Brian Edward Cox, known as the presenter of scientific programs on the BBC, was a British physicist and professor of particle physics at the University of Manchester. He is known for bringing science to wider audiences, especially with his programs in the fields of physics and astronomy.
Brian Edward Cox was born on March 3, 1968, to parents who worked in the banking industry. He had a happy childhood in Oldham and was interested in many extracurricular activities such as gymnastics and dancing. Carl Sagan's 1980 book "Cosmos", which he read when he was 12, inspired him to become interested in physics. The book also became famous with a 13-episode television series of the same name.
Brian Edward Cox (born 3 March 1968) is an English physicist and musician who is a professor of particle physics in the School of Physics and Astronomy at the University of Manchester and The Royal Society Professor for Public Engagement in Science.[4] He is best known to the public as the presenter of science programmes, especially BBC Radio 4’s The Infinite Monkey Cage and the Wonders of... series and for popular science books, such as Why Does E=mc²? and The Quantum Universe.
He studied at Hulme Grammar School, an independent school, from 1979 to 1986. Brian did not do well at A level in maths and got a D. Faced with this situation, he devoted more time to mathematics practice and tried to reflect this in his score. According to him, there were two reasons for his low grades in mathematics, his lack of interest in the subject and his commitment to new groups.
Brian loved to be involved in music, and in the 80s and 90s, he took part in two pop bands named Dare and D:ream with his keyboard.
Fortunately, his poor maths grades did not stop him from entering a university, and at the age of 23, he entered the University of Manchester to study for a bachelor of science degree. Here he tried to balance his work and goals for his band D:ream, which had a hit with the song "Things Can Only Get Better" in 1994. Cox graduated from the University of Manchester with a BA in Physics in 1997 with first place. The same year, the music group D:ream disbanded. The following year Cox began a PhD on high-energy particles in physics at the University of Manchester. Here he worked on his thesis titled "Biral Diffraction Decomposition in Large Momentum Transfer", supervised by Robin Marshall.
Cox first gained popularity through his musical career as a keyboard player in the late 80s-90s.
In the following periods, he focused on his career in science. In 2005, he became a professor of particle physics at the University of Manchester, which he still holds. He worked as a Royal Society University Research Assistant between 2005 and 2013.
A natural presenter, Cox has appeared on many science programs for both BBC television and radio, including "In Einstein's Shadow", the BBC's "Horizon" series, and has also lent his voice to the BBC's children's education program "Bitesize". Cox regularly presented the Radio 4 science show "The Infinite Monkey Cage" with comedian Robin Ince.
In 2010, he presented BBC Two's popular 5-part series "Wonders of the Solar System", and the following year, he presented the 4-part series "Wonders of the Universe", which is the continuation of the same series. In 2012, he presented the BBC series "Wonders of Life", in which he described a physicist's perspective on natural history. He also presented the BBC series “Human Universe” and “Forces of Nature” in 2014 and 2016.
He hosted the BBC's popular live astronomy program "Stargazing Live" with comedian Dara O Briain. This program was first broadcast in 2011. In the first episode, Jonathan Ross showed how to use the telescope, while Brian Cox explained why the planets are spherical.
He appeared many times at TED, where he gave talks on particle and Large Hadron Collider physics. Science Symphony appeared in 2010's The Case for Mars.
During the Royal Television Society's Memorial Lecture in 2010, Cox gave a lecture titled "Science Challenges TV Orthodoxy". Examined issues related to news media coverage of science.
In addition to science publishing, he wrote many books about physics, including “Quantum Universe” and the equation e=mc².
His science and TV broadcasting brought him recognition and many awards. In 2002, he was voted to become an International Member of The Explorers Club. In 2006, Cox won the British Association's Lord Kelvin Prize for his scientific publications.
For his contributions to science, he received an OBE in 2010, the President's Medal from the Institute of Physics in 2012, and the Royal Society Michael Faraday Award in 2012.
Professor Cox is a humanist and a member of the British Humanist Association, BHA.
He married US Science presenter Gia Milinovich in 203. Their first son, George, whose middle name was Eagle after the lunar module Apollo 11, was born on May 26, 2009.
Cox is currently working on the ATLAS experiment, a project that requires him to work using the Large Hadron Collider at CERN in Switzerland.
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‘I’m very pleased we’ve got the same name’: Brian Cox meets Brian Cox
https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2022/jul/23/succession-actor-brian-cox-meets-professor-brian-cox