Brian Edward Cox OBE is an English physicist and former musician, Professor, a Royal Society
University Research Fellow, PPARC Advanced Fellow at the University of Manchester.
He is a member of the High Energy Physics group at the University of Manchester, and
works on the ATLAS experiment at the Large Hadron Collider at CERN, near Geneva, Switzerland.
He is working on the research and development project of the FP420 experiment in an international
collaboration to upgrade the ATLAS and the CMS experiment by installing additional, smaller
detectors at a distance of 420 metres from the interaction points of the main experiments.
Cox is best known to the public as the presenter of a number of science programmes for the
BBC, boosting the popularity of subjects such as astronomy and physics.
He has been described as the natural successor for BBC's scientific programming by both David
Attenborough and the late Patrick Moore.
He also had some fame in the 1990s as the keyboard player for the pop band D:Ream.
Early life and education Cox's parents were bankers and he attended
the independent Hulme Grammar School in Oldham from 1979 to 1986.
Cox revealed on The Jonathan Ross Show that he performed poorly on his Maths A-level:
"I got a D ... I was really not very good ... I found out you need to practise."
He cites a lack of interest and fledgling band commitments as the reason for the result.
Cox obtained first-class BSc and MPhil degrees in Physics.
After D:Ream disbanded in 1997, Cox completed his Doctor of Philosophy in high-energy particle
physics at the University of Manchester.
His thesis, "Double Diffraction Dissociation at Large Momentum Transfer", was supervised
by Robin Marshall and drawn from work he did for the H1 experiment at the HERA particle
accelerator at the DESY laboratory in Hamburg, Germany.
Music career In the 1980s he was keyboard player with the
rock band Dare.
He studied physics at the University of Manchester, where he joined D:Ream, a group that had several
hits in the UK charts, including the number one, "Things Can Only Get Better", later used
as a New Labour election anthem.
Broadcasting career
Cox has appeared in many science programmes for BBC radio and television, including In
Einstein's Shadow, the BBC Horizon series, and as a voice-over for the BBC's Bitesize
revision programmes.
Cox presented the five-part BBC Two television series Wonders of the Solar System in early
2010 and a follow up four-part series, Wonders of the Universe, which began on 6 March 2011.
A new series, Wonders of Life, completed filming in June 2012, which Cox describes as "a physicist's
take on life / natural history".
He co-presents Space Hoppers and has also featured in Dani's House on CBBC.
BBC Two commissioned Cox to copresent Stargazing Live, a three-day live astronomy series in
January 2011 – co-presented with physicist-turned-comedian Dara Ó Briain and featuring chat show host
Jonathan Ross – linked to events across the United Kingdom.
A second and a third series featuring a variety of guests ran in January 2012 and January
2013.
Since November 2009 Cox has co-presented a BBC Radio 4 "comedy science magazine programme",
The Infinite Monkey Cage with comedian Robin Ince.
Guests have included comedians Tim Minchin, Alexei Sayle, Dara Ó Briain, and scientists
including Dr Alice Roberts of the BBC show The Incredible Human Journey.
Cox also appeared in Ince's Nine Lessons and Carols for Godless People.
Cox is a regular contributor to the BBC 6 Music Breakfast Show with Shaun Keaveny, with
a weekly feature.
Cox appeared on the 24 July 2009 episode of Robert Llewellyn's CarPool podcast series.
Cox has also appeared numerous times at TED, giving talks on the LHC and particle physics.
In 2009 he appeared in People magazine's Sexiest Men Alive.
In 2010 he was featured in The Case for Mars by Symphony of Science.
In November 2010 he made a promotional appearance in the Covent Garden Apple Store, talking
about his new e-book set to accompany his new television series as well as answering
audience questions.
Cox gave the Royal Television Society's 2010 Huw Wheldon Memorial Lecture on "Science,
a Challenge to TV Orthodoxy", in which he examined problems in media coverage of science
and news about science.
