Robyn Williams
Encyclopedia
Robyn Williams AM
(born 1944, Buckinghamshire, England) is a science journalist
and broadcaster
resident in Australia
who has hosted the Science Show on the Australian Broadcasting Corporation
since 1975, Ockham's Razor (created 1984) and In Conversation (created 1997).
and London
. He graduated from the University of London
with a Bachelor of Science (Honours) degree. During this period he was active in university acting
and, like many other notable students, made (guest) appearances in the BBC
series The Goodies
, Monty Python's Flying Circus
and Doctor Who
.
(ABC) Science Unit in 1972 where, after several years in background production and interviewing, in 1975 he began hosting the award winning Science Show, a one-hour (format) science based radio interview show.
Ockham's Razor (15 minute format) followed in 1984, with Williams introducing a leading scientist or personality who then expounds from a prepared text on a topic of their choice, with a view to making a subject simple and accessible to the public, hence the title relating to the famous statement on parsimony
by William of Ockham
.
In Conversation (15 minute format) commenced in 1997, with Williams interviewing the personality.
Other media work has included:
At his instigation, the ABC and Australian Museum
established the Eureka Awards for Excellence in Science Communication and Innovation
.
He is a visiting professor at the University of New South Wales
.
reading lists.
His autobiography is And Now For Something Completely Different, a reference to an interview (on psychiatry) with Monty Python
star John Cleese
. His book, Future Perfect, focuses on cities, transport, communication, education and science.
Order of Australia
The Order of Australia is an order of chivalry established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Queen of Australia, "for the purpose of according recognition to Australian citizens and other persons for achievement or for meritorious service"...
(born 1944, Buckinghamshire, England) is a science journalist
Journalist
A journalist collects and distributes news and other information. A journalist's work is referred to as journalism.A reporter is a type of journalist who researchs, writes, and reports on information to be presented in mass media, including print media , electronic media , and digital media A...
and broadcaster
Presenter
A presenter, or host , is a person or organization responsible for running an event. A museum or university, for example, may be the presenter or host of an exhibit. Likewise, a master of ceremonies is a person that hosts or presents a show...
resident in 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...
who has hosted the Science Show on the Australian Broadcasting Corporation
Australian Broadcasting Corporation
The Australian Broadcasting Corporation, commonly referred to as "the ABC" , is Australia's national public broadcaster...
since 1975, Ockham's Razor (created 1984) and In Conversation (created 1997).
Background
Robyn Williams was born in Buckinghamshire, England, and educated in ViennaVienna
Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...
and London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
. He graduated from the University of London
University of London
-20th century:Shortly after 6 Burlington Gardens was vacated, the University went through a period of rapid expansion. Bedford College, Royal Holloway and the London School of Economics all joined in 1900, Regent's Park College, which had affiliated in 1841 became an official divinity school of the...
with a Bachelor of Science (Honours) degree. During this period he was active in university acting
Actor
An actor is a person who acts in a dramatic production and who works in film, television, theatre, or radio in that capacity...
and, like many other notable students, made (guest) appearances in the BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
series The Goodies
The Goodies (TV series)
The Goodies is a British television comedy series of the 1970s and early 1980s. The series, which combines surreal sketches and situation comedy, was broadcast by BBC 2 from 1970 until 1980 — and was then broadcast by the ITV company LWT for a year, between 1981 to 1982.The show was...
, Monty Python's Flying Circus
Monty Python's Flying Circus
Monty Python’s Flying Circus is a BBC TV sketch comedy series. The shows were composed of surreality, risqué or innuendo-laden humour, sight gags and observational sketches without punchlines...
and Doctor Who
Doctor Who
Doctor Who is a British science fiction television programme produced by the BBC. The programme depicts the adventures of a time-travelling humanoid alien known as the Doctor who explores the universe in a sentient time machine called the TARDIS that flies through time and space, whose exterior...
.
Professional life
Williams emigrated to Australia and joined the Australian Broadcasting CorporationAustralian Broadcasting Corporation
The Australian Broadcasting Corporation, commonly referred to as "the ABC" , is Australia's national public broadcaster...
(ABC) Science Unit in 1972 where, after several years in background production and interviewing, in 1975 he began hosting the award winning Science Show, a one-hour (format) science based radio interview show.
Ockham's Razor (15 minute format) followed in 1984, with Williams introducing a leading scientist or personality who then expounds from a prepared text on a topic of their choice, with a view to making a subject simple and accessible to the public, hence the title relating to the famous statement on parsimony
Occam's razor
Occam's razor, also known as Ockham's razor, and sometimes expressed in Latin as lex parsimoniae , is a principle that generally recommends from among competing hypotheses selecting the one that makes the fewest new assumptions.-Overview:The principle is often summarized as "simpler explanations...
by William of Ockham
William of Ockham
William of Ockham was an English Franciscan friar and scholastic philosopher, who is believed to have been born in Ockham, a small village in Surrey. He is considered to be one of the major figures of medieval thought and was at the centre of the major intellectual and political controversies of...
.
In Conversation (15 minute format) commenced in 1997, with Williams interviewing the personality.
Trade union activism
In 1977 Williams gave an impassioned speech to the ABC Staff Association against the ABC management's quiescence in the face of budget cuts and political interference. He said a UK proposal that the government appoint one third of BBC Board members had been publicly opposed by BBC management but that ABC Chairman acted as if he headed an organisation rivalling the ABC. Following his speech the meeting voted unanimously that it had no-confidence in the ABC Chair John Norgard.Other media work has included:
- narrating Nature of Australia, a series for ABC TV;
- appearing in World Safari with David AttenboroughDavid AttenboroughSir David Frederick Attenborough OM, CH, CVO, CBE, FRS, FZS, FSA is a British broadcaster and naturalist. His career as the face and voice of natural history programmes has endured for more than 50 years...
