Jim Al-Khalili
Jim Al-Khalili | |
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| File:Dr Jim Al-Khalili.jpg Jim Al-Khalili O.B.E | |
| Born | 20 September 1962 |
| Nationality | British |
| Alma mater | University of Surrey |
| Awards | Michael Faraday Prize |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Physicist |
| Institutions | University of Surrey University College London |
| Doctoral advisor | Ronald C. Johnson |
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29 August 2024
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Professor Jim Al-Khalili OBE (born 20 September 1962) is a British theoretical nuclear physicist, academic, author and broadcaster.
Biography
Born in Baghdad in 1962 to an Iraqi father and English mother, Professor Al-Khalili studied physics at the University of Surrey. He graduated with a B.Sc. in 1986 and stayed on to pursue a Ph.D. in nuclear reaction theory, which he obtained in 1989. In that year he was awarded a Science and Engineering Research Council (SERC) postdoctoral fellowship at University College London. He returned to Surrey in 1991, first as a research assistant then lecturer. In 1994, Al-Khalili was awarded an Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) Advanced Research Fellowship for five years, during which time he established himself as a leading expert on the structure of neutron halo nuclei (atomic nuclei exhibiting the unusual feature of having one or two loosely bound neutrons orbiting the rest of the nucleus). He has published widely in his field. He currently holds an EPSRC Senior Media Fellowship.[1]
Al-Khalili is now a professor of physics at the University of Surrey where he also holds a chair in the Public Engagement in Science. He is a Trustee and Vice President of the British Science Association.[2]
In 2004 he was chosen as one of twenty-one "Faces of UK Science" on permanent exhibition in London’s National Portrait Gallery.[3]
He was awarded the Royal Society Michael Faraday Prize for science communication for 2007[4] and elected an Honorary Fellow of the British Association for the Advancement of Science. He has been a Fellow of the Institute of Physics since 2000 when he also received the Institute's Public Awareness of Physics Award.
He has lectured widely both in the UK and around the world, particularly for the British Council.
He currently lives in Southsea, Hampshire, with his wife, Julie and two children, David and Kate.
He was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2008 Birthday Honours.[5]
Broadcasting
As a broadcaster, Jim Al-Khalili appears regularly on television and radio and writes regular articles for the British press[6].
On television he is presenter of the BBC4 three part series Science and Islam about the leap in scientific knowledge that took place in the Islamic world between the 8th and 14th centuries.[7]. He has contributed to programmes ranging from Tomorrow's World, BBC Four's Mind Games, BBC Horizon and The South Bank Show. In 2004, he co-presented the Channel 4 documentary "The Riddle of Einstein's Brain" , produced by Icon Films.[8] In 2007 he presented Atom, a three-part series on BBC Four about the history of our understanding of the atom and atomic physics.[9]
Al-Khalili is a regular guest on Radio 4's In Our Time, presented by Melvyn Bragg.[10]
Published Works
A best-selling author of popular science books.
Author
Popular science books authored by Prof. Al-Khalili include:-
- Black Holes, Wormholes and Time Machines (1999, ISBN 0750305606)
- Nucleus: A Trip into the Heart of Matter (2001, ISBN 0801868602)
- Quantum: A Guide for the Perplexed (2003, ISBN 1841882380)
These have, between them, been translated into thirteen languages.
Consultant editor
- Invisible Worlds: Exploring the Unseen (2004, ISBN 0297843427)
Contributor
- The Collins Encyclopedia of the Universe (2001, ISBN 0007105851).
broadcaster
- Science and Islam (BBC4)
See also
References
- ^ EPSRC profile.
- ^ Council of the British Science Association
- ^ Portrait page at the National Portrait Gallery
- ^ Press release from the Royal Society
- ^ "No. 58729". The London Gazette (invalid
|supp=(help)). 14 June 2008.{{cite magazine}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ http://www.journalisted.com/jim-alkhalili
- ^ Science and Islam for BBC Four
- ^ Current and Past Productions of Icon Films.
- ^ Atom for BBC Four announcement.
- ^ Rutherford on In Our Time, Higgs Boson on In Our Time, The Graviton on In Our Time.
External links
- Google Scholar List of papers by JS Al-Khalili
- Faculty page at the University of Surrey
- Personal website
- EPSRC profile
- Jim Al-Khalili at IMDb
- Nuclear waste is hardly a worry when the climate change threat is so urgent 26 July, 2007The Guardian
- Dr Jim Al-Khalili Institute of Physics
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- 1962 births
- Living people
- English physicists
- Theoretical physicists
- Alumni of the University of Surrey
- Academics of the University of Surrey
- People from Baghdad
- British people of Iraqi descent
- Fellows of the Institute of Physics
- Officers of the Order of the British Empire
- Quantum physicists
- Iraqi immigrants to the United Kingdom