James Jeffrey Binney, FRS, FInstP (born 12 April 1950) is a British astrophysicist. He is a professor of

physics Physics is the scientific study of matter, its Elementary particle, fundamental constituents, its motion and behavior through space and time, and the related entities of energy and force. "Physical science is that department of knowledge whi ...

at the

University of Oxford The University of Oxford is a collegiate university, collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the List of oldest un ...

and former head of the Sub-Department of Theoretical Physics as well as an Emeritus Fellow of

Merton College Merton College (in full: The House or College of Scholars of Merton in the University of Oxford) is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. Its foundation can be traced back to the 1260s when Walter de Merton, chancellor ...

. Binney is known principally for his work in theoretical galactic and extragalactic astrophysics, though he has made a number of contributions to areas outside of astrophysics as well.

Education and career

Binney studied the

Mathematical Tripos The Mathematical Tripos is the mathematics course that is taught in the Faculty of Mathematics, University of Cambridge, Faculty of Mathematics at the University of Cambridge. Origin In its classical nineteenth-century form, the tripos was a di ...

at the

University of Cambridge The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...

, graduating with a first in 1971. He then moved to the

, reading for a D.Phil. at Christ Church under

Dennis Sciama Dennis William Siahou Sciama, (; 18 November 1926 – 18 December 1999) was an English physicist who, through his own work and that of his students, played a major role in developing British physics after the Second World War. He was the PhD ...

, which he completed in 1975. After holding several post-doctoral positions, including a junior research fellowship at

Magdalen College Magdalen College ( ) is a constituent college of the University of Oxford. It was founded in 1458 by Bishop of Winchester William of Waynflete. It is one of the wealthiest Oxford colleges, as of 2022, and one of the strongest academically, se ...

, and a position at

Princeton University Princeton University is a private university, private Ivy League research university in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial ...

, Binney returned to Oxford as a university lecturer and fellow and tutor in physics at

in 1981. He was a visiting scholar at the

Institute for Advanced Study The Institute for Advanced Study (IAS) is an independent center for theoretical research and intellectual inquiry located in Princeton, New Jersey. It has served as the academic home of internationally preeminent scholars, including Albert Ein ...

Princeton Princeton University is a private Ivy League research university in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the Unit ...

from 1983 to 1987 and again in the fall of 1989. He was subsequently made ad hominem reader in theoretical physics in 1991 and professor of physics in 1996. Binney has received a number of awards and honours for his work, including the Maxwell Prize of the

Institute of Physics The Institute of Physics (IOP) is a UK-based not-for-profit learned society and professional body that works to advance physics education, physics research, research and applied physics, application. It was founded in 1874 and has a worldwide ...

in 1986, the Brouwer Award of the

American Astronomical Society The American Astronomical Society (AAS, sometimes spoken as "double-A-S") is an American society of professional astronomers and other interested individuals, headquartered in Washington, DC. The primary objective of the AAS is to promote the adv ...

in 2003, the

Dirac Medal The Dirac Medal or Dirac prize can refer to different awards named in honour of the physics Nobel Laureate Paul Dirac. * Dirac Medal (ICTP), awarded by the Abdus Salam International Centre for Theoretical Physics, Trieste * Dirac Medal (IOP), awar ...

of the

in 2010, the

Eddington Medal The Eddington Medal is awarded by the Royal Astronomical Society for investigations of outstanding merit in theoretical astrophysics. It is named after Sir Arthur Eddington. First awarded in 1953, the frequency of the prize has varied over the ye ...

in 2013, and the Isaac Newton Medal in 2023. He has been a fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society since 1973, and was made a

Fellow of the Royal Society Fellowship of the Royal Society (FRS, ForMemRS and HonFRS) is an award granted by the Fellows of the Royal Society of London to individuals who have made a "substantial contribution to the improvement of natural science, natural knowledge, incl ...

and a fellow of the Institute of Physics, both in 2000. He sits on the European Advisory Board of

Princeton University Press Princeton University Press is an independent publisher with close connections to Princeton University. Its mission is to disseminate scholarship within academia and society at large. The press was founded by Whitney Darrow, with the financial ...

. In 2025, Binney received the

Royal Astronomical Society The Royal Astronomical Society (RAS) is a learned society and charitable organisation, charity that encourages and promotes the study of astronomy, planetary science, solar-system science, geophysics and closely related branches of science. Its ...

Gold Medal for Astronomy for his lifetime achievements in the study of the structure and evolution of galaxies.

Interests

Binney's research interests have included: * Physics of

cooling flow A cooling flow occurs when the intracluster medium (ICM) in the centres of galaxy clusters should be rapidly cooling at the rate of tens to thousands of solar masses per year. This should happen as the ICM (a plasma) is quickly losing its energy ...

s and the processes of AGN feedback; * Supernova disruption of galactic disk gas; * Dynamics of galaxies, including those of the

Milky Way The Milky Way or Milky Way Galaxy is the galaxy that includes the Solar System, with the name describing the #Appearance, galaxy's appearance from Earth: a hazy band of light seen in the night sky formed from stars in other arms of the galax ...

; * Galaxy and orbit modelling, including development of torus modelling techniques.

Publications

Binney has authored over 200 articles in peer-reviewed journals and several textbooks, including ''Galactic Dynamics'', which has long been considered the standard work of reference in its field. Books: *''Galactic Astronomy'', by Dimitri Mihalas and James Binney, Freeman 1981. *''Galactic Dynamics'', by James Binney and Scott Tremaine, Princeton University Press, 1988. *''The Theory of Critical Phenomena'' by J. J. Binney, N. J. Dowrick, A. J. Fisher & M. E. J. Newman, Oxford University Press, 1992. *''Galactic Astronomy (2nd ed.)'', by James Binney and Michael Merrifield, Princeton University Press, 1998. *''Galactic Dynamics (2nd ed.)'', by James Binney and Scott Tremaine, Princeton University Press, 2008. *

References

External links

Faculty page
Centre for Theoretical Physics, University of Oxford (includes a short biography) {{DEFAULTSORT:Binney, James People educated at King's College School, London 20th-century British astronomers British physicists Fellows of the Royal Society Institute for Advanced Study visiting scholars Living people 1950 births Maxwell Medal and Prize recipients Fellows of the Royal Astronomical Society Fellows of the Institute of Physics Fellows of Merton College, Oxford 21st-century British astronomers Alumni of the University of Oxford