Mark Brake
Encyclopedia
Mark Brake is an author and freelance academic. He was formerly a professor of science communication at the University of Glamorgan
.
, UK. He was awarded a BSc by the Polytechnic of Wales and a MSc by University College Cardiff in 1988.
initiatives in science, which attracted around £5 million of funding. The RoCCoTO project, launched in 2001, was a community-based science course for the public, featuring ideas about science and their cultural context in an instance of "Third Culture" studies. The RoCCoTO project received a Public Engagement Award from the Astrobiology Society of Britain
in 2008. Alien Worlds, an award-winning multimedia website associated with the RoCCoTO project was launched in July 2009. The website is an animated guide to phenomena such as eclipses of the Sun and Moon, and demonstrates Earth’s place in a cosmic perspective through advanced, animated visuals.
that Charles Darwin
did not have the version of the theory of evolution described in his 1859 Origin of Species until after he had become aware of Alfred Russel Wallace
's theory, published in 1855 and 1856, and in a letter to Darwin in 1857. This view has been contested.
University of Glamorgan
The University of Glamorgan is a university based in Pontypridd, Rhondda Cynon Taf, Wales with campuses in Treforest, Glyntaff, Merthyr Tydfil, Tyn y Wern and Cardiff...
.
Education
Brake was born at Mountain Ash, WalesWales
Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...
, UK. He was awarded a BSc by the Polytechnic of Wales and a MSc by University College Cardiff in 1988.
False PhD Claim
Brake submitted a grant application to the Research Councils' Procurement Organisation in 2006 in which he falsely claimed to have a PhD.. When this misrepresentation became public knowledge in 2009, it led to his being sacked by the University of Glamorgan.Public Engagement with Science
Between 2003 and 2008, Brake was responsible for leading public engagementPublic engagement
Public engagement is a term that has recently been used, particularly in the UK, to describe "the involvement of specialists listening to, developing their understanding of, and interacting with, non-specialists" .-Origins:The tradition of a decision-making body getting inputs from those with less...
initiatives in science, which attracted around £5 million of funding. The RoCCoTO project, launched in 2001, was a community-based science course for the public, featuring ideas about science and their cultural context in an instance of "Third Culture" studies. The RoCCoTO project received a Public Engagement Award from the Astrobiology Society of Britain
Astrobiology Society of Britain
The Astrobiology Society of Britain is a learned society dedicated to the understanding and advancement of astrobiology in the United Kingdom. The organisation is affiliated with NASA....
in 2008. Alien Worlds, an award-winning multimedia website associated with the RoCCoTO project was launched in July 2009. The website is an animated guide to phenomena such as eclipses of the Sun and Moon, and demonstrates Earth’s place in a cosmic perspective through advanced, animated visuals.
View on Darwin
Brake has statedthat Charles Darwin
Charles Darwin
Charles Robert Darwin FRS was an English naturalist. He established that all species of life have descended over time from common ancestry, and proposed the scientific theory that this branching pattern of evolution resulted from a process that he called natural selection.He published his theory...
did not have the version of the theory of evolution described in his 1859 Origin of Species until after he had become aware of Alfred Russel Wallace
Alfred Russel Wallace
Alfred Russel Wallace, OM, FRS was a British naturalist, explorer, geographer, anthropologist and biologist...
's theory, published in 1855 and 1856, and in a letter to Darwin in 1857. This view has been contested.
Publications
- Different Engines: How Science Drives Fiction and Fiction Drives Science (2007) ISBN 0-230-01980-3
- Futureworld: Where Science Fiction Becomes Science (2008) ISBN 0-7522-2672-X
- Revolution in Science: How Galileo and Darwin Changed Our World (2009) ISBN 0-230-20268-3
- Introducing Science Communication: A Practical Guide (2009) ISBN 0-230-57385-1