frank|title=Too Hot to Handle: The Story of the Race for Cold Fusion|year=1990|publisher=W. H. Allen|location=London|id=ISBN 1-85227-206-6
*cite book|last=Close|first=Frank|title=Lucifer's Legacy: The Meaning of Asymmetry|year=2000|publisher=Oxford University Press|location=Oxford|id=ISBN 0-19-850380-6
*cite book|last=Close|first=Frank|title=Particle Physics: A Very Short Introduction|year=2004|publisher=Oxford University Press|location=Oxford|id=ISBN 0-19-280434-0
*cite book|last=Close|first=Frank|title=The Void: This is an exploration of nothing|year=2007|publisher=Oxford University Press|location=Oxford|id=ISBN 0-19-922590-7

External links

* [http://www.st-andrews.ac.uk/physics/pandaweb/newtour/stud_com/proffrankclose.htm Frank Close at st-andrews.ac.uk]
* [http://www.exeter.ox.ac.uk/college/rectorandfellows/close Frank Close at Exeter College]
* [http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/2004/jun/01/science.research Interview in "The Guardian", June 1, 2004]
* [http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/comedy/museumofcuriosity_biographies.shtml Radio 4 Museum of Curiosity March 5 2008]

Video clips

* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uAy9bGIuXR0 Frank Close introduces "The Void"]
* [http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=br9GIXem8n8 "Cosmic Onion" lectures in 1993]