Jack Cohen (19 September 1933 – 6 May 2019) was a British reproductive biologist also known for his science books and involvement with science fiction.

Life

Cohen was born 19 September 1933 in Norwich, but grew up in

Stoke Newington Stoke Newington is an area in the northwest part of the London Borough of Hackney, England. The area is northeast of Charing Cross. The Manor of Stoke Newington gave its name to Stoke Newington (parish), Stoke Newington, the ancient parish. S ...

.''The Jewish Chronicle'' 6 July 2005 "Not only connections" His father was killed shortly after the end of the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, 1 September 1945. His grandfather was a

rabbi A rabbi (; ) is a spiritual leader or religious teacher in Judaism. One becomes a rabbi by being ordained by another rabbi—known as ''semikha''—following a course of study of Jewish history and texts such as the Talmud. The basic form of t ...

and Cohen was an observant

Jew Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, religion, and community are highly inte ...

in his youth. He continued to attend the synagogue for cultural reasons. He was married three times and had six children.

Academic career

Cohen studied at

University College, Hull The University of Hull is a public research university in Kingston upon Hull, a city in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. It was founded in 1927 as University College Hull. The main university campus is located in Hull and is home to the Hu ...

, where he obtained a BSc (external degree of the University of London) in 1954. He obtained his PhD in

zoology Zoology ( , ) is the scientific study of animals. Its studies include the anatomy, structure, embryology, Biological classification, classification, Ethology, habits, and distribution of all animals, both living and extinction, extinct, and ...

at the same institution (by then

Hull University The University of Hull is a public research university in Kingston upon Hull, a city in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. It was founded in 1927 as University College Hull. The main university campus is located in Hull and is home to the Hu ...

) in 1957. He went to the

University of Birmingham The University of Birmingham (informally Birmingham University) is a Public university, public research university in Birmingham, England. It received its royal charter in 1900 as a successor to Queen's College, Birmingham (founded in 1825 as ...

for post-doctoral work and was appointed lecturer in the Department of

Zoology Zoology ( , ) is the scientific study of animals. Its studies include the anatomy, structure, embryology, Biological classification, classification, Ethology, habits, and distribution of all animals, both living and extinction, extinct, and ...

and

Comparative physiology Comparative physiology is a subdiscipline of physiology that studies and exploits the diversity of functional characteristics of various kinds of organisms. It is closely related to evolutionary physiology and environmental physiology. Many ...

in 1959. He worked for a year at

Harvard Medical School Harvard Medical School (HMS) is the medical school of Harvard University and is located in the Longwood Medical and Academic Area, Longwood Medical Area in Boston, Massachusetts. Founded in 1782, HMS is the third oldest medical school in the Un ...

then returned to

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands, within the wider West Midlands (region), West Midlands region, in England. It is the Lis ...

as a senior lecturer in 1968, a position he held until 1987. His former students include Sir

Paul Nurse Sir Paul Maxime Nurse (born 25 January 1949) is an English geneticist, former President of the Royal Society and Chief Executive and Director of the Francis Crick Institute. He was awarded the 2001 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, along ...

, winner of the 2001 Nobel Prize for Medicine. In 1974 the

awarded him a

DSc DSC or Dsc may refer to: Education * Doctor of Science (D.Sc.) * District Selection Committee, an entrance exam in India * Doctor of Surgical Chiropody, superseded in the 1960s by Doctor of Podiatric Medicine Educational institutions * Dyal Sin ...

for his work. From 1987 to 1989 he was senior embryological advisor and manager of laboratories at the

IVF In vitro fertilisation (IVF) is a process of fertilisation in which an egg is combined with sperm in vitro ("in glass"). The process involves monitoring and stimulating the ovulatory process, then removing an ovum or ova (egg or eggs) from t ...

/Infertility Clinic of a London private hospital. From 1995 to 1996 he was visiting professor at the

Weizmann Institute The Weizmann Institute of Science ( ''Machon Weizmann LeMada'') is a Public university, public research university in Rehovot, Israel, established in 1934, fourteen years before the State of Israel was founded. Unlike other List of Israeli uni ...

