Mark Brake | |
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| Born | 31 October 1958 |
| Nationality | British |
| Known for | Popularising the relationship between space, science and culture |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Physics, Science Communication |
Mark Brake (born 31 October 1958) is a Welsh author, broadcaster and former professor of science communication at the University of Glamorgan. [1]
Brake was born at Mountain Ash, Wales, UK. He was awarded a BSc by the University of Glamorgan and a MSc by University College Cardiff in 1988. [2]
In 1999, Brake established what he described as 'the world's first science fiction degree', [3] and in 2000, as Head of Earth and Space Sciences at The University of Glamorgan, was involved with an initiative to introduce school children to the study of astrophysics. [4] The following year, Russian cosmonauts Commander Aleksandr Aleksandrovich Volkov and Alexandre Martynov toured Britain in a series of lectures organised by Brake's department. [5] In 2005, Brake helped establish, and became head of, a degree in Astrobiology, described by a fellow academic as the UK's first full degree in the subject. [6] Between 2003 and 2008, Brake was responsible for leading public engagement initiatives in science, which attracted around £5 million of funding. [7]
The RoCCoTO project, launched in 2001, was a community-based science course for the public, featuring ideas about science and their cultural context in an instance of "Third Culture" studies. [8] The RoCCoTO project received a Public Engagement Award from the Astrobiology Society of Britain in 2008. [9] Alien Worlds, a multimedia website associated with the RoCCoTO project, was launched in 2009, and is an animated guide to phenomena such as eclipses of the sun and moon.
Brake has co-written and co-hosted a series of live tours with educational rapper Jon Chase, [10] appearing at the 2012 Hay Festival with a show entitled The Science of Doctor Who, [11] and the 2014 festival with The Science of Star Wars. [12]
In 2006, Brake submitted a grant application to the Research Councils' Procurement Organisation in which he falsely claimed to have a PhD from Cardiff University. The University of Glamorgan described this as "an isolated incident." [13] Brake continued to work at the University of Glamorgan as a professor of science communication until 2010. [14]
Brake has argued that Charles Darwin's theory of evolution, as expressed in his 1859 Origin of Species, was influenced by the work of Alfred Russel Wallace. [15] This view has been contested. [16]
Astrobiology, is a scientific field within the life and environmental sciences that studies the origins, early evolution, distribution, and future of life in the universe by investigating its deterministic conditions and contingent events. As a discipline, astrobiology is founded on the premise that life may exist beyond Earth.
Cardiff is the capital and largest city of Wales. Cardiff had a population of 362,310 in 2021 and forms a principal area officially known as the City and County of Cardiff. The city is the eleventh largest in the United Kingdom. Located in the southeast of Wales and in the Cardiff Capital Region, Cardiff is the county town of the historic county of Glamorgan and in 1974–1996 of South Glamorgan. It belongs to the Eurocities network of the largest European cities. A small town until the early 19th century, its prominence as a port for coal when mining began in the region helped its expansion. In 1905, it was ranked as a city and in 1955 proclaimed capital of Wales. Cardiff Built-up Area covers a larger area outside the county boundary, including the towns of Dinas Powys and Penarth.
Extraterrestrial life, alien life, or colloquially aliens, is life which does not originate from Earth. No extraterrestrial life has yet been conclusively detected. Such life might range from simple forms such as prokaryotes to intelligent beings, possibly bringing forth civilizations that might be far more advanced than humans. The Drake equation speculates about the existence of sapient life elsewhere in the universe. The science of extraterrestrial life is known as astrobiology.
Hywel Rhodri Morgan was a Welsh Labour politician who was the First Minister of Wales and the Leader of Welsh Labour from 2000 to 2009. He was also the Assembly Member for Cardiff West from 1999 to 2011 and the Member of Parliament for Cardiff West from 1987 to 2001. He remains the longest-serving First Minister of Wales, having served in the position for 9 years and 304 days. He was Chancellor of Swansea University from 2011 until his death in 2017.
The University of Glamorgan was a university based in South Wales prior to the merger with University of Wales, Newport, that formed the University of South Wales in April 2013. The university was based in Pontypridd, in Rhondda Cynon Taf, with campuses in Trefforest, Glyntaff, Merthyr Tydfil, Tyn y Wern and Cardiff. The university had four faculties, and was the only university in Wales which had no link with the University of Wales.
