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Richard A. Muller (born January 6, 1944) is an American physicist who works at the University of California, Berkeley and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.

Career

Muller obtained an A.B. degree at Columbia University (New York) and a Ph.D. degree in physics from University of California, Berkeley. Muller began his career as a graduate student under Nobel laureate Luis Alvarez doing particle physics experiments and working with bubble chambers. During his early years he also helped to co-create accelerator mass spectroscopy and made some of the first measurements of anisotropy in the cosmic microwave background.

Subsequently, Muller branched out into other areas of science, and in particular the Earth sciences. His work has included attempting to understand the ice ages, dynamics at the core-mantle boundary, patterns of extinction and biodiversity through time, and the processes associated with impact cratering. One of his most well known proposals is the Nemesis hypothesis suggesting the Sun could have an as yet undetected companion dwarf star, whose perturbations of the Oort cloud and subsequent effects on the flux of comets entering the inner Solar System could explain an apparent 26 million year periodicity in extinction events.

Positions and recognition

Muller is a member of the JASON Defense Advisory Group, which brings together prominent scientists as consultants for the United States Department of Defense.

He was named a MacArthur Foundation Fellow in 1982. He also received the Alan T. Waterman Award from the National Science Foundation "for highly original and innovative research which has led to important discoveries and inventions in diverse areas of physics, including astrophysics, radioisotope dating, and optics."

Muller is a founder and the current chairperson of the Berkeley Earth Surface Temperature project, which intends to provide an independent analysis of the Earth's surface temperature records.

In 1999, he received a distinguished teaching award from UC Berkeley.^[1] His "Physics for Future Presidents" series of lectures, in which Muller teaches a synopsis of modern qualitative (i.e. without resorting to complicated math) physics, has been released publicly on YouTube by UC Berkeley and has been published in book form. It has been one of the most highly regarded courses at Berkeley. In December 2009, Muller officially retired from teaching the course, although he still occasionally gives guest lectures.

MIT Technology Review

For several years, he was a monthly columnist with MIT's Technology Review. In his August 2003 column on the polygraph machine used in lie detection examinations, Muller asserted that "the polygraph procedure has an accuracy between 80 and 95 percent." The National Academy of Sciences found that there is "little basis for the expectation that a polygraph test could have extremely high accuracy."^[2]

In a 2004 article,^[3] Muller supported the findings of Stephen McIntyre and Ross McKitrick in which they criticized the research, led by Michael E. Mann, which produced the "hockey stick graph." In response, Mann criticized Muller on his blog RealClimate.^[4] Marcel Crok, a reporter for the Dutch popular science magazine Natuurwetenschap & Techniek (now called NWT Magazine), later did a story on the incident.^[5]

Other work

Muller is President and Chief Scientist of Muller & Associates, an international consulting group specializing in energy-related issues.^[6]

Muller is married to architect Rosemary Muller.

Published books

Nemesis: The Death Star (Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 1988) ISBN 0-7493-0465-0
The Three Big Bangs: Comet Crashes, Exploding Stars, and the Creation of the Universe (with coauthor Phil Dauber, Addison/Wesley 1996) ISBN 0-201-15495-1
Ice Ages and Astronomical Causes: data, spectral analysis, and mechanisms (with coauthor Gordon MacDonald, 2002) ISBN 3-540-43779-7
The Sins of Jesus (a historical novel, Auravision Publishing 1999) ISBN 0-9672765-1-9
Physics for Future Presidents (Custom Publishing, 2006) ISBN 1-4266-2459-X free excerpts)
The Instant Physicist: An Illustrated Guide (W.W. Norton 2010) ISBN 978-0393078268

References

^ Steve Tollefson (1999-04-14). "Distinguished Teaching Awards - Richard Muller". The Berkeleyan. UC Berkeley Office of Public Affairs. Retrieved 2011-03-01.
^ “The Polygraph and Lie Detection”, National Academy of Sciences, 2003
^ Montford, Andrew, The Hockey Stick Illusion, Stacey International, 2010, pp. 177-178; Muller, Richard A., "Global warming bombshell", Technology Review, 15 October 2004
^ Mann, Michael E., "Myth vs fact regarding the 'Hockey Stick', RealClimate (blog), 4 December 2004.
^ Crok, Marcel, "Protocol based on flawed statistics", Natuurwetenschap & Techniek, 2005
^ Muller & Associates home page

External links

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[1] Steve Tollefson (1999-04-14). "Distinguished Teaching Awards - Richard Muller". The Berkeleyan. UC Berkeley Office of Public Affairs. Retrieved 2011-03-01.

[2] “The Polygraph and Lie Detection”, National Academy of Sciences, 2003

[3] Montford, Andrew, The Hockey Stick Illusion, Stacey International, 2010, pp. 177-178; Muller, Richard A., "Global warming bombshell", Technology Review, 15 October 2004

[4] Mann, Michael E., "Myth vs fact regarding the 'Hockey Stick', RealClimate (blog), 4 December 2004.

[5] Crok, Marcel, "Protocol based on flawed statistics", Natuurwetenschap & Techniek, 2005

[6] Muller & Associates home page

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@@ Line 5: / Line 5: @@
 Muller obtained an [[Bachelor of Arts|A.B.]] degree at [[Columbia University]] ([[New York]]) and a [[Doctor of Philosophy|Ph.D.]] degree in [[physics]] from University of California, Berkeley. Muller began his career as a graduate student under [[Nobel Prize in Physics|Nobel laureate]] [[Luis Alvarez]] doing [[particle physics]] experiments and working with [[bubble chamber]]s.  During his early years he also helped to co-create [[accelerator mass spectroscopy]] and made some of the first measurements of [[anisotropy]] in the [[cosmic microwave background]].
-Subsequently, Muller branched out into other areas of science, and in particular the [[Earth science]]s.  His work has included attempting to understand the [[ice age]]s, dynamics at the [[core-mantle boundary]], patterns of [[extinction]] and [[biodiversity]] through time, and the processes associated with [[impact event|impact cratering]].  One of his most well known proposals is the [[Nemesis (star)|Nemesis hypothesis]] suggesting that the Sun could have an as yet undetected companion [[dwarf star]], whose perturbations of the [[Oort cloud]] and subsequent effects on the flux of [[comet]]s entering the [[Solar_System#Inner_Solar_System|inner Solar System]] could explain an apparent 26 million year periodicity in [[extinction event]]s.
+Subsequently, Muller branched out into other areas of science, and in particular the [[Earth science]]s.  His work has included attempting to understand the [[ice age]]s, dynamics at the [[core-mantle boundary]], patterns of [[extinction]] and [[biodiversity]] through time, and the processes associated with [[impact event|impact cratering]].  One of his most well known proposals is the [[Nemesis (star)|Nemesis hypothesis]] suggesting the [[Sun]] could have an as yet undetected companion [[dwarf star]], whose perturbations of the [[Oort cloud]] and subsequent effects on the flux of [[comet]]s entering the [[Solar_System#Inner_Solar_System|inner Solar System]] could explain an apparent 26 million year periodicity in [[extinction event]]s.
 ==Positions and recognition==