Fred Hoyle's Universe 1st Edition

by Jane Gregory (Author)

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ISBN-13: 978-0198507918

ISBN-10: 0198507917

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Fred Hoyle was a Yorkshire truant who became the voice of British astronomy. For fifty years, he spoke out for astronomy in the newspapers, on government committees, at scientific meetings, in popular books and on the radio. He devised a never-ending history of the universe, and worked out how
the elements were made. He founded a prestigious institute for theoretical astronomy and built a giant telescope, and if it rained on his summer holiday, he sat in his caravan and wrote science fiction novels for his legions of fans around the world.

Fred Hoyle also claimed that diseases fall from the sky, that the big bang never happened, and that the Astronomer Royal should be abolished. When the outspoken Fred Hoyle spoke out for astronomy, some astronomers really wished he had kept his mouth shut.

This book tells the behind-the-scenes story of Hoyle's widely acclaimed and deeply controversial role in the ideas, organization and public face of astronomy in post-war Britain. It chronicles the triumphs, acrimony, jealousies, rewards and bitter feuds of a field in turmoil, and meets the
astronomers, contemplating cosmic questions, keeping secrets, losing their tempers, winkling information out of distant stars and, over tea on the lawn, discussing the finer points of libel law.

Fred Hoyle's Universe draws on previously confidential government documents, recently released personal correspondence and interviews with Hoyle's friends, colleagues and critics, as well as with Hoyle himself, to bring you the man, the science, and the scandal behind the genial and genteel façade
of the most exciting period in the history of astronomy.

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Editorial Reviews

Review

"Astronomy buffs will enjoy this hard-to-put down account of Hoyle's life."--Choice

"Among all British scientists, Fred Hoyle must be one of the most promising subjects for a biography. This is [because of] the importance and originality of his research; the fact that his science covers themes that attract wide public interest; and his role as one of the outstanding publicists of
science.'"--Professor Sir Martin Rees, FRS (Institute of Astronomy, Cambridge University)

"[Jane Gregory] has a rare ability to combine a high level of historical scholarship with some very interesting ideas on the public understanding of science, all expressed in a highly readable narrative."--Dr Andrew Warwick (History of Science, Imperial College)

"For decades Hoyle's slightly cherubic face and crisp waves of hair graced many an article in the popular press and science fiction novel jacket. His was the Voice of the Astronomer to the public, and the pioneer in the steady-state theory of cosmology to the professional, but behind the facade he
was subject to the same controversies and squabbles endured by any other run-of-the-mill academic. Gregory keeps both the public and the private in mind as she describes the career and family life of Hoyle, his studies and the dedication they inspired in him to conduct a life in science, his
confrontations with Ryle and Caltech, his publication of masses of work and his activism on behalf of his more reticent colleagues for funding and recognition for their work, his move to Cambridge and eventual resignation, his contributions to debates over the proper winners of Nobel Prizes, his
sojourns in other disciplines and ideas, and his legacy."--SciTech Book News

About the Author

Jane Gregory is Lecturer in Science Communication and Science Policy at University College London. Her PhD thesis, 'Fred Hoyle and the popularization of cosmology' (1998), uses Hoyle as a case study to illuminate the social role of popularization within science. Dr Gregory is coauthor of three
published books: Communicating Science - a handbook (with Michael Shortland, Longman, 1991); the IoP Handbook of Science Communication (with Steve Miller and Shirley Earl, 1998); and Science in Public - communication, culture, and credibility (with Steve Miller, Plenum, 1998).

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Oxford University Press; 1st edition (August 11, 2005)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 416 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0198507917
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0198507918
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.77 pounds
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 9.3 x 1.5 x 6.3 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #3,611,545 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #1,985 in Science Fiction & Fantasy Literary Criticism (Books)
- #2,090 in Astronomy & Astrophysics
- #2,139 in Science Fiction History & Criticism

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Frederick Ridge

According to Hoyle doesn’t just refer to Euchre

Reviewed in the United States on May 15, 2019

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Stephen Spears

Review- Fred Hoyle's Universe

Reviewed in the United States on January 17, 2014

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I enjoyed the book. It was a good summary of the life of a renown but controversial astronomer. I did however think the author spent too much time detailing the establishment of the Department of Applied Mathematics and Theoretical Physics institute.. A great deal of time including an extensive amount of communications between the various participants was included. I would have rather had more science in terms of his nuclear processes in the formation of the elements within stars.

