Donald E. Brownlee | |
|---|---|
| Born | Donald Eugene Brownlee (1943-12-21)December 21, 1943 (age 81) |
| Alma mater | University of California, Berkeley |
| Known for | co-originator of the termRare Earth |
| Awards | J. Lawrence Smith Medal,Leonard Medal,NASA Medal for Exceptional Scientific Achievement |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Astrobiology, Astronomy |
| Institutions | University of Washington at Seattle |
Donald Eugene Brownlee (born December 21, 1943) is a professor ofastronomy at theUniversity of Washington at Seattle and the principal investigator forNASA'sStardust mission.[1] In 2000, along with his co-authorPeter Ward, he co-originated the termRare Earth, in reference to the possible scarcity of life elsewhere in the universe.[2] His primary research interests include astrobiology, comets, and cosmic dust.[3] He was born in Las Vegas, Nevada.[4]
Brownlee studied electrical engineering atUniversity of California, Berkeley, prior to attending graduate school at theUniversity of Washington. Brownlee received his doctorate in astronomy from the University of Washington in 1971,[5] joining the astronomy department as faculty in 1975. He has also conducted research as a distinguished visiting professor at theEnrico Fermi Institute at theUniversity of Chicago. Alongside paleontologistPeter Ward, Brownlee is the coauthor of two books,Rare Earth: Why Complex Life is Uncommon in the Universe (which put forth the Rare Earth Hypothesis)[2] andThe Life and Death of Planet Earth, with his third bookThe Sixth Element: How Carbon Shapes Our World being co-authored with Theodore P. Snow.
Asteroid 3259 was named after Brownlee in 1991.[6] TheInternational Mineralogical Association has also named a newmineral in honor of Donald Brownlee. This newsilicide mineral (withchemical formulaMnSi) is now calledbrownleeite, and is the first mineral found from a comet.[7][8] He has been awarded theJ. Lawrence Smith Medal[9] from theNational Academy of Sciences, theLeonard Medal from theMeteoritical Society, and theNASA Medal for Exceptional Scientific Achievement in 2007. He was elected a member of the National Academy of Sciences in 1995[10] and in 1999 a fellow of theAmerican Geophysical Union.[11]
Origins: The term "Rare Earth" takes its name from the book Rare Earth: Why Complex Life Is Uncommon in the Universe (2000), by Peter Ward and Donald E. Brownlee ... As the authors describe it, the Rare Earth argument comes down to two central hypotheses ... making Earth a very special place
