Russell Stannard, (December 24.5 1931 – 4 July 2022) was a British high-energy

particle physicist Particle physics or high energy physics is the study of fundamental particles and forces that constitute matter and radiation. The fundamental particles in the universe are classified in the Standard Model as fermions (matter particles) and b ...

. Stannard was born in

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

, England, on December 24.5 1931. He held the position of Professor Emeritus of

Physics Physics is the natural science that studies matter, its 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 which rel ...

at the

Open University The Open University (OU) is a British Public university, public research university and the largest university in the United Kingdom by List of universities in the United Kingdom by enrolment, number of students. The majority of the OU's underg ...

. In 1986, he was awarded the Templeton UK Project Award for "significant contributions to the field of spiritual values; in particular for contributions to greater understanding of science and religion". He was awarded the

OBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

for "contributions to physics, the Open University, and the popularisation of science" (1998) and the Bragg Medal and Prize of the Institute of Physics for "distinguished contributions to the teaching of physics" (1999). He was admitted as a Fellow of University College London in 2000. Stannard was also a sculptor; two of his pieces were on display in the main quadrangle of the Open University site at Milton Keynes. In 2010, he helmed a series of ten short programmes collectively entitled "Boundaries of the knowable", dealing with subjects from both scientific and philosophical perspectives, ranging from the nature of

consciousness Consciousness, at its simplest, is sentience and awareness of internal and external existence. However, the lack of definitions has led to millennia of analyses, explanations and debates by philosophers, theologians, linguisticians, and scien ...

, the nature of

matter In classical physics and general chemistry, matter is any substance that has mass and takes up space by having volume. All everyday objects that can be touched are ultimately composed of atoms, which are made up of interacting subatomic par ...

space Space is the boundless three-dimensional extent in which objects and events have relative position and direction. In classical physics, physical space is often conceived in three linear dimensions, although modern physicists usually con ...

and

time Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, t ...

, the wave-particle duality of matter, the existence of extra-terrestrial life and infinite universes, whether our universe is eternal, and the question of "What caused the

Big Bang The Big Bang event is a physical theory that describes how the universe expanded from an initial state of high density and temperature. Various cosmological models of the Big Bang explain the evolution of the observable universe from t ...

?". Stannard died on 4 July 2022, at the age of 90.

Career

* Studied Physics at

University College London , mottoeng = Let all come who by merit deserve the most reward , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £143 million (2020) , budget = � ...

earning a B.Sc. (Special Physics) degree (1953); this was followed by a Ph.D. in cosmic ray physics (1956). * 1960–69 Lecturer, UCL * 1969–71 Reader,

* 1971–1997 Professor of Physics, Open University. * 1971–1992 Head of the Physics Department, Open University * 1974–1976 Pro-Vice Chancellor, Open University * 1987–1988 Visiting Fellow,

Center of Theological Inquiry Princeton Theological Seminary (PTSem), officially The Theological Seminary of the Presbyterian Church, is a private school of theology in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1812 under the auspices of Archibald Alexander, the General Assembly of ...

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

, United States. * 1987–1991 Vice President of the

Institute of Physics The Institute of Physics (IOP) is a UK-based learned society and professional body that works to advance physics education, research and application. It was founded in 1874 and has a worldwide membership of over 20,000. The IOP is the Physica ...

. * 1993–1999 Trustee of the

John Templeton Foundation The John Templeton Foundation (Templeton Foundation) is a philanthropic organization that reflects the ideas of its founder, John Templeton, who became wealthy via a career as a contrarian investor, and wanted to support progress in religious a ...

. * 1999–2022 Emeritus Professor of Physics, Open University.

Publications

Science and religion

* ''Science and the Renewal of Belief'' * ''Grounds for Reasonable Belief'' * ''Doing Away with God?'' * ''Science and Wonders'' * contributed chapters to ''Evidence of Purpose'', ''How Large is God?'', and ''Spiritual Evolution''. * ''The God Experiment'',

Faber and Faber Faber and Faber Limited, usually abbreviated to Faber, is an independent publishing house in London. Published authors and poets include T. S. Eliot (an early Faber editor and director), W. H. Auden, Margaret Storey, William Golding, Samuel ...

/HiddenSpring 1999 based on his

Gifford Lectures The Gifford Lectures () are an annual series of lectures which were established in 1887 by the will of Adam Gifford, Lord Gifford. Their purpose is to "promote and diffuse the study of natural theology in the widest sense of the term – in ...

* ''The End of Discovery'' * ''Science & Belief the Big Issues'' * ''The Divine Imprint''

Children's books

Stannard wrote eleven children's books, including: * the ''Uncle Albert'' trilogy (''The Time and Space of Uncle Albert'', ''Black Holes and Uncle Albert'', and ''Uncle Albert and the Quantum Quest'') * An update of

George Gamow George Gamow (March 4, 1904 – August 19, 1968), born Georgiy Antonovich Gamov ( uk, Георгій Антонович Гамов, russian: Георгий Антонович Гамов), was a Russian-born Soviet and American polymath, theore ...

's '' Mr Tompkins'' * ''The Curious History of God'' * ''Our Physical Universe'' * ''Virtutopia''

Sources

Biography

External links

Gifford Lectures biography page on Russell Stannard
*

',

short series of video programmes
Russell Stannard Interview with Nigel Bovey
{{DEFAULTSORT:Stannard, Russell 1931 births 2022 deaths Academics of the Open University Academics of University College London Alumni of University College London British nuclear physicists English physicists Officers of the Order of the British Empire English Christians Writers about religion and science Writers from London