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since the article gives no idea whatsoever as to what Davies' religious/philosophical/theistic views are, it makes no sense to document criticism of them
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==Media activity==
==Media activity==
Davies writes and comments on scientific and philosophical issues. He made a documentary series for [[BBC Radio 3]], and two Australian television series, ''[[The Big Questions]]'' and ''[[More Big Questions]]''. His BBC documentary ''[[The Cradle of Life]]'' featured the subject of his [[Faraday Prize]] lecture. He writes regularly for newspapers and magazines worldwide. He has been guest on numerous radio and television programs including the children podcast program ''[[Ask A Biologist]]''.
Davies writes and comments on scientific and philosophical issues. He made a documentary series for [[BBC Radio 3]], and two Australian television series, ''[[The Big Questions]]'' and ''[[More Big Questions]]''. His BBC documentary ''[[The Cradle of Life]]'' featured the subject of his [[Faraday Prize]] lecture. He writes regularly for newspapers and magazines worldwide. He has been guest on numerous radio and television programs including the children podcast program ''[[Ask A Biologist]]''.

==Criticism==
{{criticism}}

Some scientists are critical of what they see as Davies' theistic agenda. Davies' article in the ''[[New York Times]]'', "Taking Science On Faith", was criticised by [[Jerry Coyne]], [[Nathan Myhrvold]], [[Lawrence Krauss]], [[Scott Atran]], [[Sean Carroll]], [[Jeremy Bernstein]], [[PZ Myers]], [[Lee Smolin]], [[John Horgan]], [[Alan Sokal]]<ref>[http://www.edge.org/3rd_culture/davies07/davies07_index.html Taking Science On Faith] at Edge.org's Reality Club, which includes Davies' response</ref> Davies's response begins ''I was dismayed at how many of my detractors completely misunderstood what I had written. Indeed, their responses bore the hallmarks of a superficial knee-jerk reaction to the sight of the words "science" and "faith" juxtaposed.''

[[Richard Dawkins]] (''[[The God Delusion]]'' chapter 1) and [[Victor J Stenger]] (reviewing ''The Cosmic Blueprint'') have also criticised Davies' public stance on science and religion.<!--This doesn't seem to be a criticism of Davies. Why is it in this section? -- Based on Davies' work, ''The Physics of Time Asymmetry'', [[Douglas Youvan]] has argued [http://www.kcfs.org/forums/viewtopic.php?t=870&highlight=youvan] that Darwinian Theory is fundamentally invalid because it casually assumes a forward direction in [[The Arrow of Time]]. -->


==Davies in popular culture==
==Davies in popular culture==

Revision as of 20:08, 28 September 2010

For other people named Paul Davies, see Paul Davies (disambiguation).
Paul C. W. Davies
File:Paul Davies Wikipedia.jpg
Paul Davies September 2006
Born (1946-04-22) 22 April 1946 (age 78)
London, UK
NationalityBritish
Alma materUniversity College London
University of Cambridge
Known forFulling-Davies-Unruh effect
Bunch-Davies vacuum state
AwardsKelvin Medal (2001)
Faraday Prize (2002)
Templeton Prize (1995)
Scientific career
FieldsPhysicist
InstitutionsArizona State University
University of Cambridge
University of Adelaide
Macquarie University
University of Newcastle
Doctoral advisorMichael J. Seaton
Sigurd Zienau
Other academic advisorsFred Hoyle
Doctoral studentsNicholas Birrell
Edmund Copeland
Kerry Hinton
Don Koks
Andrew Matacz
Carol Oliver
William Walker

Paul Charles William Davies AM (born 22 April 1946) is an English physicist, writer and broadcaster, currently a professor at Arizona State University as well as the Director of BEYOND: Center for Fundamental Concepts in Science. He has held previous academic appointments at the University of Cambridge, University of London, University of Newcastle upon Tyne, University of Adelaide and Macquarie University. His research interests are in the fields of cosmology, quantum field theory, and astrobiology. He has proposed that a one-way trip to Mars could be a viable option.

In 2005, he took up the chair of the SETI: Post-Detection Science and Technology Taskgroup of the International Academy of Astronautics.

Education

He was brought up in Finchley and attended Woodhouse Grammar School on Woodhouse Road. From UCL, he gained a 1st class B. Sc. in Physics in 1967.

In 1970, he completed his PhD entitled Contributions to Theoretical Physics: (i) Radiation Damping in the Optical Continuum (ii) A Quantum Theory of Wheeler-Feynman Electrodynamics under Michael J. Seaton and Sigurd Zienau at University College London. He then was a postdoc under Fred Hoyle at the University of Cambridge.

