Lawrence M. Krauss
Encyclopedia
Lawrence Maxwell Krauss (born May 27, 1954) is an American
theoretical physicist
who is professor
of physics
, Foundation Professor of the School of Earth and Space Exploration, and director of the Origins Project at the Arizona State University
. He is the author of several bestselling books, including The Physics of Star Trek
and Atom. He is an advocate of scientific skepticism
, science education
, and the science of morality
.
and shortly thereafter moved to Toronto
, Canada
, where he spent his childhood. On January 19, 1980 he married Katherine Kelley, a native of Nova Scotia
. Their daughter Lilli was born November 23, 1984. Krauss and Kelley separated in 2010. Krauss received undergraduate degrees in mathematics
and physics
with first class honours from Carleton University
in 1977, and his Ph.D. in physics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology
in 1982.
After some time in the Harvard Society of Fellows
, he became an assistant professor at Yale University
in 1985 and Associate Professor in 1988. He was named the Ambrose Swasey
Professor of Physics, professor of astronomy
, and was Chairman of the Physics Department at Case Western Reserve University
from 1993 to 2005. In 2006, Krauss led the initiative for the no confidence vote against Case Western Reserve University's President Edward Hundert and Provost Anderson, which was approved on March 2, 2006 by the College of Arts and Sciences (Hundert: 131 for / 44 against; Anderson: 97 for / 68 against).
In August 2008 he joined the faculty at Arizona State University
as Foundation Professor in the School of Earth and Space Exploration and the Department of Physics in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, and Director of the University's Origins Project. In 2009 he helped inaugurate this initiative with the Origins Symposium, in which 80 scientists participated and 3000 people attended.
He appears in national media for public outreach in science and has written editorials for The New York Times
. His opposition to intelligent design
gained national prominence as a result of his 2004 appearance before the state school board of Ohio
. He currently serves on the advisory board of Scientists and Engineers for America
, an organization focused on promoting sound science in American government.
He attended and was a speaker at the Beyond Belief
symposium in November 2006 and again in October 2008. He also served on Barack Obama
's 2008 Presidential campaign science policy committee. In 2008 he was named co-president of the Board of Sponsors of the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists
. In 2010 he was elected to the Board of Directors of the Federation of American Scientists
, and in June 2011 it was announced that he would join the professoriate of New College of the Humanities
, a private college in London.
Krauss is also a critic of string theory
, which he takes on in his 2005 book, Hiding in the Mirror. His newest book, released in March 2011, is entitled Quantum Man: Richard Feynman's Life in Science, and a major new book is forthcoming in Jan 2012, entitled A Universe from Nothing: Why There is Something Rather than Nothing, with foreword by Christopher Hitchens and afterword by Richard Dawkins.
(as opposed to experimental
) physics, and he has published research on a great variety of topics within that field. His primary contribution is to cosmology
, as he was one of the first physicists to suggest that most of the mass/energy of the universe resides in empty space, an idea now widely known as dark energy
.
has referred to as a "public intellectual", and is the only physicist to have received awards from all three major U.S. physics societies: the American Physical Society
, the American Association of Physics Teachers
, and the American Institute of Physics
.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
theoretical physicist
Theoretical physics
Theoretical physics is a branch of physics which employs mathematical models and abstractions of physics to rationalize, explain and predict natural phenomena...
who is professor
Professor
A professor is a scholarly teacher; the precise meaning of the term varies by country. Literally, professor derives from Latin as a "person who professes" being usually an expert in arts or sciences; a teacher of high rank...
of physics
Physics
Physics is a natural science that involves the study of matter and its motion through spacetime, along with related concepts such as energy and force. More broadly, it is the general analysis of nature, conducted in order to understand how the universe behaves.Physics is one of the oldest academic...
, Foundation Professor of the School of Earth and Space Exploration, and director of the Origins Project at the Arizona State University
Arizona State University
Arizona State University is a public research university located in the Phoenix Metropolitan Area of the State of Arizona...
. He is the author of several bestselling books, including The Physics of Star Trek
The Physics of Star Trek
The Physics of Star Trek is a 1995 nonfiction book by Arizona State University professor Lawrence M. Krauss. It discusses the physics involved in various concepts and objects described in the Star Trek universe. He investigates the possibility of such things as inertial dampeners and warp drive,...
and Atom. He is an advocate of scientific skepticism
Scientific skepticism
Scientific skepticism is the practice of questioning the veracity of claims lacking empirical evidence or reproducibility, as part of a methodological norm pursuing "the extension of certified knowledge". For example, Robert K...
, science education
Science education
Science education is the field concerned with sharing science content and process with individuals not traditionally considered part of the scientific community. The target individuals may be children, college students, or adults within the general public. The field of science education comprises...
, and the science of morality
Science of morality
Science of morality can refer to a number of ethically naturalistic views. Historically, the term was introduced by Jeremy Bentham . In meta-ethics, ethical naturalism bases morality on rational and empirical consideration of the natural world...
.
Biography
Krauss was born in New York CityNew York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
and shortly thereafter moved to Toronto
Toronto
Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...
, 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...
