Who Was Sir James Hopwood Jeans?

Sir James Hopwood Jeans was both an eminent scientist and a writer with a remarkable gift for brining his specialized knowledge within the reach of the common reader. Ivor Thomas once described his as 'a rich imagination working through a flexible pen'. Thanks to his gift for communication scientific concepts to the non-scientist, a large public has gained an intelligent insight into the findings to the modern astronomy and mathematical physics. His distinguished achievements in science brought him many honours-knighthoods, fellowship of the Royal Society and membership of the highly exclusive Order of Merit. The public knows him by such books as The Universe around Us. The Mysterious Universe and Physics and Philosophy.

The passage which follows-the opening of The Mysterious Universe- is a splendid demonstration of his power to communicate a scientist's vision of the universe with lucidity and vividness.. His remarkable work is still known and studied. It is these great men that writing is given a lot of importance. His work was and is of a great kind, and the fact is that still today he is popularly known.