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Eric J. Chaisson (pronounced chase-on, born on October 26, 1946, in Lowell, Massachusetts) is an American astrophysicist known for his research, teaching, and writing on the interdisciplinary science of cosmic evolution. He is a member of the Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian, teaches natural science at Harvard University and is an elected Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.[1]
He has published popular articles about interstellar clouds and nebulae[2][3] as well as the supermassive black hole at the center of the Milky Way Galaxy.[4][5] He studies complexity science utilizing the technical concept of energy rate density, [6][7] quantifies waste heating effects on climate change,[8][9][10] explores astrobiology and life in the Universe,[11][12] seeks to unify natural science[13][14] and works to improve science education nationally and internationally.[15][16]
Chaisson graduated in physics from University of Massachusetts Lowell in 1968 and earned his PhD at Harvard in 1972. He has held professorial appointments at the Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian, Johns Hopkins University, Space Telescope Science Institute, and Tufts University, where he was for 20 years director of the Wright Center for Science Education while holding research professorships in the department of physics and in the school of education. He is now back at the Harvard College Observatory where, in semi-retirement, he teaches one course each year and works with colleagues at the allied Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory.
He was commissioned an officer in the U.S. Air Force at Lackland Air Force Base in 1970, serving on active duty and in the reserves until 1986, after which he was honorably discharged at the rank of captain. He took leave from academia in 1986 at MIT Lincoln Laboratory as staff physicist working on ballistic missile defense amidst occasional consulting and advising for many years with the military-intelligence community.[17] He spent sabbaticals in 1996 as visiting scholar and national lecturer for Phi Beta Kappa and in 2018 working on solar energy as visiting professor at University of Notre Dame and Distinguished Fellow at its Institute for Advanced Study.[18]
Chaisson’s research and writing have won several awards, such as the 1977 B.J. Bok Prize[19] for “original radio-astronomy discoveries,” the 1980 Smith-Weld Prize[20] for “best article by a Harvard faculty member,” a certificate of recognition from NASA with U.S. flag flown aboard the STS-31 mission for “contributions made to the Hubble Space Telescope program,”[21][22] as well as unsought fellowships from the Sloan Foundation and the National Academy of Sciences.
His book Cosmic Dawn in 1982 received the Phi Beta Kappa Award in Science, the Science Writing Award of the American Institute of Physics and was a finalist for the National Book Award for Nonfiction. The Hubble Wars in 1995 also won the AIP’s Science Writing Award[23] and was listed in the "best books of the year" category by the New York Times.[24] Epic of Evolution won the 2007 Kistler Book Award[25] “for “increasing understanding of factors shaping the future of humanity.” And the textbook, Astronomy: The Universe at a Glance, won the Most Innovative New Textbook award in 2016 from the Textbook Authors Association.