, where he spent his childhood. On January 19, 1980 he married Katherine Kelley, a native of Nova Scotia
Nova Scotia
Nova Scotia is one of Canada's three Maritime provinces and is the most populous province in Atlantic Canada. The name of the province is Latin for "New Scotland," but "Nova Scotia" is the recognized, English-language name of the province. The provincial capital is Halifax. Nova Scotia is the...
. Their daughter Lilli was born November 23, 1984. Krauss and Kelley separated in 2010. Krauss received undergraduate degrees in mathematics
Mathematics
Mathematics is the study of quantity, space, structure, and change. Mathematicians seek out patterns and formulate new conjectures. Mathematicians resolve the truth or falsity of conjectures by mathematical proofs, which are arguments sufficient to convince other mathematicians of their validity...
and physics
Physics
Physics is a natural science that involves the study of matter and its motion through spacetime, along with related concepts such as energy and force. More broadly, it is the general analysis of nature, conducted in order to understand how the universe behaves.Physics is one of the oldest academic...
with first class honours from Carleton University
Carleton University
Carleton University is a comprehensive university located in the capital of Canada, Ottawa, Ontario. The enabling legislation is The Carleton University Act, 1952, S.O. 1952. Founded as a small college in 1942, Carleton now offers over 65 programs in a diverse range of disciplines. Carleton has...
in 1977, and his Ph.D. in physics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology is a private research university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts. MIT has five schools and one college, containing a total of 32 academic departments, with a strong emphasis on scientific and technological education and research.Founded in 1861 in...
in 1982.
After some time in the Harvard Society of Fellows
Harvard Society of Fellows
The Harvard Society of Fellows is a group of scholars selected at the beginning of their careers by Harvard University for extraordinary scholarly potential, upon whom distinctive academic and intellectual opportunities are bestowed in order to foster their individual growth and intellectual...
, he became an assistant professor at Yale University
Yale University
Yale University is a private, Ivy League university located in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701 in the Colony of Connecticut, the university is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States...
in 1985 and Associate Professor in 1988. He was named the Ambrose Swasey
Ambrose Swasey
Ambrose Swasey was an American mechanical engineer, inventor, entrepreneur, manager, astronomer, and philanthropist. With Worcester R. Warner he co-founded the Warner & Swasey Company....
Professor of Physics, professor of astronomy
Astronomy
Astronomy is a natural science that deals with the study of celestial objects and phenomena that originate outside the atmosphere of Earth...
, and was Chairman of the Physics Department at Case Western Reserve University
Case Western Reserve University
Case Western Reserve University is a private research university located in Cleveland, Ohio, USA...
from 1993 to 2005. In 2006, Krauss led the initiative for the no confidence vote against Case Western Reserve University's President Edward Hundert and Provost Anderson, which was approved on March 2, 2006 by the College of Arts and Sciences (Hundert: 131 for / 44 against; Anderson: 97 for / 68 against).
In August 2008 he joined the faculty at Arizona State University
Arizona State University
Arizona State University is a public research university located in the Phoenix Metropolitan Area of the State of Arizona...
as Foundation Professor in the School of Earth and Space Exploration and the Department of Physics in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, and Director of the University's Origins Project. In 2009 he helped inaugurate this initiative with the Origins Symposium, in which 80 scientists participated and 3000 people attended.
He appears in national media for public outreach in science and has written editorials for The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
. His opposition to intelligent design
Intelligent design
Intelligent design is the proposition that "certain features of the universe and of living things are best explained by an intelligent cause, not an undirected process such as natural selection." It is a form of creationism and a contemporary adaptation of the traditional teleological argument for...
gained national prominence as a result of his 2004 appearance before the state school board of Ohio
Ohio
Ohio is a Midwestern state in the United States. The 34th largest state by area in the U.S.,it is the 7th‑most populous with over 11.5 million residents, containing several major American cities and seven metropolitan areas with populations of 500,000 or more.The state's capital is Columbus...
. He currently serves on the advisory board of Scientists and Engineers for America
Scientists and Engineers for America
-Mission statement:The organization's mission statement states:-SHARP Network:The Science, Health and Related Policies Network is a wiki to track congressional representatives, senators, and candidates as well as presidential candidates....
, an organization focused on promoting sound science in American government.
He attended and was a speaker at the Beyond Belief
Beyond Belief: Science, Religion, Reason and Survival
Beyond Belief: Science, Religion, Reason and Survival, the first of The Science Network's annual Beyond Belief symposia, held from November 5 to November 7, 2006, was described by the New York Times, as "a free-for-all on science and religion," which seemed at times like "the founding convention...
symposium in November 2006 and again in October 2008. He also served on Barack Obama
Barack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II is the 44th and current President of the United States. He is the first African American to hold the office. Obama previously served as a United States Senator from Illinois, from January 2005 until he resigned following his victory in the 2008 presidential election.Born in...
's 2008 Presidential campaign science policy committee. In 2008 he was named co-president of the Board of Sponsors of the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists
Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists
The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists is a nontechnical online magazine that covers global security and public policy issues, especially related to the dangers posed by nuclear and other weapons of mass destruction...
