Eric Chaisson

Who is Eric Chaisson?

Eric J. Chaisson is an American astrophysicist and science educator best known for his research, teaching, and writing on the interdisciplinary science of cosmic evolution.. He is also noted for his original research on the interstellar clouds and emission nebulae of the Milky Way Galaxy, and for his leadership in improving science education nationally and internationally. He conducts research at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics and teaches natural science at Harvard University.

Chaisson earned his PhD at Harvard in 1972 and has since held appointments at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, Johns Hopkins University, Space Telescope Science Institute, and most recently Tufts University, where he was for nearly 20 years director of the Wright Center for Science Education while holding research professorships in the department of physics and in the school of education. He is now back at the Harvard College Observatory and also serves with the Faculty of Arts and Sciences at Harvard, where he teaches an annual undergraduate course on the subject of cosmic evolution.

This AoT graphic is a high-resolution image of the opening page of a huge multi-media web site on Cosmic Evolution: From Big Bang to Humankind, which contains text, images, animations, movies, and hyperlinked references of interest to both non-scientists and professional scientists.