Cathays Park or Cardiff Civic Centre is a civic centre area in the city centre of Cardiff, the capital city of Wales, consisting of a number of early 20th century buildings and a central park area, Alexandra Gardens. It includes Edwardian buildings such as the Temple of Peace, City Hall, the National Museum and Gallery of Wales and several buildings belonging to the Cardiff University campus. It also includes Cardiff Crown Court, the administrative headquarters of the Welsh Government, and the more modern Cardiff Central police station. The Pevsner architectural guide to the historic county of Glamorgan judges Cathays Park to be "the finest civic centre in the British Isles". The area falls within the Cathays electoral ward and forms part of the Cathays Park Conservation Area, which was designated in 1975.
The University of Wales, Newport, was a university based in Newport, South Wales, before the merger that formed the University of South Wales in April 2013. The university had two campuses in Newport, Caerleon on the northern outskirts of the city, which was subsequently closed during July 2016, and a £35 million campus on the east bank of the River Usk in Newport city centre which opened in 2011. In 2012 the university was ranked 111th out of 120 UK universities in the Guardian League Table for university rankings, 105th out of 116 in The Complete University Guide and 104th out of 116 UK universities in the Times Good University Guide.
An extraterrestrial or alien is a lifeform that did not originate on Earth. The word extraterrestrial means "outside Earth". Extraterrestrials are a common theme in modern science-fiction, and also appeared in much earlier works such as the second-century parody True History by Lucian of Samosata.
Nalin Chandra Wickramasinghe is a Sri Lankan-born British mathematician, astronomer and astrobiologist of Sinhalese ethnicity. His research interests include the interstellar medium, infrared astronomy, light scattering theory, applications of solid-state physics to astronomy, the early Solar System, comets, astrochemistry, the origin of life and astrobiology. A student and collaborator of Fred Hoyle, the pair worked jointly for over 40 years as influential proponents of panspermia. In 1974 they proposed the hypothesis that some dust in interstellar space was largely organic, later proven to be correct.
University Hospital of Wales (UHW), also known as the Heath Hospital, is a 1,080-bed hospital in the Heath district of Cardiff, Wales. It is a teaching hospital of Cardiff University School of Medicine. Construction started in 1963, and the official opening took place in 1971. It was Europe's first fully integrated hospital and medical school, at a cost of £22 million. It is the third largest university hospital in the UK, and the largest hospital in Wales. The hospital was previously managed by Cardiff & Vale NHS Trust. In 2009 the Trust was dissolved and the hospital is now managed by Cardiff and Vale University Health Board.
William M. (Bill) Napier is the author of five high tech thriller novels and a number of nonfiction science books.
Cardiff Royal Infirmary is a hospital in central Cardiff, Wales. It is managed by the Cardiff and Vale University Health Board.
The Glamorgan Building is a former county hall located at King Edward VII Avenue in Cathays Park, Cardiff, Wales. It was the headquarters of Glamorgan County Council from 1912 to 1974 and then of Mid Glamorgan County Council from 1974 to 1996. The building, which was acquired by Cardiff University in 1997 and is now home to the university's School of Social Sciences and the School of Geography and Planning, is a Grade I listed building.
Mermaid Quay is a waterfront shopping and leisure district in the Cardiff Bay area of Cardiff, Wales. The 14,000 m2 (150,000 sq ft) development was opened in 1999, and includes restaurants, bars, cafes and shops.
Steven J. Dick is an American astronomer, author, and historian of science most noted for his work in the field of astrobiology. Dick served as the chief historian for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) from 2003 to 2009 and as the Baruch S. Blumberg NASA/Library of Congress Chair in Astrobiology from 2013 to 2014. Before that, he was an astronomer and historian of science at the United States Naval Observatory in Washington, DC, from 1979 to 2003.
Cardiff Central Library is the main library in the city centre of Cardiff, Wales. It offers a public library service and is open six days a week. Four buildings have been named as such, with the newest building opening on 14 March 2009 and officially being opened a few months later on 18 June 2009 by the Manic Street Preachers. The first Cardiff library was opened in 1861 as the Cardiff Free Library, later expanded and known as the Cardiff Free Library, Museum and Schools for Science and Art.
The Bute Building is a Cardiff University building in Cathays Park, Cardiff, Wales. It houses the Welsh School of Architecture. It is a Grade II listed building.
The University of South Wales is a public university in Wales, with campuses in Cardiff, Newport and Pontypridd. It was formed on 11 April 2013 from the merger of the University of Glamorgan and the University of Wales, Newport. The university is the second largest university in Wales in terms of its student numbers, and offers around 500 undergraduate and postgraduate courses. The university has three main faculties across its campuses in South Wales.
Milton Wainwright is a British microbiologist who is known for his research into what he claims could be extraterrestrial life found in the stratosphere.
Newport Road is a 4.7 mi (7.5 km) road leading east from the centre of Cardiff, Wales, towards Newport, until it joins the A48 at St Mellons.
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