Brian Cox a Modern-Day Physicist
My husband was asked to go to the UK in 2004 as a part of his job. I was on cloud nine as I was allowed to accompany him. It was a dream come true for me. We went to Birmingham. We settled in and the first thing I did was to find a library. I found a lot of biographies and science books. I really liked reading them.
I started watching the BBC, the iconic broadcaster sometime later. As I was browsing the channels, I came across a science programme called Horizon. It was presented by Prof. Brian Cox, a scientist.
I was mesmerised by the information and cinematography and his soft soothing accent. I have to admit he is way too handsome to be a scientist. He is like a rock star. Little did I know he really is one back then and he was voted the sexiest man alive by the People magazine. You can see for yourself.
Later came Wonders of the Solar system, Wonders of the Universe, Wonders of Life. Anyway, the way he talked about the solar system was literally out of this world. I never knew physics could be so interesting and could really be understood rather than trying to remember everything. I wish I was taught by him, I could be an astronaut. He makes Physics look so interesting and relatable to everyday life.
Growing up in the Space era
Brian Cox was born on 3rd March 1968 in Oldham, Manchester, England. He grew up in the age of space exploration.
Born just one year before the first man walked on the moon, he spent his childhood gazing into the night sky, perhaps dreaming of someday travelling to space himself. He was always fascinated by astronomy.
He is from an ordinary family like you and me. His mother and father worked in a bank, and he has a younger sister. He was educated in a public school called Hulme grammar school in Oldham, greater Manchester area (nothing public about it, as in the UK private schools are called public schools).
Music and Education
As he grew older however, his interests turned almost entirely to music in the late 80s and early 90s. He went to a gig by Duran Duran with his sister and he was so impressed by them that he wanted to be in a band. Coincidentally Darren Walton from the band Thin Lizzy moved in up the road from his house and his father gave him a demo tape made by Brian and his mates. He joined a local band Dare as a keyboardist and began to tour. To cut a long story short, he joined a local band Dare as a keyboardist and began to tour and record music with them. During this time, schoolwork lost priority, to the point that he achieved D grade at A levels. When Dare disbanded, maybe he thought of rekindling his love for astronomy. He studied physics at the University of Manchester at the age of 23. He earned a Bachelor of Science degree with first-class honours.
He subsequently joined as keyboardist for another group, D:Ream, a pop rock band with many hit songs in the UK. One of their songs, Things Can Only Get Better, was used by Tony Blair as his election anthem in 1997. The band was asked to do electron rallies and even performed at the party when Labour won the election. He still plays the keyboard a lot and likes to play on stage. Every year at Christmas,at charity shows, he plays on stage with bands he loves. He even appeared on Top of the POPs on the BBC with the Bee Gees.
This time he was trying to juggle music and his studies. However, when D:Ream disbanded in 97, he completed his PhD in particle physics in Germany.
I always thought science is not for ordinary people like me. Scientists are all geniuses, studious and extremely focused. Brian Cox proves if you are interested, and you put your mind to something you can do it.
Science
He is a professor of particle physics at the University of Manchester. He worked on the ATLAS experiment at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at CERN near Geneva, Switzerland. He previously held a Royal Society University Research Fellowship and a Particle Physics and Astronomy Research Council (PPARC) advanced research fellowship.
He has co-written several books on physics including Why does E=mc2 and The Quantum Universe, Black Holes — The Key to Understanding The Universe with Jeff Forshaw, Forces of Nature and Human Universe with Andrew Cohen. I have listened to the audiobooks. I really enjoyed them and learned a lot of course. I never thought science could be so enjoyable and exhilarating.
He has supervised or co-supervised several PhD students to completion including Tamsin Edwards a British climate scientist.
Broadcasting
Brian Cox is a very successful science communicator and has a long and successful broadcasting career. He is best known as the unofficial face of science in the UK. He has appeared on many science programmes, on radio including Einstein’s shadow and Infinite monkey cage, a comedy science magazine programme with comedian Robin Ince.
Being a natural presenter, he has also presented various science programmes on BBC such as Horizons series and Wonders of …. series. Recently he has presented The Planets, Brian Cox’s Adventures in Space and in Time, and Seven Days on Mars. I remember watching a video on YouTube about that documentary and Brian saying as a child he had sent a letter to NASA JPL (Jet Propulsion Laboratory), asking politely for pictures of some mission and they sent him the photos and he still knows NASA JPL address by heart.
It must have been such a dream come true for him to go there for the Mars mission documentary later.
He was asked to be a scientific advisor for a movie called Sunshine, by Danny Boyle. The movie is about a mission to jumpstart a dying Sun with a colossal stellar bomb.
He also conducts a worldwide arena tour called ‘Horizons: A 21st Century Space Odyssey’. Horizons is a celebration of our civilization, our music, art, philosophy and science. The goal of the tour is to make people aware of new things and understand the world they are living in better. He talks about Black Holes as well. Black Holes are a region in space from which even light can’t escape.
His enthusiasm and straightforward explanations of the complex phenomenon have sparked a widespread interest in science among the general public.
Many have credited his efforts and popularity with revitalising interest in physics in youth. As he has said “The key point is to make sure that people understand that science is something they can do. You don’t have to be some kind of genius. I think that is a complete misconception. Primarily you have to be interested”. Even while writing this, I can hear his soft northern accent in my ears. Even Stephen Fry agrees with me :). He once said, “I can think of no one, Stephen Hawking included, who more perfectly combines authority, knowledge, passion, clarity, and powers of elucidation than Brian Cox.”.
He has also appeared numerous times at TED, giving talks on the LHC (large Hadron collider) and particle physics.
It’s not all science all the time, he participated in legendary TV shows such as ‘QI’ and ‘Would I Lie to You’ as a panellist. He is a natural in front of the camera.
Once he found his passion in physics, he went from D grade at A levels maths to graduating with first class honours and PhD. Even more, Brian has had the privilege to share this love with thousands of people all around the world. And he believes the success and advancement of the human race stems from a similar passion and determination.
I remember one of his quotes, “My grandfather was born before the Wright Brothers and he saw us land on the moon. So we went from not being able to fly to landing on the moon in sixty years…if we feel like it, we can do it”. To me that feels so positive and encouraging. With everything that is going on in the world, I feel hope.
For me he is to Science what David Attenborough is to Natural History.
Awards
Brian has received many honours and awards for his services to science and broadcasting.
He was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2010 Birthday Honours for services to science and Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 2020 Birthday Honours for services to the promotion of science.
In 2012 he also was awarded the Michael Faraday Prize of the Royal Society “for his excellent work in science communication”. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society (FRS) in 2016.