biography
| name: |
Hoyle, Sir Fred(erick)
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| sex:
| male
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| lived:
| (1915–2001)
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| biography:
| Astronomer, mathematician, astrophysicist, and science fiction writer, born in Bingley, West Yorkshire, N England, UK. He studied at Cambridge, where he taught applied mathematics, became professor of astronomy (1958–72), and founded a world-famous Institute of Theoretical Astronomy. His work on the origin of chemical elements is particularly important. He was the first to coin the term ‘big bang’, to descibe the idea that the universe was created in a massive explosion, though he did not believe in the theory. He was a leading proponent of steady-state cosmology, of the notion that viruses come from outer space, and a believer in an extraterrestrial origin for life on Earth. His scientific works include Nature of the Universe (1952), Frontiers of Astronomy (1955), and he collaborated on A Different Approach to Cosmology (1999). His science fiction writing includes The Black Cloud (1957), A for Andromeda (1962, with J Elliot), and The Molecule Men (1971, with G Hoyle). His other writing includes stories for children, space serials for television, and two volumes of autobiography, The Small World of Fred Hoyle (1966) and Home is Where the Wind Blows (1994). He was knighted in 1972. |
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