Brian Cox

The pop idol turned Science idol, Professor Brian Edward Fox is an English physicist, PPARC Advanced Fellow and a Royal Society University Research Fellow as the University of Manchester. He is an active affiliate of the group of High Energy Physics in the university. He graduated and enjoys his job on the experiment of ATLAS at CERN in the vicinity of Geneva, Switzerland. He is currently running through on the development and research of the FP420 experiment in a collaboration of all nations to promote the Compact Muon Solenoid or CMS experiment and ATLAS by putting in additional, lesser detectors with a space of 420 meters from the main points of interaction of the core experiments.

Brain Cox is best recognized by the people and viewers as the broadcaster of several science programs for the British Broadcasting Corporation, whose role mainly boosts the recognition of subjects that are perceived to be difficult and least favorite, Physics and Astronomy. He has been recognized as the usual descendant for BBC’s scientific programs by both bereaved Patrick Moore and David Attenborough. He was also able to gain some popularity during the 90’s as the one playing the keyboards for the popular band which was named D: Ream.

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Early Life and Educational Background

Brian Edward Cox was born on March 3, 1968 to banker parents. From 1979 to 1986, he attended and studied at the independent establishment of Hulme Grammar School. During his interview in The Jonathan Ross Show, he revealed that he poorly performed on his A-level on Math and got a grade of D, which he then considered as a very bad score and needed to really pour time and effort to practice. He mentions two reasons for his Math grade result – fledging band commitments and lack of interest.

Cox acquired first class Bachelor of Science and Master of Philosophy degrees in Physics. After his band, D: Ream disbanded in the year 1997 Brian Cox completed Doctor of Philosophy degree in high energy particle Physics at the University of Manchester. Supervised by Robin Marshall, he came up with a thesis entitled, “Double Diffraction Dissociation at Large Momentum Transfer” which he worked on at DESY laboratory in Hamburg, Germany basing on the H1 experiment at the HERA particle accelerator.

He recollects a joyful childhood in Oldham, which included pursuits like gymnastics, dance, spotting planes, and even spotting bus. He has mentioned in various interviews and in one episode of Wonders of the Universe that there was one book that really turned the table for him and inspired him to become a physicist. It was reading the book written by Carl Sagan called Cosmos when he was still 12. Professor Cox is a humanist and is a “Distinguished Supporter” of the BHA or the British Humanist Association.

In the year 2003, he tied the knot with the love of his life and married U.S. Science presenter Gia Milinovich and had their first son named George on May 26, 2009. The middle name of George is “Eagle” gotten from the lunar module Apollo 11. The whole family currently resides in Manchester.

Career in Science

Brian Edward Cox, after gaining popularity over his musical career as a keyboard player in his pop band in the 90’s, he focused on his career in Science. He returned to the heart of Physics and landed himself a led researcher position at CERN, which put him in a higher pace and position to perform numerous interviews tackling about the run up to the Great Switch On of the Large Hadron Collider.

His works and knowledge on the field was accentuated through his broadcasting career. He targets boosting science in the minds of people and the importance of studying it. He appeared in a lot of science programs for both BBC television and radio, which included In Einstein’s Shadow, the BBC Horizon series and also worked as a voice-over for the British Broadcasting Corporation’s Bitesize review programs. Cox became a presenter in a five-part BBC Two series on television entitled Wonders of the Solar System during the early 2010 and a follow-up 4-part series called the Wonders of the Universe that began on March 6, 2011. In June 2012, another series called Wonders of Life filmed which Cox describes as a physicist’s take on natural history and life.

In January 2011, Cox and comedian Dara O Briain hosted the BBC’s Stargazing Live where they acted like small and curious children looking at meteor showers and different planets. Because of his eagerness to impart his knowledge on physics and astronomy, he voiced out his interest in giving out proper lectures than just sounding and sighting the Wonders. This was generally realized in December 2011 when he gave lectures in television about the basic principles of quantum mechanics. There, he was given a complete lecture set with a blackboard in front of a lot of celebrity guests who also raised their hands on demonstrations where Jonathan Ross was seen struggling with elementary mathematics.

Brian Cox appeared as well for numerous times at TED (Technology, Entertainment, and Design) in which he gave talks on the particle and LHC physics. He was then featured in 2009 as one of the Sexiest Men Alive in People’s Magazine. The Symphony of Science featured him in The Case for Mars in 2010.

Cox gave a lecture on “Science, a Challenge to TV Orthodoxy” during the Royal Television Society’s Memorial Lecture in 2010. There, he examined problems and issues in media coverage of news about science and science in the general aspect. It was consequently broadcasted on BBC Two.

Apart from broadcasting science, he has also co-authored and numerous books about Physics, which include The Quantum Universe and Why does E=mc2, both with Jeff Forshaw.

His effort to broadcast and publicize science has brought him numerous awards and recognitions. In the year 2002, he was voted for an International Fellow of The Explorers Club. After 4 years, Brian Cox received the award on British Association’s Lord Kelvin because of this craft. It was the same year that he was awarded an early career research fellowship system – the Royal Society University Research Fellowship.

In 2012, he was awarded for his exemplary work and expertise in science communication with Michael Faraday Prize of the Royal Society.