Scientific research

Davies's inquiries have included theoretical physics, cosmology, and astrobiology; his research has been mainly in the area of quantum field theory in curved spacetime. Notable contributions are the so-called Fulling–Davies–Unruh effect, according to which an observer accelerating through empty space will perceive a bath of thermal radiation, and the Bunch–Davies vacuum state, often used as the basis for explaining the fluctuations in the cosmic background radiation left over from the big bang. A paper co-authored with Stephen Fulling and William Unruh was the first to suggest that black holes evaporating via the Hawking effect lose mass as a result of a flux of negative energy streaming into the hole from the surrounding space. Davies has had a longstanding association with the problem of time’s arrow, and was also a forerunner of the theory that life on Earth may have come from Mars cocooned in rocks ejected by asteroid and comet impacts. During his time in Australia he helped establish the Australian Centre for Astrobiology.

Awards

Davies' talent as a communicator of science has been recognized in Australia by an Advance Australia Award and two Eureka Prizes, and in the UK by the 2001 Kelvin Medal and Prize by the Institute of Physics, and the 2002 Faraday Prize by The Royal Society. Davies received the Templeton Prize in 1995.

Davies was made a member of the Order of Australia in the 2007 Queen's birthday honours list

The asteroid 6870 Pauldavies is named after him.

Media activity

Davies writes and comments on scientific and philosophical issues. He made a documentary series for BBC Radio 3, and two Australian television series, The Big Questions and More Big Questions. His BBC documentary The Cradle of Life featured the subject of his Faraday Prize lecture. He writes regularly for newspapers and magazines worldwide. He has been guest on numerous radio and television programs including the children podcast program Ask A Biologist.

Criticism

Some scientists are critical of what they see as Davies' theistic agenda. Davies' article in the New York Times, "Taking Science On Faith", was criticised by Jerry Coyne, Nathan Myhrvold, Lawrence Krauss, Scott Atran, Sean Carroll, Jeremy Bernstein, PZ Myers, Lee Smolin, John Horgan, Alan Sokal[1] Davies's response begins I was dismayed at how many of my detractors completely misunderstood what I had written. Indeed, their responses bore the hallmarks of a superficial knee-jerk reaction to the sight of the words "science" and "faith" juxtaposed.

Richard Dawkins (The God Delusion chapter 1) and Victor J Stenger (reviewing The Cosmic Blueprint) have also criticised Davies' public stance on science and religion.

Davies in popular culture

Works

  • 1974 The Physics of Time Asymmetry, ISBN 0-520-03247-0
  • 1978 The Runaway Universe ISBN 0-460-04286-6
  • 1979 Stardoom ISBN 0-00-635318-5
  • 1980 Other Worlds, ISBN 0-460-04400-1
  • 1981 The Edge of Infinity, ISBN 0-14-023194-3
  • 1982 The Accidental Universe ISBN 0-521-28692-1
  • 1982 Quantum Fields in Curved Space (with N.D. Birrell), ISBN 0-521-27858-9
  • 1983 God and the New Physics ISBN 0-14-022550-1
  • 1984 Superforce, ISBN 0-04-539006-1
  • 1986 The Ghost in the Atom, ISBN 0-521-31316-3
  • 1987 The Cosmic Blueprint, ISBN 0-04-440182-5
  • 1988 Superstrings: A Theory of Everything ISBN 0-521-35741-1
  • 1991 The Matter Myth, ISBN 0-670-83585-4
  • 1992 The Mind of God, ISBN 0-671-71069-9
  • 1994 The Last Three Minutes ISBN 1-85799-336-5
  • 1995 Are We Alone? ISBN 0-14-025179-0
  • 1995 About Time: Einstein's Unfinished Revolution, ISBN 0-670-84761-5
  • 1998 The Fifth Miracle: : The Search for the Origin and Meaning of Life. New York: Simon and Schuster. ISBN 0684837994
  • 2002 How to Build a Time Machine ISBN 0-14-100534-3
  • 2007 The Goldilocks Enigma, also under the title Cosmic Jackpot, ISBN 0-14-102326-0
  • 2008 Quantum Aspects of Life (Eds. Derek Abbott, Paul C. W. Davies, and Arun K. Pati, with foreword by Sir Roger Penrose), ISBN 1-84816-267-7
  • 2010 The Eerie Silence, ISBN 1-4001-6551-2

Essays and papers

See also

Footnotes

  1. ^ Taking Science On Faith at Edge.org's Reality Club, which includes Davies' response
  2. ^ AMS collaboration data base

External links

Videos

On an Ultimate Explanation:

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