Talk:Brian Cox (physicist)/Archive 1

WikiProject class rating
This article was automatically assessed because at least one WikiProject had rated the article as stub, and the rating on other projects was brought up to Stub class. BetacommandBot 09:45, 10 November 2007 (UTC)

cleanup
I've rewritten this, along with tidying/fixing up the citations. Gwen Gale (talk) 10:22, 6 September 2008 (UTC)

Twat Comment
He's been in the news quite a bit for saying that people who believe LHC will destroy the earth are all 'twats'. I think it was in the radio times originally but repeated everywhere. Is this worth a mention? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 79.67.217.192 (talk) 17:46, 8 September 2008 (UTC) It's worth more than a mention, it's the smartest thing I've heard in weeks!--81.152.150.202 (talk) 23:19, 9 September 2008 (UTC)
 * I heard he's so in love with LHC he wants to marry it. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 199.172.169.21 (talk) 13:39, 3 November 2008 (UTC)

Religous stance
I think the articel would benefit from an indications of the religous or belief system of Prof. Cox —Preceding unsigned comment added by 90.199.197.61 (talk) 14:25, 27 March 2010 (UTC)


 * he says "I have no religious beliefs at all, just because I don't see any need at the moment." http://www.sci-fi-online.com/2006_Interviews/07-08-27_brian-cox.htm Alistair Stevenson (talk) 15:18, 27 March 2010 (UTC)

iBook
The article says something about him having a "new iBook" at Covent Garden Apple Store in 2010. Apple iBooks have been out of production for years before this, so it wouldn't have been new or it would have been a different model. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 2.125.36.188 (talk) 00:20, 16 March 2011 (UTC)

Incorrect reference
Latest note states: In March 2010 Cox was the writer and presenter of a five part BBC television series, "Wonders of the Solar System"[12]

Brian Cox is indeed the presenter, but the writer (and director) of this series is Gideon Bradshaw. Check the credits at the end of the programme for the correct reference. Also cited in various online newspapers. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 195.157.205.218 (talk) 09:26, 10 March 2010 (UTC)

80.225.214.24 (talk) 14:55, 4 February 2011 (UTC) The comments relating to D:Ream are perhaps misleading? According to the sleeve notes on the original CD of D:Ream On Vol 1, Brian Cox played piano on only one track. This was the final song, #10, "Star" (which was a number 26 hit on the UK charts towards the end of 1993, as a double-A side single with "I Like It"). From the article at present you kind of infer he also played on their Number One hit too, which doesn't seem quite the case.80.225.214.24 (talk) 14:55, 4 February 2011 (UTC)

From the sleave of the 12" single of Things Can Only Get Better: All Instruments by Peter Cunnah. Except Saxaphone Antonia. Hammond / Piano Gary Meek. Backing Vocals Jamie Petrie / Peter Crooner / Kathleen Pearson-Thomas / Dylis Duku / Delphi Newman DavidNorman99 (talk) 09:29, 17 March 2011 (UTC)

Useful Article about Cox
http://www.shortlist.com/entertainment/article/1281/brian-cox-interview#image-rotator-1

Just a quick link drop here. This article is full of useful material that might or might not already be mentioned in this Wiki page. Hope it helps someone. RevenDS (talk) 10:29, 7 April 2011 (UTC)

Books
Brian Cox co-authored two books: with Andrew Cohen. Should this be mentioned? DJDunsie (talk) 17:43, 21 August 2011 (UTC)

Pseudoscientist
I've undone the revision that replaced "particle physicist" with "pseudoscientist." It was vandalism, right? Olihawes (talk) 16:24, 14 May 2011 (UTC)
 * I think so. We have an article on it and it says pseudoscience is basically fake science. DJDunsie (talk) 07:57, 26 August 2011 (UTC)

Stage show
Should the article mention his recent touring stage show with Robin Ince and a few others "Uncaged monkeys: Night of 200 billion stars"? rdm_box 19:19, 22 December 2011 (UTC) — Preceding unsigned comment added by Rdmbox (talk • contribs) No

