Adam Frank
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Adam Frank (born 1962) is an American
physicist A physicist is a scientist who specializes in the field of physics, which encompasses the interactions of matter and energy at all length and time scales in the physical universe. Physicists generally are interested in the root or ultimate cau ...
,
astronomer An astronomer is a scientist in the field of astronomy who focuses on a specific question or field outside the scope of Earth. Astronomers observe astronomical objects, such as stars, planets, natural satellite, moons, comets and galaxy, galax ...
, and writer. His scientific research has focused on
computational astrophysics Computational astrophysics refers to the methods and computing tools developed and used in astrophysics research. Like computational chemistry or computational physics, it is both a specific branch of theoretical astrophysics and an interdiscip ...
with an emphasis on
star formation Star formation is the process by which dense regions within molecular clouds in interstellar space—sometimes referred to as "stellar nurseries" or "star-forming regions"—Jeans instability, collapse and form stars. As a branch of astronomy, sta ...
and late stages of
stellar evolution Stellar evolution is the process by which a star changes over the course of time. Depending on the mass of the star, its lifetime can range from a few million years for the most massive to trillions of years for the least massive, which is consi ...
. His work includes studies of exoplanet atmospheres and astrobiology. The latter include studies of the generic response of planets to the evolution of energy-intensive civilizations ( exo-civilizations). His popular writing has focused on issues of science in its cultural context. Topics include: issues of climate and the human future, technology, and cultural evolution; the nature of mind and experience; science and religion. He is a co-founder of the ''13.7 Cosmos and Culture Blog'' that originated on National Public Radio (
NPR National Public Radio (NPR) is an American public broadcasting organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It serves as a national Radio syndication, syndicator to a network of more ...
), and he is a regular on-air contributor to NPR's ''
All Things Considered ''All Things Considered'' (''ATC'') is the flagship news program on the American network National Public Radio (NPR). It was the first news program on NPR, premiering on May 3, 1971. It is broadcast live on NPR affiliated stations in the United ...
''. He is an occasional contributor to the ''New York Times''.


Life and career

Frank was born on August 1, 1962, in Belleville, New Jersey. He attended the
University of Colorado The University of Colorado (CU) is a system of public universities in Colorado. It consists of four institutions: the University of Colorado Boulder, the University of Colorado Colorado Springs, the University of Colorado Denver, and the U ...
for his undergraduate work and received his Ph.D. from the
University of Washington The University of Washington (UW and informally U-Dub or U Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington, United States. Founded in 1861, the University of Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast of the Uni ...
. He held post-doctoral positions at
Leiden University Leiden University (abbreviated as ''LEI''; ) is a Public university, public research university in Leiden, Netherlands. Established in 1575 by William the Silent, William, Prince of Orange as a Protestantism, Protestant institution, it holds the d ...
in the Netherlands and the
University of Minnesota The University of Minnesota Twin Cities (historically known as University of Minnesota) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul, Twin Cities of Minneapolis and Saint ...
. In 1995, Frank was awarded the Hubble Fellowship. In 1996, he joined the faculty of the
University of Rochester The University of Rochester is a private university, private research university in Rochester, New York, United States. It was founded in 1850 and moved into its current campus, next to the Genesee River in 1930. With approximately 30,000 full ...
, where he is a professor of astrophysics. Frank's research focus is astrophysical fluid dynamics. His research group developed the AstroBEAR
adaptive mesh refinement In numerical analysis, adaptive mesh refinement (AMR) is a method of adapting the accuracy of a solution within certain sensitive or turbulent regions of simulation, dynamically and during the time the solution is being calculated. When solutions ...
code used for simulating magneto fluid dynamics flows in astrophysical contexts. Projects using AstroBEAR include the study of jets from
protostar A protostar is a very young star that is still gathering mass from its parent molecular cloud. It is the earliest phase in the process of stellar evolution. For a low-mass star (i.e. that of the Sun or lower), it lasts about 500,000 years. The p ...
s as well the evolution of
planetary nebula A planetary nebula is a type of emission nebula consisting of an expanding, glowing shell of ionized gas ejected from red giant stars late in their lives. The term "planetary nebula" is a misnomer because they are unrelated to planets. The ...
at the end of the life of a solar-type star.


