View source for Martin Rees

{{Short description|British cosmologist and astrophysicist (born 1942)}}
{{EngvarB|date=July 2016}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2023}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| honorific-prefix    = [[The Right Honourable]]
| name                = The Lord Rees of Ludlow
| honorific-suffix    = {{postnominals|country=GBR|size=100|OM|FRS|HonFREng|FMedSci|FRAS|HonFInstP}}
| image               = Official portrait of Lord Rees of Ludlow crop 2.jpg
| caption             = Official portrait, 2019
| title               = [[Astronomer Royal]]
| order               = 15th
| term_start          = 1995
| term_end            = 2025
| predecessor         = [[Arnold Wolfendale]]
| successor           = [[Michele Dougherty]]
| title2              = [[President of the Royal Society]]
| order2              = 60th
| term_start2         = 2005
| term_end2           = 2010
| predecessor2        = [[Robert May, Baron May of Oxford|The Lord May of Oxford]]
| successor2          = [[Paul Nurse]]
| title3              = [[President of the Royal Astronomical Society]]
| order3              = 78th
| term_start3         = 1992
| term_end3           = 1994
| predecessor3        = [[Ken Pounds]]
| successor3          = [[Carole Jordan]]
| title4              = [[Master of Trinity College, Cambridge]]
| order4              = 39th
| term_start4         = 2004
| term_end4           = 2012
| predecessor4        = [[Amartya Sen]]
| successor4          = [[Sir Gregory Winter]]
| title5              = [[Member of the House of Lords]]<br />[[Lord Temporal]]
| term_start5         = 6 September 2005<br />[[Life Peerage]]
| term_end5           = 
| birth_date          = {{birth date and age|df=yes|1942|6|23}}
| birth_place         = [[York]], England
| death_date          = 
| death_place         = 
| party               = None ([[crossbencher]])
| spouse              = {{marriage|Dame [[Caroline Humphrey]], Lady Rees|1986}}<ref name="whoswho"/>
| website             = {{URL|http://www.ast.cam.ac.uk/~mjr/}}
| module              = {{Infobox scientist
| embed = yes
| field             = [[Astronomy]]<br />[[Astrophysics]]
| work_institution  = [[University of Cambridge]]<br />[[University of Sussex]]
| education         = [[Shrewsbury School]]<ref name="whoswho"/>
| alma_mater        = [[Trinity College, Cambridge]] ([[Bachelor of Arts|BA]], PhD)
| thesis_title      = Physical processes in radio sources and inter-galactic medium
| thesis_year       = 1967
| thesis_url        = https://web.archive.org/web/20180613184309/https://copac.jisc.ac.uk/id/6118741?style=html
| doctoral_advisor  = [[Dennis Sciama]]<ref name=mathgene>{{MathGenealogy|id=78460}}</ref>
| doctoral_students = {{Plainlist|
* [[Roger Blandford]]<ref name=mathgene/><ref name=blandphd>{{cite thesis|degree=PhD|publisher=University of Cambridge|title=Electrodynamics and astrophysical applications of strong waves|first=Roger David|last=Blandford|date=1973|url=http://ulmss-newton.lib.cam.ac.uk/vwebv/holdingsInfo?bibId=6228|id={{EThOS|uk.bl.ethos.450028}}|website=lib.cam.ac.uk|oclc=500386171|access-date=11 December 2017|archive-date=27 April 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190427084213/https://ulmss-newton.lib.cam.ac.uk/vwebv/holdingsInfo%3fbibId=6228|url-status=dead}}</ref>
* [[Craig Hogan]]<ref name=Hogan1>{{cite thesis|degree=PhD|publisher=University of Cambridge|title=Pre galactic history|first=Craig James|last=Hogan|date=1980|id={{EThOS|uk.bl.ethos.258089}}}}</ref><ref name=Hogan2>{{cite web|last=Hogan|first=Craig James|title=Curriculum vitae|url=https://www.nsf.gov/mps/ast/aaac/members/2013-14_bios/hogan.pdf|access-date=19 February 2018}}</ref>
* [[Priyamvada Natarajan]]<ref name="Yale CampusPress">{{cite web |title=CURRICULUM VITAE: Priyamvada Natarajan |url=https://campuspress.yale.edu/priya/cv/cv2/ |work=Yale CampusPress |publisher=[[Yale University]] |access-date=27 August 2020}}</ref> 
* [[James E. Pringle]]<ref>{{Cite web | url=https://www.genealogy.math.ndsu.nodak.edu/id.php?id=78460 | title=Martin Rees – the Mathematics Genealogy Project}}</ref>
