Biography
#10 on Foreign Policy’s 2012 Top 100 Global Thinkers
Richard Muller is a legendary professor of physics whose life-long mission is to explain current world events with the help of the physical sciences. The result is a set of astounding insights into everything from understanding the ice ages to the latest terrorist threat facing the homeland to the complexities of global warming to the very origins of the universe.
Dr. Muller chaired a team of scientists in the Berkley Earth Project, an independent research study of global-warming. The team analyzed information from more then 100 years of data and thousands of instruments around the world to show a historic record of the planet’s temperature change. This intensive research concluded that global-warming is real and that the rate of warming was correct and it is largely a man-made problem. Dr. Muller is now a converted climate-change skeptic.
He is the author of numerous books, most notably Physics for Future Presidents, based on his Berkeley lecture series. His newest book is Energy for Future Presidents. Richard has also writter The Instant Physicist: An Illustrated Guide. With this guide, Richard shows his ability to entertain while readers absorb scientific curiosities.
Richard is the recipient of a MacArthur genius fellowship for his contributions to the study of geology and astrophysics. He is number 10 on Foreign Policy's 2012 Top 100 Global Thinkers list. Along with Barack Obama, Steve Jobs and
Amy Chua, Dr. Muller was named 2011
Brave Thinker
by The Atlantic.
"We have confidence that the temperature rise that had previously been reported had been done without bias."
— Richard Muller
Berkeley Earth Project
Richard Muller is chair of
Berkeley Earth,
an independent, non-political, non-partisan group aimed at finding an independent assessment of global warming. Using new computer tools and 1.6bn data points of information, the team analyzed information from more then 100 years of data and thousands of instruments around the world to show a historic record of the planet’s temperature change. Dr. Muller and the Berkeley Earth team completed their analysis.
Here is a summary of their findings.
A prolific researcher, Richard is credited with discoveries that have deepened our understanding of space, the composition of the cosmos, and even the nature of fossils dug up here on earth. In addition, he is a mentor to a generation of young scientists and engineers who are now in the process of reinventing our world.
Richard teaches a prize-winning course — twice voted the best class at Berkeley — in physics aimed at non-science students. He explains the course as an entrée into current world problems and the preparation of tomorrow’s leaders for a technological world:
"I think of physics as the liberal arts of technology ... I’m teaching the elementary physics that is most useful for someone who’s trying to live in a technological world, to contribute to that world, and to make correct decisions."
— Richard in The Berkeleyan, 26 February 2003
Richard’s essay "Physics for Future Presidents" is included in The American Academy of Arts and Sciences volume of Science and the Educated American: A Core Component of Liberal Education. This collection features experts describing ways to help institutions of higher learning instill in students a curiosity about science and an appreciation for its profound impact on everyday life.
His textbook *Physics and Technology for Future Presidents is currently in use at 44 universities around the US and one in Pakistan. Twenty-six of his lectures from this renowned course can now be viewed on YouTube.
Physics for Future Presidents: The Science Behind the Headlines
Based on his Berkeley lecture series on science for non-science students, the book presents an eye- opening exploration of everything from terrorism to energy issues to nuclear weapons to outer space — all illuminated by the light of scientific principles. Chosen for the 2011-2012 Common Reading program at Washington State University.
"one of eight "great books" on energy and environment."
— Bill Gates at TED 2010
"A marvelously readable and level-headed explanation of basic science and how it relates to the issues."
— New York Times*
"Should be required reading for all informed citizens, as well as Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, and John McCain."
— Publishers Weekly*
He has been a popular columnist for MIT’s Technology Review, where he has applied the lessons of physics to important issues of the day, enticing readers with provocative articles such as "Global Warming Bombshell," "Dirty Bombs," "Airport Insecurity," and even "The Physics of Gluttony."
Richard has been heard on National Public Radio and has recently appeared in the pages of The Wall Street Journal with an op-ed on the challenges of ending global warming. Dr. Muller appeared on The O’Reilly Factor as a key expert during the Japan’s nuclear crisis.
Awards and Honors
- #10 on Foreign Policy's 2012 Top 100 Global Thinkers
- The Atlantic’s 2011 Brave Thinker
- National Science Foundation Award
- MacArthur Foundation Prize Fellowship
- Science Digest list of 100 Outstanding Scientists Under Age 40
- Fellow, American Physical Society
- Newsweek citation as one of 25 Innovators in the US
- Fellow, American Association for the Advancement of Science
- Distinguished Teaching Award, UC Berkeley
- Fellow, California Academy of Arts and Sciences
Education
- PhD, Physics, University of California at Berkeley
- BA, Columbia University
The near-meltdown of Fukushima, the upheavals in the Middle East, the BP oil rig explosion, and the looming reality of global warming have reminded the president and all U.S. citizens that nothing has more impact on our lives than the supply of and demand for energy. Its procurement dominates our economy and foreign policy more than any other factor. But the “energy question” is more confusing, contentious, and complicated than ever before. We need to know if nuclear power will ever really be safe. We need to know if solar and wind power will ever really be viable. And we desperately need to know if the natural gas deposits in Pennsylvania are a windfall of historic proportions or a false hope that will create more problems than solutions. Richard A. Muller provides all the answers in this must-read guide to our energy priorities now and in the coming years. 50 photographs