Hubert Reeves

Reeves, Hubert

Hubert Reeves, astrophysicist (b at Montréal 13 July 1932). He studied at College Jean-de-Brébeuf, U de M, McGill U and Cornell U, where he received a doctorate in nuclear astrophysics. Returning to Canada, he taught physics at U de M while acting as a scientific adviser to NASA. In 1966 he moved to Paris, where he was research director of the Conseil national de recherche scientifique (CNRS), and worked at the Saclay Centre d'études nucléaires and the Paris Institut d'astrophysique. In 1989 he took up a position at U of Toronto and divides his time between U of T and Paris.

He won international scientific attention with his writings, the last two of which have been bestsellers: Patience dans l'azur (1981 tr Atoms of Silence, 1984) and Poussières d'étoiles (1984). In addition to his research, Reeves became interested in the popularization of science, lecturing around the world and producing and contributing to a number of scientific films and other works, mainly in Montréal and Europe, including La plus belle histoire du monde (1995), Intimes Convictions (1996), Sommes-nous seuls dans l'univers (2000), Chroniques du ciel et de la vie (2005) and Chroniques des atomes et des galaxies (2007). His memoirs appeared in 2008 under the title Je n'aurai pas le temps. Reeves has earned numerous awards and honours, among them the Albert Einstein Award (June 2001) and the Institut France-Canada's Prix Samuel de Champlain (2002). Besides his many honorary doctorates, Reeves was named Officer of the Order of Canada (1991), Officier de l'Ordre national du Québec (1994) and Officer of the Legion of Honour (1994), and he was subsequently promoted to the ranks of Commander of the Legion of Honour and Companion of the Order of Canada in 2003. In 1999 the International Astronomical Union named asteroid (9631) 1993 SL6 after Reeves.