Television data in External Links?
Is it just me that's seeing the table of Television appearances under the External Links heading instead of where it should be? Samwalton9 (talk) 21:43, 15 January 2012 (UTC)


 * This has been fixed. Samwalton9 (talk) 21:55, 23 January 2012 (UTC)

MPhil
'Cox obtained first class B.Sc. and MPhil degrees in physics'

I think it may be the grammar or the way I am reading it, but this implies he got a first class MPhil degree too. I thought you could only get a pass or distinction for a MPhil. I know this can easily be reworded but does anyone know his degree class for his MPhil? Sweetie candykim (talk) 23:34, 10 February 2012 (UTC)

The phases of the Moon are caused by the Earth’s shadow
Brian Cox wrote, "I apparently said in a radio interview that the phases of the Moon are caused by the Earth’s shadow, which is clearly bollocks! Unless I was talking about a lunar eclipse, I can’t understand what I must have been thinking. Probably the end of a long day." Steve C wrote, "Here’s a fact for you: Brian Cox believes that the phases of the Moon are caused by the shadow of the Earth falling on the surface of the Moon. This was broadcast on BBC Radio Wales on 19th January 2012. I have the recording if anyone wants it, and I have been trying to ‘undo’ this damage in conversation with people for weeks since. For me, any suggestion of scientific credibility he held prior to this collapsed in on itself instantly." — Preceding unsigned comment added by 68.167.238.115 (talk) 19:28, 11 March 2012 (UTC)

"Trailer for a radio programme on BBC Radio Wales this morning. It's a phone-in item for programme guest Prof. Brian Cox. Little kid (sounded 5 or 6 years old) asks: Why is the moon sometime round and sometimes looks like a banana. Prof Cox: "That's the shadow of the earth." " — Preceding unsigned comment added by 68.167.238.115 (talk) 19:57, 11 March 2012 (UTC)

Two comments on this article
I have two comments on this article:

The first is just a minor one - why is Alice Roberts not introduced as being a co-presenter of "Coast" or the presenter of "Don't Die Young", as she is probably best known for these two programmes? The other comments is a rather more fundamental one. I was wading through this article wondering when it was going to mention Carl Sagan. Cox chose Carl Sagan as a "great life" on the Radio Four series Great Lives, and said that it was Cox who had inspired him to become an astro-physicist. I see that the article does mention Carl Sagan in a paragraph near the end, and talks about Sagan's influence on Cox, but I wonder whether this could be made more prominent. ACEOREVIVED (talk) 23:28, 31 May 2012 (UTC)

Open University honour
He got a honorary degree from The Open University in October 2012. This isn't mentioned... should be added? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 62.254.68.36 (talk) 18:43, 20 January 2013 (UTC)

Childish or the work of genius?
I would like to add about the previous comments that far from childish, I think his programs are the work of genius. not only he is able to explain simply such complex matters about the universe but his narrative (the way he constructs his programs - his story - is out of this world and is akin to the work of greatest British authors in history.  When I watched his first episode of his last BBC series where he starts with ancient civilizations and their relationship with the sun and develops this story in such a way that it goes all the way to black holes and the meaning of everything, it was like reading a book by Shakespeare for the first time.  Simply the work of genius,beautifully constructed and narrated.  Nobody seems to have noticed this. Kitapkurusu (talk) — Preceding unsigned comment added by Kitapkurusu (talk • contribs) 21:20, 21 March 2011 (UTC)

Really not THAT good -- comparing it to Shakespeare is ridiculous. 86.179.179.138 (talk) 05:30, 31 January 2013 (UTC)

Time of broadcasts of "Wonders of Life"
I see that the article says that the television series Wonders of Life completed filming in - it then gives a date some time in 2012. The article Wonders of Life says that the programme was broadcast in 2013. When it says it "completed filming", does this just mean the making of the programme prior to when it was actually broadcast on television? I think that as many people are probably more interested in when television programmes are broadcast than when they are made, we should just say that it was broadcast in 2013. ACEOREVIVED (talk) 14:55, 6 February 2013 (UTC)