, Israel. From 1996 to 2000 he was a consultant at the

University of Warwick The University of Warwick ( ; abbreviated as ''Warw.'' in post-nominal letters) is a public research university on the outskirts of Coventry between the West Midlands and Warwickshire, England. The university was founded in 1965 as part of ...

, jointly to the Ecosystems Unit of the Biology Dept and the Mathematics Institute. He was an honorary professor at the Mathematics Institute of the

and a visiting professor at

Durham Business School Durham University Business School (DUBS) is the business school of Durham University, a collegiate university, collegiate Public university, public research university in Durham, England. The school holds triple accreditation from AACSB, Associa ...

. He published in prestigious journals such as ''Nature'' and wrote textbooks such as ''Living Embryos – an Introduction to the Study of Animal Development'' (1967) and ''Reproduction'' (1977). His theory of sperm redundancy was important in studies of fertility and treatment of infertility. He was a Fellow of the

Institute of Biology The Institute of Biology (IoB) was a professional body for biologists, primarily those working in the United Kingdom. The Institute was founded in 1950 by the Biological Council: the then umbrella body for Britain's many learned biological societie ...

Other activities

Cohen worked as a consultant for

science fiction television Science fiction first appeared in television programming in the late 1930s, during what is called the Golden Age of Science Fiction. Special effects and other production techniques allow creators to present a living visual image of an imaginary ...

shows and science fiction novels regarding the creation of plausible aliens. The writers who acknowledged his assistance included

Anne McCaffrey Anne Inez McCaffrey (1 April 1926 – 21 November 2011) was an American writer known for the ''Dragonriders of Pern'' science fiction series. She was the first woman to win a Hugo Award for fiction (Best Novella, ''Weyr Search'', 1968) an ...

for the ''

Dragonriders of Pern ''Dragonriders of Pern'' is a science fantasy series written primarily by American-Irish author Anne McCaffrey, who initiated it in 1967. Beginning in 2003, her middle child Todd McCaffrey has written Pern novels, both solo and jointly with A ...

''; Harry Harrison for his '' Eden'' trilogy;

Larry Niven Laurence van Cott Niven (; born April 30, 1938) is an American science fiction writer. His 1970 novel ''Ringworld'' won the Hugo Award for Best Novel, Hugo, Locus Award, Locus, Ditmar Award, Ditmar, and Nebula Award for Best Novel, Nebula award ...

Jerry Pournelle Jerry Eugene Pournelle (; August 7, 1933 – September 8, 2017) was an American scientist in the area of operations research and ergonomics, human factors research, a science fiction writer, essayist, journalist, and one of the first bloggers. ...

and

Steven Barnes Steven Barnes (born March 1, 1952) is an American science fiction, fantasy, and mystery writer. He has written novels, short fiction, screen plays for television, scripts for comic books, animation, newspaper copy, and magazine articles. Earl ...

for their '' Legacy of Heorot''; James White of

Sector General ''Sector General'' is a series of twelve science fiction novels and various short stories (1957–1999) by the Northern Irish author James White. The series derives its name from the setting of the majority of the books, the Sector 12 General Hos ...

fame;An interview with Dr. Jack Cohen
Astrobiology: The Living Universe

David Gerrold David Gerrold (born Jerrold David Friedman; January 24, 1944)Reginald, R. (September 12, 2010)''Science Fiction and Fantasy Literature, Volume 2'' Borgo Press p. 911. Archived at Google Books. Retrieved June 23, 2013. is an American science fict ...

for the Chtorr ecology; and

Terry Pratchett Sir Terence David John Pratchett (28 April 1948 – 12 March 2015) was an English author, humorist, and Satire, satirist, best known for the ''Discworld'' series of 41 comic fantasy novels published between 1983 and 2015, and for the Apocalyp ...

for several works. Cohen and fellow

researcher Ian Stewart, a mathematician, collaborated with Terry Pratchett to write four '' Science of Discworld'' books, which accompany his ''Discworld'' series. Pratchett made them both "Honorary Wizards of the Unseen University" at the same 1999 ceremony where the University of Warwick gave Pratchett an honorary degree. Anne McCaffrey dedicated ''All the Weyrs of Pern'' (1991) to Jack and Judy Cohen and credited Jack with making fact of her fiction. Cohen and Stewart also co-authored books on

epistemology Epistemology is the branch of philosophy that examines the nature, origin, and limits of knowledge. Also called "the theory of knowledge", it explores different types of knowledge, such as propositional knowledge about facts, practical knowle ...