;
At his instigation, the ABC and Australian Museum
Australian Museum
The Australian Museum is the oldest museum in Australia, with an international reputation in the fields of natural history and anthropology. It features collections of vertebrate and invertebrate zoology, as well as mineralogy, palaeontology, and anthropology...
established the Eureka Awards for Excellence in Science Communication and Innovation
Eureka Prizes
The Australian Museum Eureka Prizes are annual Australian science prizes awarded in the fields of scientific research & innovation, science leadership, science communication & journalism and school science. There is also a People's Choice Award which is decided by popular public vote.The finalists...
.
Honorary and subsidiary positions
- President of the Australian MuseumAustralian MuseumThe Australian Museum is the oldest museum in Australia, with an international reputation in the fields of natural history and anthropology. It features collections of vertebrate and invertebrate zoology, as well as mineralogy, palaeontology, and anthropology...
Trust (1986 - 1994); - Deputy Chairman of the Commission For The Future;
- President of the Australian & New Zealand Association for the Advancement of Science (ANZAAS) Congress held in Brisbane;
- Co-Chairman of the Biology Department at the University of Texas, El Paso.
He is a visiting professor at the University of New South Wales
University of New South Wales
The University of New South Wales , is a research-focused university based in Kensington, a suburb in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia...
.
Publications
Williams has written some 10 books, with 3 used in high schoolHigh school
High school is a term used in parts of the English speaking world to describe institutions which provide all or part of secondary education. The term is often incorporated into the name of such institutions....
reading lists.
His autobiography is And Now For Something Completely Different, a reference to an interview (on psychiatry) with Monty Python
Monty Python
Monty Python was a British surreal comedy group who created their influential Monty Python's Flying Circus, a British television comedy sketch show that first aired on the BBC on 5 October 1969. Forty-five episodes were made over four series...
star John Cleese
John Cleese
John Marwood Cleese is an English actor, comedian, writer, and film producer. He achieved success at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe and as a scriptwriter and performer on The Frost Report...
. His book, Future Perfect, focuses on cities, transport, communication, education and science.
Honours
- Williams is a FellowFellowA fellow in the broadest sense is someone who is an equal or a comrade. The term fellow is also used to describe a person, particularly by those in the upper social classes. It is most often used in an academic context: a fellow is often part of an elite group of learned people who are awarded...
of The Australian Academy of ScienceAustralian Academy of ScienceThe Australian Academy of Science was founded in 1954 by a group of distinguished Australians, including Australian Fellows of the Royal Society of London. The first president was Sir Mark Oliphant. The Academy is modelled after the Royal Society and operates under a Royal Charter; as such it is...
, the first journalist so honoured; - Williams has Honorary Doctorates of Science from Deakin UniversityDeakin UniversityDeakin University is an Australian public university with nearly 40,000 higher education students in 2010. It receives more than A$600 million in operating revenue annually, and controls more than A$1.3 billion in assets. It received more than A$35 million in research income in 2009 and had 835...
, University of SydneyUniversity of SydneyThe University of Sydney is a public university located in Sydney, New South Wales. The main campus spreads across the suburbs of Camperdown and Darlington on the southwestern outskirts of the Sydney CBD. Founded in 1850, it is the oldest university in Australia and Oceania...
, and Macquarie UniversityMacquarie UniversityMacquarie University is an Australian public teaching and research university located in Sydney, with its main campus situated in Macquarie Park. Founded in 1964 by the New South Wales Government, it was the third university to be established in the metropolitan area of Sydney...
and an Honorary Doctorate of Law from the Australian National UniversityAustralian National UniversityThe Australian National University is a teaching and research university located in the Australian capital, Canberra.As of 2009, the ANU employs 3,945 administrative staff who teach approximately 10,000 undergraduates, and 7,500 postgraduate students... - Honorary Member of the Order of AustraliaOrder of AustraliaThe Order of Australia is an order of chivalry established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Queen of Australia, "for the purpose of according recognition to Australian citizens and other persons for achievement or for meritorious service"...
(AM) in 1988 (he has never taken out Australian citizenship) - Australian RostrumAustralian RostrumAustralian Rostrum is an association of Australian public speaking clubs, founded on 21 July 1930. It is the main continuation of the original Rostrum club founded in Manchester, United Kingdom on 21 July 1923...
Speaker of the Year (1993) - Australian Humanist of the Year (1993); awarded by the Council of Australian Humanist SocietiesCouncil of Australian Humanist SocietiesThe Council of Australian Humanist Societies is the national umbrella organisation for Australian humanists. It is affiliated with the International Humanist and Ethical Union...
- Reuter Fellow, University of OxfordUniversity of OxfordThe University of Oxford is a university located in Oxford, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest surviving university in the world and the oldest in the English-speaking world. Although its exact date of foundation is unclear, there is evidence of teaching as far back as 1096...
(1994) - In 1998 he was voted one of Australia's Living National TreasuresAustralian Living TreasuresAustralian Living Treasures are people who have been nominated by the National Trust of Australia. The first list of 100 Living Treasures was published in 1997....
; - Radio Prize from the Human Rights CommissionHuman rights commissionA Human Rights Commission is a body set up to investigate, promote or protect human rights.The term may refer to international, national or subnational bodies set up for this purpose, such as national human rights institutions or truth and reconciliation commissions.-International Human Rights...
- United NationsUnited NationsThe United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...
Media Peace Prize - Michael Daley Award for Science Journalism
- Centre for Australian Cultural Studies National Award 1996 (Individual).