Television Appearances
Should these include his TOTP appearances as part of Ream? Spa-Franks (talk) 22:30, 30 July 2013 (UTC)

Link with Timmy Mallett
According to Mallett's page, Cox wrote jingles for Radio Oxford in the early 80s. This seems plausible but is currently unsourced: does anyone have any evidence? ~dom Kaos~ (talk) 12:54, 19 September 2013 (UTC)
 * This seems unlikely, as BBC local stations have always had their jingles produced centrally, though Cox may have had some input to a particular programme. I have to say that the Mallett article seems very self serving and lacking in references, and I'd treat it with suspicion, though that is OT here. --Ef80 (talk) 20:11, 2 October 2013 (UTC)
 * I agree about the overall tone of Mallett's page. I've deleted the claim about Cox's involvement for the moment ~dom Kaos~ (talk) 15:05, 11 October 2013 (UTC)

Royal Society Professor for Public Engagement in Science
Cox now also holds this position (sponsored by the Royal Society but based in Manchester) in addition to the one as Professor of Particle Physics. Not sure where to put it in the article as it seems to unbalance the lead, doesn't really fit in with Research or Broadcasting, and is a salaried position rather than an honour or award. But anyway, there you go. Someone can figure it out, I'm sure. --Walnuts go kapow (talk) 16:40, 9 August 2015 (UTC)

BLP violations on this page
I've protected the page for 3 days and rev/del'd all the IP edits - and a reply and request - I could put them back if asked but it's just easier to get rid of the whole string of edits. Doug Weller (talk) 15:14, 16 September 2015 (UTC)

External links modified
Hello fellow Wikipedians,

I have just added archive links to 1 one external link on Brian Cox (physicist). Please take a moment to review my edit. If necessary, add after the link to keep me from modifying it. Alternatively, you can add to keep me off the page altogether. I made the following changes:
 * Added archive https://web.archive.org/20110516223747/http://www.humanism.org.uk:80/about/people/distinguished-supporters/brian_cox to http://www.humanism.org.uk/about/people/distinguished-supporters/brian_cox

When you have finished reviewing my changes, please set the checked parameter below to true to let others know.

Cheers.—cyberbot II  Talk to my owner :Online 04:12, 17 January 2016 (UTC)

External links modified
Hello fellow Wikipedians,

I have just added archive links to 1 one external link on Brian Cox (physicist). Please take a moment to review my edit. If necessary, add after the link to keep me from modifying it. Alternatively, you can add to keep me off the page altogether. I made the following changes:
 * Added archive https://web.archive.org/20130123123111/http://www.apolloschildren.com:16080/brian/ to http://www.apolloschildren.com:16080/brian/

When you have finished reviewing my changes, please set the checked parameter below to true to let others know.

Cheers.—cyberbot II  Talk to my owner :Online 00:05, 19 February 2016 (UTC)

External links modified
Hello fellow Wikipedians,

I have just modified 2 one external links on Brian Cox (physicist). Please take a moment to review my edit. If you have any questions, or need the bot to ignore the links, or the page altogether, please visit this simple FaQ for additional information. I made the following changes:
 * Added archive https://web.archive.org/web/20151030075809/http://www.manchester.ac.uk:80/research/brian.cox to http://www.manchester.ac.uk/research/brian.cox/
 * Added archive https://web.archive.org/web/20140221235231/http://www.open.ac.uk/students/ceremonies/files/ceremonies/file/Graduate-Directory-2012-WEB.pdf to http://www8.open.ac.uk/students/ceremonies/files/ceremonies/file/Graduate-Directory-2012-WEB.pdf

When you have finished reviewing my changes, you may follow the instructions on the template below to fix any issues with the URLs.