. Cohen was a member of the high IQ society Mensa.Mensa
Frequently Asked Questions He was one of the small groups of British Mensans who persuaded science fiction author

Isaac Asimov Isaac Asimov ( ; – April 6, 1992) was an Russian-born American writer and professor of biochemistry at Boston University. During his lifetime, Asimov was considered one of the "Big Three" science fiction writers, along with Robert A. H ...

to visit the United Kingdom in June 1974. He had a long-standing interest in the design and natural balance of (particularly manmade) lake ecosystems, having designed new filtration systems but also led in reinstating Victorian designed systems at various locations around the UK. In 2009, he became a

patron Patronage is the support, encouragement, privilege, or financial aid that an organization or individual bestows on another. In the history of art, art patronage refers to the support that princes, popes, and other wealthy and influential people ...

of the anti-circumcision charity NORM-UK. His hobbies, according to the author profiles in his books, included

boomerang A boomerang () is a thrown tool typically constructed with airfoil sections and designed to spin about an axis perpendicular to the direction of its flight, designed to return to the thrower. The origin of the word is from Australian Aborigin ...

-throwing and keeping strange animals.

Books

*''

The Science of Discworld ''The Science of Discworld'' is a 1999 book by novelist Terry Pratchett and popular science writers (and University of Warwick science researchers) Ian Stewart and Jack Cohen. Three sequels, '' The Science of Discworld II: The Globe'', '' The S ...

'', with Ian Stewart and

*'' The Science of Discworld II: The Globe'', with Ian Stewart and

*'' The Science of Discworld III: Darwin's Watch'', with Ian Stewart and

*'' The Science of Discworld IV: Judgement Day'', with Ian Stewart and

*''

Figments of Reality ''Figments of Reality: The Evolution of the Curious Mind'' (1997) is a book about the evolution of the intelligent and conscious human mind by biologist Jack Cohen and mathematician Ian Stewart. Overview In this book Cohen and Stewart give t ...

'', with Ian Stewart (non-fiction) *'' The Collapse of Chaos'', with Ian Stewart (non-fiction) *'' Evolving the Alien: The Science of Extraterrestrial Life'', with Ian Stewart. The American and second editions were published as ''What Does a Martian Look Like? The Science of Extraterrestrial Life'' *'' Wheelers'', with Ian Stewart (fiction) *''

Heaven Heaven, or the Heavens, is a common Religious cosmology, religious cosmological or supernatural place where beings such as deity, deities, angels, souls, saints, or Veneration of the dead, venerated ancestors are said to originate, be throne, ...

'' (fiction), with Ian Stewart, , Aspect (May 2004) * ''Living Embryos'', Pergamon (1967) * ''Reproduction'', Butterworths (1977) * ''Spermatozoa, Antibodies and Infertility'' (1978) with W. F. Hendry * ''Living Embryos'' (1981) with B. D. Massey * ''Animal Reproduction: parents making parents'' (1984) with B. D. Massey * ''The Privileged Ape'' (1989) * ''Stop Working and Start Thinking'' (2000) with Graham Medley

References

External links

Dr. Jack Cohen official website

Terry Pratchett Receives Honorary Degree from University of Warwick
—with his "Wizard Making" of Jack Cohen and Ian Stewart at the University of Warwick
The kohanim: interview with Jack Cohen and Ian Stewart on the kohanim and genetics

Podcast of debate at University of Warwick on Intelligent Design
between Steve Fuller and Jack Cohen {{DEFAULTSORT:Cohen, Jack 1933 births 2019 deaths Academics of the University of Birmingham Academics of Durham University Academics of the University of Warwick Alumni of the University of Birmingham Alumni of the University of Hull British biologists British science writers Fellows of the Royal Society of Biology Genital integrity activists Harvard Medical School faculty Mensans Scientists from Norwich Jewish British scientists