Popular writing

In 2008, Frank authored an article for ''
Discover Discover may refer to: Art, entertainment, and media * ''Discover'' (album), a Cactus Jack album * ''Discover'' (magazine), an American science magazine * "Discover", a song by Chris Brown from his 2015 album ''Royalty'' Businesses and bran ...
'' magazine that explored scientific arguments regarding the
Big Bang The Big Bang is a physical theory that describes how the universe expanded from an initial state of high density and temperature. Various cosmological models based on the Big Bang concept explain a broad range of phenomena, including th ...
theory. Frank's first book, entitled ''The Constant Fire: Beyond the Science vs. Religion Debate'', was published in 2009. It discussed the ongoing relationship between
science and religion The relationship between religion and science involves discussions that interconnect the study of the natural world, history, philosophy, and theology. Even though the Ancient history, ancient and Middle Ages, medieval worlds did not have conc ...
. His work appeared in 2009 Best Science and Nature Writing and in 2009 Best Buddhist Writing. In 2010, Frank co-founded the NPR 13.7 Cosmos and Culture Blog with
Marcelo Gleiser Marcelo Gleiser (born 19 March 1959) is a Brazilian-American physicist and astronomer. He is the Appleton Professor of Natural Philosophy and a professor of physics and astronomy at Dartmouth College. Education Gleiser received his bachelor's ...
. A second book by Frank was published in fall 2011, ''About Time: Cosmology and Culture at the Twilight of the Big Bang''. It explores the relationship between changing ideas in
cosmology Cosmology () is a branch of physics and metaphysics dealing with the nature of the universe, the cosmos. The term ''cosmology'' was first used in English in 1656 in Thomas Blount's ''Glossographia'', with the meaning of "a speaking of the wo ...
and the cultural idea of time. In 2016, Frank wrote an article entitled "Yes, There Have Been Aliens". It is based on his astronomical observations, which stated "a trillion civilizations still would have appeared over the course of cosmic history". Frank wrote a college-level science textbook entitled ''Astronomy At Play in the Cosmos''. It was published in September 2016. Another book by Frank, ''Light of the Stars. Alien Worlds and the Fate of the Earth'', was published on June 12, 2018. It attempts to reframe debates about climate change by showing it to be a generic phenomena that is likely to occur with almost any technological civilization on any planet. In the book, he explores what Frank calls the Astrobiology of the Anthropocene. Frank and Gleiser's blog moved to ''Orbiter'' magazine in 2018 with a new name, 13.8: Science, Culture, and Meaning. Shortly after he and colleagues were awarded a grant from the
National Aeronautics and Space Administration The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agency of the US federal government responsible for the United States's civil space program, aeronautics research and space research. Established in 1958, it su ...
(NASA) to look for evidence of advanced technology on planets outside the
Solar System The Solar SystemCapitalization of the name varies. The International Astronomical Union, the authoritative body regarding astronomical nomenclature, specifies capitalizing the names of all individual astronomical objects but uses mixed "Sola ...
, on May 30, 2021, Frank's guest essay, ''I'm a Physicist Who Searches for Aliens. U.F.O.s Don't Impress Me.'' was published in the New York Times. In the article, he noted the mathematical probabilities over time for extraterrestrial civilizations in the universe, however, he put forth plausible explanations for the nature of the phenomenon described in reports that have appeared in media since 1947 and lamented about the lack of scientific study of such phenomenon, which he would encourage. Furthermore, he responded to assertions that the aliens presumed to be evident in these reports could have been intending to remain hidden, by asserting, "...if the mission of these aliens calls for stealth, they seem surprisingly incompetent. You would think that creatures technologically capable of traversing the mind-boggling distances between the stars would also know how to turn off their high beams at night and to elude our primitive infrared cameras." In September 2023, astrophysicists, including Frank, questioned the overall current view of the
universe The universe is all of space and time and their contents. It comprises all of existence, any fundamental interaction, physical process and physical constant, and therefore all forms of matter and energy, and the structures they form, from s ...
, in the form of the Standard Model of Cosmology, based on the latest
James Webb Space Telescope The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) is a space telescope designed to conduct infrared astronomy. As the largest telescope in space, it is equipped with high-resolution and high-sensitivity instruments, allowing it to view objects too old, Lis ...
studies.


Awards and recognition

* 1995 Hubble Fellow * 1997-2002 NSF CAREER Grant * 1999 American Astronomical Society Solar Physics Division Popular Writing Award for a Scientist * 2009 Best American Science and Nature Writing


Bibliography

* * ''The Constant Fire: Beyond the Science vs Religion Debate'',
University of California Press The University of California Press, otherwise known as UC Press, is a publishing house associated with the University of California that engages in academic publishing. It was founded in 1893 to publish scholarly and scientific works by faculty ...
(10 January 2009), * ''The End of the Beginning: Cosmology Culture and Time at the Twilight of the Big Bang'', (27 September 2010), * ''Light of the Stars. Alien Worlds and the Fate of the Earth'', (12 June 2018), * ''The Little Book of Aliens'', (24 October 2023), ISBN 978-0-063-27973-5 * ''The Blind Spot: Why Science Cannot Ignore Human Experience'', (5 March 2024),


References


External links

*
University of Rochester Department of Physics and Astronomy page

AstroBEAR AMR Code home page

NPR blog introduction page


(Adam Frank; NYT; 30 May 2021) {{DEFAULTSORT:Frank, Adam 1962 births Living people 20th-century American astronomers 20th-century American physicists 21st-century American astronomers 21st-century American physicists American science writers Discover (magazine) people Hubble Fellows University of Colorado alumni University of Rochester faculty University of Washington alumni