S.C.S.

3 people found this helpful

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Delta D.

Comprehensive and balanced biography

Reviewed in the United States on June 1, 2019

Hoyle's genius and flaws are well laid out.

Whilst a chronological approach is the most obvious for a biography, I feel that a different structure would have been preferable for this man.

Each of the principal themes of his life - (i) steady state theory, (ii) nucleosynthesis, (iii) popularisation of science, (iv) science fiction, (v) administrative combats, (vi) diversions outside his area of expertise - could have been given a specific section enabling a focused and continuous narrative on each point. As it stands, the chronological approach means that the reader has to jump around between these themes.

One other criticism I'd make is that there excessive detail given on his bureaucratic battles.

For all that, I'm glad to have read this book and have no hesitation in recommending it to others.

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Francis A. Andrew

... book “Fred Hoyle’s Universe” takes the reader through the amazing journey of the life of the greatest cosmologist of ...

Reviewed in the United States on November 22, 2015

Jane Gregory’s well researched book “Fred Hoyle’s Universe” takes the reader through the amazing journey of the life of the greatest cosmologist of the twentieth century. This eighteen chapter book begins with the young Fred Hoyle’s turbulent schooldays during which, in spite of his truancy, he acquired the sharp analytical mind that would prove to be the hallmark of his entire scientific career.
Ms Gregory relates Hoyle’s contribution to the war effort, namely his work on the development of radar. Notwithstanding the main focus of Hoyle’s work being directed towards the military exigencies of the time, he never lost sight of his main interest – astronomy.
In the post-war years, Hoyle re-directed his concentration back towards the astronomical sciences; Gregory explains how he made his debut with his series “The Nature of the Universe” which was broadcast on BBC radio’s “The Third Programme” and later reproduced in book form. It was here that Hoyle achieved fame for his Steady State Theory which posited a challenge to the more widely accepted Super-dense Theory which Hoyle would later mockingly dub as the Big Bang, a term which in itself would enter into the stock of the commonly accepted parlance throughout the astronomical community in describing cosmological origins. Jane Gregory relates Hoyle’s collaboration with Willy Fowler and Geoffrey and Margaret Burbidge in finding a new state of carbon and in developing the theory of stellar nucleosynthesis.
It was not only in the realm of serious science where Fred Hoyle operated; Jane Gregory mentions a number of the science fiction books which Hoyle wrote, many of which were co-authored with his son, Geoffrey. Fred Hoyle’s first novel, “The Black Cloud,” was a kind of precursor to a theory which he was later to develop with his colleague, Chandra Wickramasinghe - a controversial theory which held that evolution operated in a cosmological rather than in a merely terrestrial dimension. Within the context of this new science of Astrobiology, Hoyle and Wickramasinghe, forayed into the biological and medical fields and ruffled not a few feathers in mainstream science by their contention that many common diseases such as the cold and influenza had their origins in outer space.
Hoyle did not refrain from entering the political arena. His book “A Decade of Decision,” mentioned in Chapter 4 of Gregory’s biography, highlights the issues confronting the post-war world while at the same time offering Hoyle’s unique solutions to them. Hoyle devoted a lot of his time to lobbying governments for additional funding for scientific research especially in the field of astronomy. In this regard, Gregory provides a detailed account of how Hoyle struggled for government acceptance for the establishment of an Institute of Astronomy in Cambridge. We can clearly see from Gregory’s account, Hoyle’s immense contribution to the cause of astronomy in Great Britain.
Jane Gregory has compiled a comprehensive account of the life of Fred Hoyle. Her book provides many interesting insights into this highly controversial character who, by standing apart from conventionality, opened up whole new vistas in the field of scientific endeavour. Today, Hoyle’s legacy continues with many of his “maverick” theories, slowly but surely, making their way into the hallways of acceptance of mainstream science.

2 people found this helpful

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John Matlock

Well Written Book About a Fascinating Scientist

Reviewed in the United States on January 21, 2006

Fred Hoyle was one of the most distinguished and at the same time the most controversial scientists of the twentieth century. He was also a quite popular author of science fiction novels, a popular radio announcer on the BBC -- a true renaissance man.

His scientific achievements consisted of pioneering work in areas like the radioactivity in stars that produce all of the heavy elements which when subsequently blown into space and collected into planets become the stuff out of which we are all made. He also did fundamental research into some of the practical problems facing the use of Radar during World War II.

