Paul S. Wesson

Who is Paul S. Wesson?

Paul S. Wesson, B.Sc., Ph.D., D.Sc., F.R.A.S, is a professor of astrophysics and theoretical physics. He was educated at the Universities of London and Cambridge in England, and spent most of his career at the University of Waterloo in Canada. He has also spent sabbatical leaves at Berkeley and Stanford in California, and more recently has been associated with the Herzberg Institute of Astrophysics in Victoria, Canada. He has supervised numerous graduate students and postdoctoral fellows, and has occupied several important administrative positions, including Science Director of the California Institute for Physics and Astronomy. His scientific interests are broad, ranging from a seismic survey of Afghanistan, to guest lectures and media interviews on the Big Bang in America. He has published over 250 research papers and a dozen books. Most of his articles have appeared in the standard journals for astronomy and theoretical physics, but he has also written pieces for New Scientist and other magazines of popular science. In recent years, his research has concentrated on two subjects:

The intensity of background light between galaxies depends on their luminosity and age, versus the redshift effect and the expansion of the universe. It is possible to use observations and a mathematical model to determine various astrophysical quantities, including the age of the universe and the nature of dark matter and dark energy. This approach also resolves the notorious problem of why the night sky is so dark, or Olbers' paradox.