Connecting Alaska to the World And the World to Alaska
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Adam Frank

Adam Frank was a contributor to the NPR blog 13.7: Cosmos & Culture. A professor at the University of Rochester, Frank is a theoretical/computational astrophysicist and currently heads a research group developing supercomputer code to study the formation and death of stars. Frank's research has also explored the evolution of newly born planets and the structure of clouds in the interstellar medium. Recently, he has begun work in the fields of astrobiology and network theory/data science. Frank also holds a joint appointment at the Laboratory for Laser Energetics, a Department of Energy fusion lab.

Frank is the author of two books: The Constant Fire, Beyond the Science vs. Religion Debate (University of California Press, 2010), which was one of SEED magazine's "Best Picks of The Year," and About Time, Cosmology and Culture at the Twilight of the Big Bang (Free Press, 2011). He has contributed to The New York Times and magazines such as Discover, Scientific American and Tricycle.

Frank's work has also appeared in The Best American Science and Nature Writing 2009. In 1999 he was awarded an American Astronomical Society prize for his science writing.

  • The power of science and pervasiveness of technology puts scientists in a position of unique responsibility that can make political activism very slippery, says commentator Adam Frank.
  • Just in time for the official start of summer, NPR's Adam Frank heads outside to better understand the summer solstice. The secret, he says, is in the sunsets.
  • When you fall in love with science, ordinary, everyday stuff can suddenly seem extraordinary. That's how NPR Blogger and astrophysicist Adam Frank sees it — today he sees it in dust.
  • Writer and astrophysicist Adam Frank says: Make friends with science, and the ordinary, everyday stuff will transform into the extraordinary. Now look around you — the mail, the kids' toys, the mess on your desk, the constant daily chaos? It's inevitable, and science proves it.
  • Want to free yourself from the tyranny of gravity's constancy and see space bend? Like Einstein, just get into an elevator and pay close attention.
  • Time is special. How we see it helps determine how we see the rest of the Universe. Physicist Lee Smolin has a new book out that says we've been looking at time the wrong way. Adam Frank digs in and offers his own perspective on Smolin's argument.
  • Refining our capacity to notice is an act of reverence that we can bring to everywhere and everywhen. It's an invitation, bringing the world's most basic presence into view, opening our horizons and restoring our spirits.
  • Can we really see the Universe in a grain of sand, even as we slog through traffic? Can we really hold infinity in our hands, even as we drop off the kids to Violin practice? Commentator Adam Frank says we can if we take the time to notice the beauty of the natural world surrounding us.
  • Astrophysicist and zen practitioner Adam Frank reviews the new book The Dude and the Zen Master by actor Jeff Bridges and Bernie Glassman.
  • Something remarkable happened in 2012.