The biggest controversy came from his support of the steady state theory of the cosmos rather than the Big Bang. Not only did he support steady state, he continued his support long after it became discarded by the mainstream of science. In fact, his last book, published just before his death continued steady state support and further annoyed most of the scientists with a photograph of a flock of geese blindly following one another representing the failure of the big-banger's to even consider an alternate approach.

This book is essentially a biography, but it also gives a good look into the world of science in the last century. Good Reading!

12 people found this helpful

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Top reviews from other countries

Nat Whilk

A good biography, but perhaps not quite as good as Simon Mitton's

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on August 20, 2018

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Fred Hoyle grew up as a lower-middle-class truant in a tiny Yorkshire village near the Brontes' Haworth. He went on to become the co-discoverer of the origin of the chemical elements, the co-inventor of the steady-state theory of cosmology, the father of the Anglo-Australian Telescope, the creator of Cambridge's Institute of Theoretical Astronomy, the author of many popular science books and a leading light of science-fiction. He was also an enthusiastic, sometimes aggressive maverick keen to voice his opinions on Archaeopteryx, Stonehenge, climate change, HIV, extraterrestrial life, politics and theology. Few scientists' lives can have been so rich and colourful as Hoyle's.

Dr Gregory's 2005 biography had its roots in her PhD thesis on Hoyle and the popularisation of cosmology, and her book is academically meticulous. She tells us about Hoyle's childhood, his studies at school and at Cambridge, his research apprenticeship, his war work on naval radar, his espousal of the steady-state hypothesis, his burgeoning fame as a broadcaster and writer, his immortal contribution to stellar nuclear physics, his rows with the radio astronomer Martin Ryle, his sci-fi fables, his involvement in scientific politics, his struggle to found his Institute, his beliefs about quasars, his contribution to the AAT, his resignation from Cambridge, his share in the controversy over the Nobel Prize awarded after the discovery of pulsars, his work on the interstellar medium, his faith in panspermia, the many bees that buzzed in his bonnet during his self-imposed exile from his university and his final illness and death. Dr Gregory supplements her narrative with fifty pages of references and a fourteen-page index.

The strength of this biography is its astonishing level of detail - Dr Gregory is especially good at recounting astronomers' ferocious squabbling among themselves over money, status and power. The book's misfortune is that it has two rivals which tell Hoyle's story with even more drama and human interest - Hoyle's own "Home is where the wind blows", and Simon Mitton's "Fred Hoyle: a life in science". Mitton has the advantage of being an astronomer himself, a colleague of Hoyle's and an author with the literary skill that comes from a background in writing for a mass readership. I'm glad to have all three versions of Hoyle's entertaining career, but I prefer Mitton to Gregory, and I think that Hoyle's own memoir is perhaps the most enjoyable of them all (if altogether subjective).

Oxford University Press's 2011 edition of Dr Gregory's book is a digital reprint that meanly omits its twenty-three photographic plates, despite, bizarrely, including a page of acknowledgements thanking those who contributed them. Both Mitton's and Hoyle's books are generously illustrated.

One person found this helpful

Dr. John P. Yardley

All the basic elements

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on September 17, 2014

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I bought this in 2005 and I have only just got around to reading it. Overall, the book is highly readable and includes a very interesting background account of government and scientific politics at play from WW2 until the 90s. As with similar biographies (Dirac, etc) this book gives some insight into why Cambridge is/was at the forefront of physics and how it has, by and large, managed to keep out (or wear down) anyone that doesn't fit. Somehow, Fred slipped through the net. I thought the descriptions of the plots of all Fred's novels were unnecessary, and I was also surprised not to find mention of the accelerating expansion of the universe discovered well before the book was written. I would have thought this well and truly put the nail in the coffin of even the cyclic steady-state universe debate. That said, an excellent book and required reading for anyone half-interested in cosmology.

Richard J Bird

An excellent scientific biogrphy

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on November 14, 2013

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This is a first-class account of the scientific life of Sir Fred Hoyle one of the most original minds of the twentieth century. It concentrates on his scientific work rather than his personal life and in this it is through and insightful. The author understands the scientific issues and engages readers who are not scientists as well as those who are more specialised. The account falls off somewhat towards the end and does not cover some of his late work, but all-in-all I found it an exciting read.

Cormac

Five Stars

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on August 18, 2014

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Excellent read, detailed yet highly approachable

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