Cheers.— InternetArchiveBot  (Report bug) 00:47, 31 December 2016 (UTC)

Maths A level (D) is a pass
Sorry to nit pick, but getting any grade in the British educational system counts as a 'pass', including a D and E (although not very respected). Its inaccurate to say he 'failed' therefore. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 149.241.82.97 (talk) 10:24, 14 July 2012 (UTC)


 * Yes, a D is a pass. A-E grades are all pass grades, there used to be an O grade, equivalent to an O level, and then an F, which was not a grade, but a fail. It is possible to fail, but that would be ungraded. i also reject that a D is not very respected, even a D grade is useful, or at least used to be, it is perfectly possible to get onto a degree course with one or two D grades. Alun (talk) 08:42, 23 July 2012 (UTC)


 * D and E grades are regarded as passes now (and were even back in 2012!). Time was though when only A-C were regarded as passes. This was true when I took my A levels in the late 70s and was presumably still so when Brian Cox took his in 1986. So we can take his own description of failing his maths A level as being correct even though it wouldn't be accurate now. (Well, not officially. Those who took old-style O and A levels might be inclined to regard claims of passing with D and E grades as evidence of educational dumbing down.) GrahamN-UK (talk) 18:28, 9 January 2017 (UTC)

External links modified
Hello fellow Wikipedians,

I have just modified 3 external links on Brian Cox (physicist). Please take a moment to review my edit. If you have any questions, or need the bot to ignore the links, or the page altogether, please visit this simple FaQ for additional information. I made the following changes:
 * Corrected formatting/usage for http://www.manchester.ac.uk/research/brian.cox/
 * Corrected formatting/usage for http://www.hulme-grammar.oldham.sch.uk/alumni
 * Added archive https://web.archive.org/web/20090727213454/http://www.fp420.com/ to http://www.fp420.com/

When you have finished reviewing my changes, you may follow the instructions on the template below to fix any issues with the URLs.

Cheers.— InternetArchiveBot  (Report bug) 10:26, 25 July 2017 (UTC)

External links modified
Hello fellow Wikipedians,

I have just modified 6 external links on Brian Cox (physicist). Please take a moment to review my edit. If you have any questions, or need the bot to ignore the links, or the page altogether, please visit this simple FaQ for additional information. I made the following changes:
 * Corrected formatting/usage for http://www.hulme-grammar.oldham.sch.uk/alumni
 * Added archive https://web.archive.org/web/20110402065141/http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00zdhtg to http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00zdhtg
 * Added archive https://web.archive.org/web/20140421200522/http://www.bbc.co.uk/pressoffice/pressreleases/stories/2010/03_march/26/ross.shtml to http://www.bbc.co.uk/pressoffice/pressreleases/stories/2010/03_march/26/ross.shtml
 * Added archive https://web.archive.org/web/20141114112943/http://www-h1.desy.de/psfiles/theses/h1th-679.pdf to http://www-h1.desy.de/psfiles/theses/h1th-679.pdf
 * Added archive https://web.archive.org/web/20110723123307/http://atlas.ch/news/2009/sexiest-physicist.html to http://atlas.ch/news/2009/sexiest-physicist.html
 * Added archive https://web.archive.org/web/20170202140306/https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/series/the-atheist-guide-to-christmas to https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/series/the-atheist-guide-to-christmas

When you have finished reviewing my changes, you may follow the instructions on the template below to fix any issues with the URLs.

Cheers.— InternetArchiveBot  (Report bug) 17:04, 19 September 2017 (UTC)

Salary in Intro NPOV?
Why is his salary in the intro? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 2601:646:8782:32DF:E094:7119:49A8:A547 (talk) 05:44, 23 December 2017 (UTC)

External links modified
Hello fellow Wikipedians,

I have just modified one external link on Brian Cox (physicist). Please take a moment to review my edit. If you have any questions, or need the bot to ignore the links, or the page altogether, please visit this simple FaQ for additional information. I made the following changes:
 * Added archive https://web.archive.org/web/20121128144238/http://www.dailymail.co.uk/home/you/article-1336823/Brian-Cox-s-glad-swapped-chart-success-science.html to http://www.dailymail.co.uk/home/you/article-1336823/Brian-Cox-s-glad-swapped-chart-success-science.html

When you have finished reviewing my changes, you may follow the instructions on the template below to fix any issues with the URLs.

