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CONFERENCE IN HONOR OF HUBERT REEVES (1932-2023)

A conference is organized on Friday October 18 at the CNRS headquarters to honor the memory of Hubert Reeves, who died in Paris on October 13, 2023. Hubert was born in 1932 in Montreal where he studied physics and obtained a Master's degree from McGill University. He took his first steps in nuclear astrophysics research at Cornell University (Ithaca, New York, USA) where he prepared his PhD thesis under the supervision of Edwin Salpeter, one of the great names in this discipline.

Hubert Reeves in “Mozart et les Étoiles”, in Lausanne (2008).Hubert Reeves in “Mozart et les Étoiles”, in Lausanne (2008).
Photographed by Rama, Wikimedia Commons, Cc-by-sa-2.0-fr (thanks to the kind permission of Art-en-Ciel).

After a short period between 1959 and 1964 where he was professor of astrophysics at the French-speaking University of Montreal, he came to Europe, first in 1964 at the Free University of Brussels, then in 1965 in France becoming director of research at the CNRS. He worked in the Center for Nuclear Spectrometry and Mass Spectroscopy of the University of Orsay (CNSM), the Institute of Astrophysics of Paris (IAP), then the Physical Electronics Service (SEP) of the CEA in Saclay. His most important research contributions concern the understanding of the formation of the light elements, lithium, beryllium and boron by the interaction of cosmic rays with the interstellar medium, and the determination of the ratio - of the order of 10% - of the density of “nuclear or atomic” matter compared to the “global” matter density of the Universe, by establishing the abundance of deuterium in solar matter. He was a major player in the dissemination of astronomy and scientific culture to the general public in France and the French-speaking world: his first popular science work entitled “Patience dans l'Azur”, published in Le Seuil in 1981, enjoyed worldwide success, and the number of his lectures to the general public and his interventions on radio and television is considerable. From the beginning of the 2000s, he became a fervent and convincing defender of environmental protection (he chaired the “Humanity and Biodiversity” association from 2001 to 2017).



This conference will be an opportunity for his former colleagues and friends, including many researchers and former researchers of the IAP, to present the various facets of his multiple activities: scientific research and his discoveries in astrophysics, the dissemination of science, its commitment to the environment. The conference is aimed at the general public and will be entirely in French. Attendance at this conference which will be held at the CNRS Headquarters (3, rue Michel Ange - 75016 Paris) is free with reservation required via this link (in French).

Programme du matin


Programme de l'après-midi

Contacts

Layout: Jean Mouette

October 2024

Institut d’Astrophysique de Paris - 98 bis boulevard Arago - 75014 Paris