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Sir Fred Hoyle, a
world-renowned astronomer, is acknowledged to be one of the most
creative scientists of the 20th century. He has held the
position of Plumian Professor of Astronomy at Cambridge University,
and was also the founder of the Institute of Astronomy at
Cambridge. He is currently an Honorary Fellow of both Emmanuel
College and St. John's College Cambridge and an Honorary Professor at
Cardiff University of Wales. He is best known for his seminal
contributions to the theory of the structure of stars and on the
origin of the chemical elements in stars. He is a joint
proponent of the Steady-State model of the Universe, and in
collaboration with Chandra Wickramasinghe he has pioneered the modern
theory of panspermia. Amongst the numerous awards and
distinctions bestowed on him are the UN Kalinga Prize, 1968, the Royal
Medal of the Royal Society and the Gold Medal of the Royal
Astronomical Society. In 1997 he was awarded the highly
prestigious Crafoord Prize by the the Swedish Academy in recognition
of outstanding basic research in fields not covered by the Nobel
prize. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society and a Foreign
Associate of the US National Academy of Sciences. He has
published over 40 books, including technical science, popular science
and science fiction. |