Esko Jorma Johannes Valtaoja (; born 20 June 1951) is a

Finnish Finnish may refer to: * Something or someone from, or related to Finland * Culture of Finland * Finnish people or Finns, the primary ethnic group in Finland * Finnish language, the national language of the Finnish people * Finnish cuisine See also ...

professional

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. Valtaoja worked as a

professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an Academy, academic rank at university, universities and other tertiary education, post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin ...

at the

University of Turku The University of Turku (, shortened ''UTU'') is a multidisciplinary public university with eight faculties located in the city of Turku in southwestern Finland. The university also has campuses in Rauma and Pori and research stations in Kevo ...

where he studied

quasar A quasar ( ) is an extremely Luminosity, luminous active galactic nucleus (AGN). It is sometimes known as a quasi-stellar object, abbreviated QSO. The emission from an AGN is powered by accretion onto a supermassive black hole with a mass rangi ...

s. Valtaoja retired in 2015 after holding a popular farewell lecture, that was also televised by Finnish national public broadcaster

YLE Yleisradio Oy (; ), abbreviated as Yle () (formerly styled in all uppercase until 2012), translated into English as the Finnish Broadcasting Company, is Finland's national public broadcasting company, founded in 1926. It is a joint-stock comp ...

. According to the Finnish Science Barometer conducted in 2013, Esko Valtaoja was the most well known Finnish scientist in Finland. Valtaoja was honored in 2019 when the town of

Kemi Kemi (; ; ; ) is a cities of Finland, town and municipalities of Finland, municipality of Finland. It is located approximately from the city of Tornio and the Finland–Sweden border, Swedish border. The distance to Oulu is to the south and t ...

decided to name a street, Valtaojankatu, after him. The naming of the street was a part of Kemi's 150th anniversary celebrations. In 2002 his book '' Kotona maailmankaikkeudessa'' (''At Home in the Cosmos'', 2001) won the

Finlandia Prize The Finlandia Prize (; ) is a set of Finnish literary prizes awarded by the Finnish Book Foundation to "celebrate reading and highlight new Finnish first-rate literature." Considered the most prestigious in the nation, they are awarded annually in ...

for the best non-fiction work. After this he became a popular guest-speaker at TV shows,

science fiction convention Science fiction conventions are gatherings of fans of the speculative fiction subgenre, science fiction. Historically, science fiction conventions had focused primarily on literature, but the purview of many extends to such other avenues of ex ...

s, popular science seminars, etc. Part of his popularity comes from his ability to present complex scientific theories and ideas in an understandable, entertaining manner to the general audience. Since then, Valtaoja has written another book, '' Avoin tie'' (''The Open Road'', 2004), in which he explains his visions of the future. The book is written in a style similar to that of ''Kotona maailmankaikkeudessa'', with the general audience in mind. His latest book is '' Ihmeitä: kävelyretkiä kaikkeuteen'' (''Wonders: Saunters to the Universe''), published in October 2007. The book is the last part of his trilogy, which began with ''Kotona maailmankaikkeudessa'', and is written in the same style as the two earlier books. As the first book is about the past and the second about the future, Valtaoja has said that it is natural to write the last about the present time. In his free time he enjoys

art Art is a diverse range of cultural activity centered around ''works'' utilizing creative or imaginative talents, which are expected to evoke a worthwhile experience, generally through an expression of emotional power, conceptual ideas, tec ...

and

literature Literature is any collection of Writing, written work, but it is also used more narrowly for writings specifically considered to be an art form, especially novels, Play (theatre), plays, and poetry, poems. It includes both print and Electroni ...

(especially

science fiction Science fiction (often shortened to sci-fi or abbreviated SF) is a genre of speculative fiction that deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts. These concepts may include information technology and robotics, biological manipulations, space ...

). He is also an amateur

biologist A biologist is a scientist who conducts research in biology. Biologists are interested in studying life on Earth, whether it is an individual Cell (biology), cell, a multicellular organism, or a Community (ecology), community of Biological inter ...

. In 2019 Valtaoja was diagnosed with

squamous cell carcinoma Squamous-cell carcinoma (SCC), also known as epidermoid carcinoma, comprises a number of different types of cancer that begin in squamous cells. These cells form on the surface of the skin, on the lining of hollow organs in the body, and on the ...

. The carcinoma was removed surgically, leaving Valtaoja's middle finger without a fingernail.

References

External links

Helsingin Sanomat on Valtaoja's Tieto-Finlandia Prize
21st-century astronomers People from Kemi Amateur biologists Finnish astronomers Finnish writers Finnish agnostics Finnish skeptics Living people Tieto-Finlandia Award winners 1951 births {{Europe-astronomer-stub