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Francis Edwin Close (born 24 July 1945) is aparticle physicist who is Emeritus Professor of Physics at theUniversity of Oxford and a Fellow ofExeter College, Oxford.

Close was a pupil atKing's School, Peterborough (then agrammar school), where he was taught Latin by John Dexter, brother of authorColin Dexter. He took a BSc in physics atSt Andrews University graduating in 1967, before researching for aDPhil in theoretical physics atMagdalen College, Oxford, under the supervision ofRichard Dalitz, which he was awarded in 1970. He is an atheist.^[1]

In addition to his scientific research, he is known for his lectures and writings making science intelligible to a wider audience and promotingphysics outreach.

From Oxford he went toStanford University in California for two years as a Postdoctoral Fellow on theStanford Linear Accelerator Center. In 1973 he went to theDaresbury Laboratory in Cheshire and then toCERN in Switzerland from 1973 to 1975.^[2] He joined theRutherford Appleton Laboratory in Oxfordshire in 1975 as a research physicist and was latterly head of Theoretical Physics Division from 1991. He headed the communication and public education activities at CERN from 1997 to 2000. From 2001, he was professor of theoretical physics at Oxford. He was a visiting professor at theUniversity of Birmingham from 1996 to 2002.

Close lists his recreations as writing, singing, travel,squash andReal tennis, and he is a member ofHarwell Squash Club.

• He became aFellow of the Institute of Physics (FInstP) in 1991.
• TheInstitute of Physics awarded him its 1996Kelvin Medal and Prize, which is given "for outstanding contributions to the public understanding of physics".^[3]
• From 1993 to 1999, he was vice-president of theBritish Association for the Advancement of Science.
• He was appointed anOBE in 2000.
• Since 2003, he has been Chairman of the British team (BPhO) in theInternational Physics Olympiad, based at theUniversity of Leicester.^{[4][citation needed]}
• 2013 Awarded the Royal SocietyMichael Faraday Prize.^[5]
• He became aFellow of the Royal Society (FRS) in 2021.

HisRoyal Institution Christmas Lectures in 1993, entitledThe Cosmic Onion, gave their name to one of his books. He was a member on the council of the Royal Institution from 1997 to 1999. From 2000 to 2003 he gave public lectures as professor of astronomy atGresham College, London.

In his book,Lucifer's Legacy: The Meaning of Asymmetry, Close wrote: "Fundamental physical science involves observing how the universe functions and trying to find regularities that can be encoded into laws. To test if these are right, we do experiments. We hope that the experiments won't always work out, because it is when our ideas fail that we extend our experience. The art of research is to ask the right questions and discover where your understanding breaks down."^[6]

His 2010 bookNeutrino discusses thetiny, difficult-to-detect particle emitted from radioactive transitions and generated by stars. Also discussed are the contributions ofJohn Bahcall,Ray Davis,Bruno Pontecorvo, and others who made a scientific understanding of this fundamental building block of the universe.

InThe Infinity Puzzle: Quantum Field Theory and the Hunt for an Orderly Universe (2013), Close focuses on the discovery of the mass mechanism, the so-calledHiggs-mechanism.^[7]

In his 2019 book,Trinity: The Treachery and Pursuit of the Most Dangerous Spy in History, Close recounts the life and the espionage ofKlaus Fuchs who passed atomic secrets to the Soviets during the race for development of the nuclear bomb. He concludes that "it was primarily Fuchs who enabled the Soviets to catch up with Americans".^[8]

Other books include:Particle Physics:A Very Short IntroductionISBN 9780192804341,AntimatterISBN 9780199550166 andNothingISBN 9780199225866.

• Gresham Professor of Astronomy

• Close, Frank (1979).An Introduction to Quarks and Partons. London: Academic Press.ISBN 0-12-175150-3.
• Close, Frank (1983).The Cosmic Onion: Quarks and the Nature of the Universe. London: Heinemann Educational.ISBN 0-435-69170-8.
  • Close, Frank (2006).The New Cosmic Onion: Quarks and the Nature of the Universe (rev. ed.). London: Taylor & Francis.ISBN 1-58488-798-2.
• Close, Frank;Marten, Michael;Sutton, Christine (1987).The Particle Explosion. Oxford: Oxford University Press.ISBN 0-19-851965-6.
  • The Particle Odyssey: A Journey to the Heart of the Matter (rev. ed.). Oxford: Oxford University Press. 2002.ISBN 0-19-850486-1.
• Close, Frank (1988).End: Cosmic Catastrophe and the Fate of the Universe. London: Simon & Schuster.ISBN 0-671-65461-6. (Published in the US asApocalypse When?)
• Close, Frank (1990).Too Hot to Handle: The Story of the Race for Cold Fusion. London: W. H. Allen.ISBN 1-85227-206-6.
  • Close, Frank (1991).Too Hot to Handle: The Story of the Race for Cold Fusion. Princeton, N.J: Princeton University Press.ISBN 978-0-691-08591-3.
• Close, Frank (2000).Lucifer's Legacy: The Meaning of Asymmetry. Oxford: Oxford University Press.ISBN 0-19-850380-6.
• Close, Frank (2004).Particle Physics: A Very Short Introduction. Oxford: Oxford University Press.ISBN 0-19-280434-0.
• Close, Frank (2007).The Void. Oxford: Oxford University Press.ISBN 978-0-19-922590-3.
• Close, Frank (2009).Antimatter. Oxford: Oxford University Press.ISBN 978-0-19-955016-6.
• Close, Frank (2009).Nothing: A Very Short Introduction. Oxford: Oxford University Press.ISBN 978-0-19-922586-6.
• Close, Frank (2010).Neutrino. Oxford: Oxford University Press.ISBN 978-0-19-957459-9.
• Close, Frank (2011).The Infinity Puzzle: Quantum Field Theory and the Hunt for an Orderly Universe. Oxford: Oxford University Press.ISBN 978-0-19-959350-7.
• Close, Frank (2015).Half-Life: The Divided Life ofBruno Pontecorvo, Physicist or Spy. London: Basic Books.ISBN 978-1-78-074581-7.
• Close, Frank (2017).Theories of Everything: Ideas in Profile. London: Profile Books.ISBN 978-1781257517.
• Close, Frank (2019).Trinity: The Treachery and Pursuit of the Most Dangerous Spy in History. London: Allen Lane.ISBN 978-0241309834.
• Close, Frank (2022).Elusive: How Peter Higgs Solved the Mystery of Mass. London: Allen Lane.ISBN 978-0241521144.

• Frank Close at st-andrews.ac.ukArchived 1 December 2018 at theWayback Machine
• Frank Close at Exeter College
• Interview inThe Guardian, 1 June 2004
• Radio 4 Museum of Curiosity 5 March 2008
• Frank Close's pageArchived 1 April 2016 at theWayback Machine,Conville and Walsh literary agents
• Works by Frank Close atOpen Library
• Scientific publications of Frank Close onINSPIRE-HEP
• Jodcast Interview with Professor Frank Close on the life, research and disappearance of Bruno Pontecorvo
• Contributor to discussion on Eclipses for BBC Radio 4 programme In Our Time

• Frank Close introducesThe Void onYouTube
• Cosmic Onion lectures in 1993 onYouTube

• 1945 births
• Alumni of Magdalen College, Oxford
• Alumni of the University of St Andrews
• English atheists
• British physicists
• Theoretical physicists
• Particle physicists
• Quantum physicists
• People associated with CERN
• Fellows of Exeter College, Oxford
• Living people
• Officers of the Order of the British Empire
• People educated at The King's School, Peterborough
• People from Peterborough
• Academics of Gresham College

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