Canadian-French astrophysicist Hubert Reeves dies aged 91

Canadian-French astrophysicist Hubert Reeves, who was famend for his work popularizing space science, died Friday aged 91, his son stated in a publish on Fb.

“My complete household joins me within the ache of getting to announce that our pricey father has gone to affix the celebs,” Benoit Reeves stated.

The historical past of the universe was Reeves’ life ardour—he famously stated that “to look far is to look early,” evoking the idea of space-time—and he was additionally an ardent defender of planet Earth.

Born in Montreal on July 13, 1932, his thirst for information started at a younger age.

At night time at their residence in Quebec, Reeves and his household would exit to admire the sky, the place he first discovered to acknowledge constellations utilizing a cardboard sheet.

He excelled in physics and, by age 18, knew he needed to develop into an astronomer.

He did a doctorate at Cornell College and have become a scientific adviser to NASA within the early Nineteen Sixties earlier than instructing on the College of Belgium.

He later grew to become director of analysis at France’s Nationwide Centre for Scientific Analysis (CNRS) and adviser to the nation’s Atomic Power Fee.

Reeves wrote books and made quite a few well-liked movies and documentaries, all underpinned by the basic query: does the universe have that means?

And he grew to become a passionate environmental campaigner, calling for politicians to take motion.

We should “forestall the planet from turning into uninhabitable,” he pleaded on the Elysee Palace in 2014 throughout an surroundings convention.

“We face a battle … Who will win? No one is aware of,” stated the daddy of 4 and eight-time grandfather in a poignant speech.

For him, saving the planet was a matter of “the guts.”

“Ecology is not only one large downside, however thousands and thousands of little issues,” he informed AFP in an interview in 2018. Which means individuals need to “wish to deal with them” each day.

© 2023 AFP