Education

Shrewsbury Sch.; Trinity Coll., Cambridge; MA, PhD (Cantab)

Career

Fellow, Jesus Coll., Cambridge, 1967–69 (Hon. Fellow, 1996); Research Associate, California Inst. of Technology, 1967–68 and 1971; Mem., Inst. for Advanced Study, Princeton, 1969–70; Prof., Univ. of Sussex, 1972–73; Cambridge University: Plumian Prof. of Astronomy and Experimental Philosophy, 1973–91; Dir, Inst. of Astronomy, 1977–82 and 1987–91; Royal Soc. Res. Prof., 1992–2003; Prof. of Cosmology and Astrophysics, 2002–09; Fellow of King’s Coll., Cambridge, 1969–72 and 1973–2003. Visiting Professor: Harvard Univ., 1972, 1986–88; Inst. for Advanced Studies, Princeton, 1982, 1995; Imperial Coll., London, 2001–; Hitchcock Vis. Prof., UC Berkeley, 1994; Regents Fellow of Smithsonian Instn, Washington, 1984–88; Oort Prof., Leiden, 1999. Lectures: H. P. Robertson Meml, US Nat. Acad. Sci., 1975; Bakerian, Royal Soc., 1982; Danz, Univ. of Washington, 1984; Pauli, Zurich, 1999; Leverhulme, 1999; Scribner, Princeton, 2000; Russell, Amer. Astron. Soc., 2004; Messenger, Cornell Univ., 2005; Gifford, Scottish Univs, 2007; Reith, BBC, 2010; Romanes, Oxford, 2011. Trustee: BM, 1996–2002; NESTA, 1998–2001; Inst. for Adv. Study, Princeton, 1998–; Kennedy Meml Trust, 1999–2004; IPPR, 2001–09; Nat. Mus. of Sci. and Industry, 2003–11; Gates Cambridge Trust, 2007–14. President: RAS, 1992–94; BAAS, 1994–95; Royal Soc., 2005–10; Chm., Science Adv. Cttee, ESA, 1976–78; Member: Council, Royal Soc., 1983–85 and 1993–95; PPARC, 1994–97. Member: Academia Europaea, 1989; Pontifical Acad. of Sci., 1990; For. Hon. Mem., Amer. Acad. of Arts and Sciences, 1975; Foreign Associate, Nat. Acad. of Sciences, USA, 1982; Foreign Member: Amer. Phil. Soc., 1993; Royal Swedish Acad. Sci., 1993; Russian Acad. of Sci., 1994; Norwegian Acad. of Arts and Letters, 1996; Accademia Lincei, Rome, 1996; Royal Netherlands Acad. of Arts and Sciences, 1998; Finnish Acad. of Sci. and Letters, 2004; Japan Acad., 2015; Associate Mem., TWAS: the Acad. of Scis for the Developing World, 2008. Hon. FInstP 2001; Hon. FREng 2007; Hon. FMedSci 2011; Hon. FBA 2012; Hon. FLSW 2016. Hon. Fellow: Cardiff Univ., 1998; Darwin Coll., Cambridge, 2004; John Moores Univ., 2008; King’s Coll., Cambridge, 2007; Clare Hall, Cambridge, 2016; Robinson Coll., Cambridge, 2019. Hon. DSc: Sussex, 1990; Leicester, 1993; Copenhagen, 1994; Keele, Newcastle and Uppsala, 1995; Toronto, 1997; Durham, 1999; Oxford, 2000; Ohio and Exeter, 2006; Hull, 2007; Liverpool, 2008; Yale, 2008; McMaster, 2009; E Anglia, 2009; Melbourne, 2010; Portsmouth, 2011; Sydney, 2012; ETH Zurich, 2012; Cambridge, 2014; Greenwich, 2014; Harvard, 2016; Leeds 2017; DUniv Open, 2008; Hon. DLitt London, 2011; Bath, 2015. Heinemann Prize, Amer. Inst. Physics, 1984; Gold Medal, RAS, 1987; Guthrie Medal and Prize, Inst. of Physics, 1989; Balzan Prize, Balzan Foundn, 1989; Schwarzschild Medal, Astron. ges., 1989; Bruce Gold Medal, Astron. Soc. of Pacific, 1993; Bower Award for Science, Franklin Inst., 1998; Rossi Prize, American Astron. Soc., 2000; Cosmology Prize, Gruber Foundn, 2001; Einstein Award, World Cultural Council, 2003; Michael Faraday Award, Royal Soc., 2004; (jtly) Crafoord Prize, Royal Swedish Acad., 2005; Niels Bohr Medal, UNESCO, 2005; Templeton Prize, John Templeton Foundn, 2011; Newton Prize, Inst. of Physics, 2012; Chancellor’s Medal, Univ. of Calif, Santa Cruz, 2012; Dirac Prize, ICTP Trieste, 2013; Nierenberg Prize, Scripps Inst., 2015; Fritz Zwicky Prize, Eur. Astron. Soc., 2020. Officier, Ordre des Arts et des Lettres (France), 1991; Gold and Silver Star, Order of Rising Sun (Japan), 2015

Publications

Perspectives in Astrophysical Cosmology, 1995; (with M. Begelman) Gravity’s Fatal Attraction: black holes in the universe, 1996, 3rd edn 2020; Before the Beginning, 1997; Just Six Numbers, 1999; Our Cosmic Habitat, 2001; Our Final Century?, 2003; From Here to Infinity: scientific horizons, 2011; (ed) Universe, 2012; On the Future: prospects for humanity, 2018; (with D. Goldsmith) The End of Astronauts, 2022; mainly scientific papers; numerous general articles

Address

c/o Trinity College, Cambridge CB2 1TQ

(01223) 338412, (office) (01223) 369043