It was subsequently broadcast on BBC Two.
On 4 March, Frankenstein's Science featured Cox in discussion with biographer Richard
Holmes on Mary Shelley's exploration of humanity's desire to bring life to an inanimate object
and whether the notion is possible, in both the nineteenth century and today.
On 6 March 2011, Cox appeared as a guest at Patrick Moore's 700th episode anniversary
of The Sky At Night.
He has said that he is a lifelong fan of the programme, and that it helped inspire him
to become a physicist.
On 10 March 2011, Cox gave the Ninth Douglas Adams Memorial Lecture.
Cox has co-authored several books on physics including Why does E=mc2?
with Jeff Forshaw, and The Quantum Universe, also with Jeff Forshaw.
Cox was the science advisor for the science fiction film Sunshine.
On the DVD release, he provides an audio commentary where he discusses scientific accuracies depicted
in the film.
He also was featured on the Discovery Channel special Megaworld: Switzerland.
In 2013, he presented another series of "Wonders of Life".
On 14 November 2013, BBC Two broadcast The Science of Doctor Who in celebration of Doctor
Who's 50th anniversary, in which Cox tackles the mysteries of time travel.
The lecture was recorded at the Royal Institution Faraday Lecture Theatre.
In November 2013, the BBC announced that Cox will present Human Universe on BBC Two.
Honours and awards Cox has received many awards for his efforts
to publicise science.
In 2002 he was elected an International Fellow of The Explorers Club and in 2006 Cox received
the British Association's Lord Kelvin Award for this work.
Also in 2006 he was awarded a Royal Society University Research Fellowship.
A frequent lecturer, he was keynote speaker at the Australian Science Festival in 2006,
and in 2010 won the Institute of Physics Kelvin Prize for his work in communicating the appeal
and excitement of physics to the general public.
Cox was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire in the Queen's 2010 Birthday
Honours for services to science.
On 15 March 2011, Cox won Best Presenter and Best Science / Natural History programme by
the Royal Television Society for Wonders of the Universe.
On 25 March 2011, Cox won twice at the Broadcasting Press Guild Awards for 'Best Performer' in
a non-acting role, while Wonders of the Solar System was named best documentary series of
2010.
In July 2012, Cox was awarded an honorary doctorate from the University of Huddersfield.
Later that year, he was awarded the Institute of Physics President's medal by Sir Patrick
Stewart, following which he gave a speech on the value of education in science and the
need to invest more in future generations of scientists.
On 5 October 2012 Cox was awarded an honorary doctorate by the Open University for his "Exceptional
contribution to Education and Culture".In 2012 he also was awarded the Michael Faraday
Prize of the Royal Society "for his excellent work in science communication"
Personal life In 2003 Cox married U.S. science presenter
Gia Milinovich.
Their first son, George, was born on 26 May 2009.
George's middle name is "Eagle" after the Apollo 11 lunar module.
Milinovich also has a son, named Moki, from a previous relationship.
The family currently lives in Battersea.
He recalls a happy childhood in Oldham that included pursuits such as dance, gymnastics,
plane spotting, and even bus spotting.
He has stated in many interviews and in an episode of Wonders of the Universe that when
he was 12, the book Cosmos by Carl Sagan was a key factor in inspiring him to become a
physicist.
Brian Cox is a humanist, and is a "Distinguished Supporter" of the British Humanist Association.
He is a lifelong Oldham Athletic A.F.C.
fan, and held a season ticket at the club.
Television Discography
Session discography Dare – Out of the Silence
Dare – Blood from Stone D:Ream – D:Ream On Volume 1
D:Ream – In Memory Of...
References
External links Prof Brian Cox on BBC
Prof Brian Cox on Eden Brian Cox interview at sci-fi-online.com
List of papers by Brian Cox An interview with Brian Cox
Prof Brian Cox, Former Rock Star