. In 2010 he was elected to the Board of Directors of the Federation of American Scientists
Federation of American Scientists
The Federation of American Scientists is a nonpartisan, 501 organization intent on using science and scientific analysis to attempt make the world more secure. FAS was founded in 1945 by scientists who worked on the Manhattan Project to develop the first atomic bombs...
, and in June 2011 it was announced that he would join the professoriate of New College of the Humanities
New College of the Humanities
New College of the Humanities is a proposed new private for-profit undergraduate college in London, England, the creation of which was announced in June 2011 by the philosopher A.C. Grayling, its founder and first master...
, a private college in London.
Krauss is also a critic of string theory
String theory
String theory is an active research framework in particle physics that attempts to reconcile quantum mechanics and general relativity. It is a contender for a theory of everything , a manner of describing the known fundamental forces and matter in a mathematically complete system...
, which he takes on in his 2005 book, Hiding in the Mirror. His newest book, released in March 2011, is entitled Quantum Man: Richard Feynman's Life in Science, and a major new book is forthcoming in Jan 2012, entitled A Universe from Nothing: Why There is Something Rather than Nothing, with foreword by Christopher Hitchens and afterword by Richard Dawkins.
Scientific work
Krauss' work has been primarily in theoreticalTheoretical physics
Theoretical physics is a branch of physics which employs mathematical models and abstractions of physics to rationalize, explain and predict natural phenomena...
(as opposed to experimental
Experimental physics
Within the field of physics, experimental physics is the category of disciplines and sub-disciplines concerned with the observation of physical phenomena in order to gather data about the universe...
) physics, and he has published research on a great variety of topics within that field. His primary contribution is to 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...
, as he was one of the first physicists to suggest that most of the mass/energy of the universe resides in empty space, an idea now widely known as dark energy
Dark energy
In physical cosmology, astronomy and celestial mechanics, dark energy is a hypothetical form of energy that permeates all of space and tends to accelerate the expansion of the universe. Dark energy is the most accepted theory to explain recent observations that the universe appears to be expanding...
.
Honors
Krauss is one of the few living physicists that Scientific AmericanScientific American
Scientific American is a popular science magazine. It is notable for its long history of presenting science monthly to an educated but not necessarily scientific public, through its careful attention to the clarity of its text as well as the quality of its specially commissioned color graphics...
has referred to as a "public intellectual", and is the only physicist to have received awards from all three major U.S. physics societies: the American Physical Society
American Physical Society
The American Physical Society is the world's second largest organization of physicists, behind the Deutsche Physikalische Gesellschaft. The Society publishes more than a dozen scientific journals, including the world renowned Physical Review and Physical Review Letters, and organizes more than 20...
, the American Association of Physics Teachers
American Association of Physics Teachers
The American Association of Physics Teachers was founded in 1930 for the purpose of "dissemination of knowledge of physics, particularly by way of teaching." There are more than 10,000 members that reside in over 30 countries. AAPT publications include two peer-reviewed journals, the American...
, and the American Institute of Physics
American Institute of Physics
The American Institute of Physics promotes science, the profession of physics, publishes physics journals, and produces publications for scientific and engineering societies. The AIP is made up of various member societies...
.
Publications
Krauss has authored or co-authored over 300 scientific studies and review articles on cosmology and theoretical physics. His popular books include:- The Fifth Essence (1991) ISBN 0-465-02377-0
- Fear of Physics (1994) ISBN 0-465-02367-3
- The Physics of Star TrekThe Physics of Star TrekThe Physics of Star Trek is a 1995 nonfiction book by Arizona State University professor Lawrence M. Krauss. It discusses the physics involved in various concepts and objects described in the Star Trek universe. He investigates the possibility of such things as inertial dampeners and warp drive,...
(1995) ISBN 0-465-00559-4 - Beyond Star Trek (1997) ISBN 0-06-097757-4
- Quintessence (2001) ISBN 0-465-03741-0
- Atom (2002) ISBN 0-316-18309-1
- Hiding in the Mirror (2005) ISBN 0-670-03395-2
- Quantum Man: Richard Feynman's Life in Science (W. W. Norton / Atlas & Co., 2010) ISBN 978-0-393-06471-1
- A Universe from Nothing: Why There Is Something Rather Than Nothing (Free Press, 2012)
Awards
- Gravity Research Foundation First prize award (1984)
- Presidential Investigator Award (1986)
- American Association for the Advancement of Science's Award for the Public Understanding of Science and Technology (2000)
- Julius Edgar Lilienfeld Prize (2001)
- Andrew Gemant AwardAndrew Gemant AwardThe Andrew Gemant Award is a prize awarded by the American Institute of Physics to a person who has made substantial cultural, artistic, or humanistic contributions to physics.. The award is named after Andrew Gemant....
(2001) - American Institute of Physics Science Writing Award (2002)
- Oersted Medal (2003)
- American Physical Society Joseph P. Burton Forum Award (2005)
- Center for Inquiry World Congress Science in the Public Interest Award (2009)
- Helen Sawyer Hogg Prize of the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada and the Astronomical Society of Canada (2009)