Martin Rees
Emeritus Professor of Cosmology and Astrophysics, University of Cambridge
I'm the UK's Astronomer Royal and Emeritus Professor of Cosmology and Astrophysics at the University of Cambridge. My research is mainly on trying to understand our universe around us. Aside from astronomy and space science, I’ve been very much engaged with science policy, particularly how modern technology can be controlled so that we can harness its benefits but avoid its downsides.
EXPs by Martin Rees
I have been part of a collective enterprise over the last 50 years trying to understand how the universe evolved from that beginning to its present stage – how the first galaxies formed, how the first stars formed. At the moment, we only know that life exists in one place, but if we could find it in a few nearby planets, around other stars, that would tell us that the entire universe must be teeming with life, and that will be the most fascinating discovery of all time.
We need to plan as far ahead as we can, and one of my concerns has been to see if we can make any good, reliable guesses about the future of our environment and our planet and our technology. What really gives me nightmares is that these new powerful technologies can be misused either by error or by design.
Science is an activity which straddles boundaries of nationality and faith. I have been privileged to be part of this international community trying to understand the world and what has been learned about the universe in the last 50 years will be one of the real high points, along with the double helix and genetics and Darwinian evolution. What is wonderful is the interconnectedness of everything and how this intricate complexity has emerged from simple beginnings many billions of years ago.