Cheers.— InternetArchiveBot  (Report bug) 22:36, 23 December 2017 (UTC)

When did he join D:Ream?
Under the sub-heading "Music", we are told that Brian Cox joined D: Ream, but we are not told the year in which he joined them.Vorbee (talk) 16:35, 29 January 2018 (UTC)


 * I know that his music career is secondary, but it should be mentioned in the lead paragraph, as his group did achieve a hit single which was well known in the UK--2A01:4C8:141A:89CD:1:1:DFA9:32D8 (talk) 21:38, 16 July 2019 (UTC)

Prof at Manchester
Is he still a professor at Manchester? His Manchester Uni profile no longer exists. He is still associated with Manchester, as in doing talks, but that does not mean he retains his chair. Lord Law Law (talk) 18:38, 11 September 2020 (UTC)

"Tom Marlowe" listed at Redirects for discussion
A discussion is taking place to address the redirect Tom Marlowe. The discussion will occur at Redirects for discussion/Log/2021 April 12 until a consensus is reached, and readers of this page are welcome to contribute to the discussion. schetm (talk) 00:28, 12 April 2021 (UTC)

author or co-author of over 950 scientific publications
While technically true, I don't think this is reasonable to put in the article (without at least an explanation as to what this means), especially not in the first paragraph, as to people not familiar with publishing in particle physics will come to the wrong conclusion and think that being a co-author means that he contributed to over 950 publications, rather than it just being everyone in ATLAS is a 'co-author' regardless of the fact most of the papers they are a co-author of they've never even heard of. It's also not something that other wikipedia pages about members of ATLAS seem to include, e.g. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karl_Jakobs. I plan to remove this if there's no objections81.107.39.90 (talk) 22:46, 17 April 2021 (UTC)

criticism: against the nihilogony of Brian Cox (include the topic; it's of core importance)
Brian Cox erroneously claims (on BBC 4 for example - Human Universe | Episode 2 | Why Are We Here? | BBC Studios) that all physical theories of cosmogony are nihilogonous/nihilogonies. see: nihilogony: The claim that nothingness (which isn't the void) is a potential state of matter which occasionally becomes materialized. But actually that's not in the math. Max Tegmark's struogony is the claim that the hypernym of the universe is the multiverse and spacetime which are eternal simply because they are mathematically correct thus according to solvogony, ANY correct algorithm of topological algebra which can describe a universe, NECESSARILY exists; not because nothingness is a potential state of matter, but because ANY hypernymous brane-spacetime (ontic renormalization/self-interactive multilayer of causality), NECESSARILY exists if it is mathematically correct. Solvogony being nonanthropocentric doesn't require a human hand to solve the equations of the infinite spacetimes. It simply requires correct relationships which self-exist due to a multilayered ontic (not merely calculational) renormalization of variable probability contributions per layer (self-interaction multilayering of infinite hypernymous "spacetime states"); the higher the degree of hypernymy/superordinance the lower its contribution; see the Russian doll example).

OK. Brian Cox is not "the enemy of the people". He is alive and he can correct himself, or if not at least acknowledge that the majority of the precosmic state (create the missing page) theories aren't nihilogonous (they are misinterpreted by some as nihilogonous but do not include nihilogony). Don't cover the issue. Brian Cox is a good physicist. This is an issue of core importance. True nihilogonists do exist (they are few); in order to be a "true" one you're supposed to provide mathematical mechanisms; not merely rhetorical misinterpretations of things not included in the formulas.

note: Nothing/nothingness isn't the void = empty spacetime seething with virtual particles (and actually with some materialized ones and radiation, because the ideal void is impossible due to quantum jittering and insulation limitations). — Preceding unsigned comment added by 2A02:587:410F:FBB9:2554:E4B4:AF7C:7841 (talk) 00:47, 13 July 2021 (UTC)