Dominique Proust is an French

France

The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

 astrophysicist and an organist

Organist

An organist is a musician who plays any type of organ. An organist may play solo organ works, play with an ensemble or orchestra, or accompany one or more singers or instrumental soloists...

. He is a research engineer at CNRS, Observatoire de Paris-Meudon.

Astronomy

After a doctoral thesis devoted to stellar physics

Stellar physics

Stellar physics, is a term coined for the research concerning the formation, evolution, interior and the atmospheres of stars. The understanding of the birth and death of stars requires the application of almost all branches of modern physics...

, his work was directed towards cosmology

Cosmology

Cosmology is the discipline that deals with the nature of the Universe as a whole. Cosmologists seek to understand the origin, evolution, structure, and ultimate fate of the Universe at large, as well as the natural laws that keep it in order...

: the formation and evolution of large structures in the universe, galaxies

Galaxy

A galaxy is a massive, gravitationally bound system that consists of stars and stellar remnants, an interstellar medium of gas and dust, and an important but poorly understood component tentatively dubbed dark matter. The word galaxy is derived from the Greek galaxias , literally "milky", a...

, quasar

Quasar

A quasi-stellar radio source is a very energetic and distant active galactic nucleus. Quasars are extremely luminous and were first identified as being high redshift sources of electromagnetic energy, including radio waves and visible light, that were point-like, similar to stars, rather than...

s. He worked in the major international observatories, and observed with the large telescopes at Haute Provence

Haute-Provence Observatory

The Observatoire de Haute-Provence was established in 1937 as a national facility for French astronomers. Astronomical observations began in 1943 using the 1.20 m telescope, and the first research papers based on observations made at the observatory were published in 1944...

, Pic du Midi

Pic du Midi

Pic du Midi may refer to:*Pic du Midi de Bigorre - A mountain in the Frence Pyrenees famous for its astronomical observatory.*Pic du Midi d'Ossau - Another mountain in the Frence Pyrenees...

, Canary Islands

Canary Islands

The Canary Islands , also known as the Canaries , is a Spanish archipelago located just off the northwest coast of mainland Africa, 100 km west of the border between Morocco and the Western Sahara. The Canaries are a Spanish autonomous community and an outermost region of the European Union...

, Andalusia

Andalusia

Andalusia is the most populous and the second largest in area of the autonomous communities of Spain. The Andalusian autonomous community is officially recognised as a nationality of Spain. The territory is divided into eight provinces: Huelva, Seville, Cádiz, Córdoba, Málaga, Jaén, Granada and...

, Chile

Chile

Chile ,officially the Republic of Chile , is a country in South America occupying a long, narrow coastal strip between the Andes mountains to the east and the Pacific Ocean to the west. It borders Peru to the north, Bolivia to the northeast, Argentina to the east, and the Drake Passage in the far...

, California

California

California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...

, Hawaii

Hawaii

Hawaii is the newest of the 50 U.S. states , and is the only U.S. state made up entirely of islands. It is the northernmost island group in Polynesia, occupying most of an archipelago in the central Pacific Ocean, southwest of the continental United States, southeast of Japan, and northeast of...

.

Dominique Proust is one of the founders of the "Astronomie vers Tous" (Astronomy to All) of Paris Observatory

Paris Observatory

The Paris Observatory is the foremost astronomical observatory of France, and one of the largest astronomical centres in the world...

 in order to teach astronomy to those who would not otherwise have access. He teaches astrophysics in Sign Language

Sign language

A sign language is a language which, instead of acoustically conveyed sound patterns, uses visually transmitted sign patterns to convey meaning—simultaneously combining hand shapes, orientation and movement of the hands, arms or body, and facial expressions to fluidly express a speaker's...

 for the deaf community.

In addition to his research and teaching, he is the author of several books on astronomy for the general public. He has co-produced music and science program and appears regularly on radio and television.

Music

Dominique Proust studied the organ

Organ (music)

The organ , is a keyboard instrument of one or more divisions, each played with its own keyboard operated either with the hands or with the feet. The organ is a relatively old musical instrument in the Western musical tradition, dating from the time of Ctesibius of Alexandria who is credited with...

 with the organist of Notre Dame de Paris

Notre Dame de Paris

Notre Dame de Paris , also known as Notre Dame Cathedral, is a Gothic, Roman Catholic cathedral on the eastern half of the Île de la Cité in the fourth arrondissement of Paris, France. It is the cathedral of the Catholic Archdiocese of Paris: that is, it is the church that contains the cathedra of...

 Pierre Moreau

Pierre Moreau

Pierre Moreau is a politician in the Canadian province of Quebec and current Minister of Transportation...

, Jacques Marichal, and Daniel Roth

Daniel Roth (organist)

Daniel François Roth , is a French organist, composer, and pedagogue.-Biography:Roth began his musical training at the conservatory in his home town, Mulhouse with Professeur Joseph Victor Meyer...

, the current organist of St. Sulpice, Paris. Dominique Proust is organist at the Church of Our Lady of the Assumption at Meudon

Meudon

Meudon is a municipality in the southwestern suburbs of Paris, France. It is in the département of Hauts-de-Seine. It is located from the center of Paris.-Geography:...

. He is a member of the regional commission of the organ. He has given concerts in Europe

Europe

Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...

, Canada

Canada

Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

, Brazil

Brazil

Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...

, Chile

Chile

Chile ,officially the Republic of Chile , is a country in South America occupying a long, narrow coastal strip between the Andes mountains to the east and the Pacific Ocean to the west. It borders Peru to the north, Bolivia to the northeast, Argentina to the east, and the Drake Passage in the far...

, Peru

Peru

Peru , officially the Republic of Peru , is a country in western South America. It is bordered on the north by Ecuador and Colombia, on the east by Brazil, on the southeast by Bolivia, on the south by Chile, and on the west by the Pacific Ocean....

 and Australia

Australia

Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

. International critics praised his recordings of William Herschel

William Herschel

Sir Frederick William Herschel, KH, FRS, German: Friedrich Wilhelm Herschel was a German-born British astronomer, technical expert, and composer. Born in Hanover, Wilhelm first followed his father into the Military Band of Hanover, but emigrated to Britain at age 19...

and Pierre Moreau.

Popular works

• Les étoiles, Collection Points Sciences, Le Seuil, 1996
• Les Galaxies et structure de l'Univers, Collection Points Sciences, Le Seuil 1997
• L'Harmonie des Sphères, Collection Science Ouverte, Le Seuil 2001
• Où sont les autres ?, Collection Science Ouverte, Le Seuil 2007
• Les mains dans les étoiles, Dictionnaire encyclopédique d'astronomie pour la Langue des Signes Française, avec Daniel Abbou, Nasro Chab, Yves Delaporte, Carole Marion et Blandine Proust, édition de Burillier 2010