* [[Nick Kaiser]]<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.ifa.hawaii.edu/~kaiser/biblio/cv.pdf|title=Curriculum Vitae – Nicholas Kaiser|website=ifa.hawaii.edu|access-date=13 September 2019|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050217143424/http://www.ifa.hawaii.edu/~kaiser/biblio/cv.pdf|archive-date=17 February 2005}}</ref>}} 
| known_for         = [[Rees–Sciama effect]]<br>[[Hydrogen line|21-cm cosmology]]<br>Coining [[particle chauvinism]]
| prizes            = [[Dannie Heineman Prize for Astrophysics]] (1984)<br />[[Gold Medal of the Royal Astronomical Society]] (1987)<br />[[Balzan Prize]] (1989)<br />[[The Franklin Institute Awards|Bower Award]] (1998)<br />[[Gruber Prize in Cosmology]] (2001)<br /> [[Albert Einstein World Award of Science]] (2003)<br />[[Michael Faraday Prize]] (2004)<br />[[Crafoord Prize]] (2005)<br />[[Order of Merit]] (2007)<br />[[Templeton Prize]] (2011)<br />[[Isaac Newton Medal]] (2012)<br />[[Dalton Medal]] (2012)<br />[[HonFREng]]<ref name="List of Fellows">{{cite web|title=List of Fellows|url=http://www.raeng.org.uk/about-us/people-council-committees/the-fellowship/list-of-fellows|website=raeng.org.uk|access-date=29 October 2014|archive-date=8 June 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160608094405/http://www.raeng.org.uk/about-us/people-council-committees/the-fellowship/list-of-fellows|url-status=dead}}</ref> (2007)<br />[[Nierenberg Prize]] (2015)<br />[[Fritz Zwicky Prize for Astrophysics and Cosmology|Fritz Zwicky Prize]] (2020)<br /> [[Copley Medal]] (2023)<br />[[Wolf Prize in Physics]] (2024)}}
| module2             = {{Listen|pos=center|embed=yes|filename=Martin Rees BBC Radio4 The Reith Lectures 22 June 2010 b00srktg.flac|title={{center|Martin Rees's voice}}|type=speech|description={{center|[[:File:Martin Rees BBC Radio4 The Reith Lectures 22 June 2010 b00srktg.flac|Recorded June 2010]] from the BBC Radio 4 programme the [[Reith Lectures]]}}}}
}}

'''Martin John Rees, Baron Rees of Ludlow''',<!-- {{postnominals|country=GBR|sep=,|size=100%|OM|FRS|HonFREng|FMedSci|FRAS|HonFInstP}}<ref name=frs>{{cite web|url=https://royalsociety.org/people/martin-rees-12156/|author=Anon|year=2015|website=royalsociety|publisher=[[Royal Society]]|title=The Lord Rees of Ludlow OM Kt HonFREng FRS|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151117024550/https://royalsociety.org/people/martin-rees-12156/|archive-date=17 November 2015}} One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from the royalsociety.org website where: {{quote|"All text published under the heading 'Biography' on Fellow profile pages is available under [[Creative Commons license|Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License]]." --{{cite web |url=https://royalsociety.org/about-us/terms-conditions-policies/ |title=Royal Society Terms, conditions and policies |access-date=9 March 2016 |url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161111170346/https://royalsociety.org/about-us/terms-conditions-policies/ |archive-date=11 November 2016}}}}</ref><ref name="List of Fellows">{{cite web|title=List of Fellows|url=http://www.raeng.org.uk/about-us/people-council-committees/the-fellowship/list-of-fellows|website=raeng.org.uk|access-date=29 October 2014|archive-date=8 June 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160608094405/http://www.raeng.org.uk/about-us/people-council-committees/the-fellowship/list-of-fellows|url-status=dead}}</ref> <!--Please do not change this to "PRS" -- this post-nominal is not used except internally within the Royal Society --> (born 23 June 1942) is a British [[physical cosmology|cosmologist]] and [[astrophysics|astrophysicist]].<ref name="Rees2022">{{cite journal |last1=Rees |first1=Martin J. |title=Cosmology and High-Energy Astrophysics: A 50-Year Perspective on Personalities, Progress, and Prospects |journal=Annual Review of Astronomy and Astrophysics |date=18 August 2022 |volume=60 |issue=1 |pages=1–30 |doi=10.1146/annurev-astro-111021-084639 |bibcode=2022ARA&A..60....1R |s2cid=248066390 |url=https://www.annualreviews.org/doi/full/10.1146/annurev-astro-111021-084639 |access-date=19 August 2022 |language=en |issn=0066-4146|url-access=subscription }}</ref> He was the fifteenth [[Astronomer Royal]] from 1995 to 2025,<ref>{{cite web|title=Portraits of Astronomers Royal|url=http://www.rmg.co.uk/explore/astronomy-and-time/astronomy-facts/history/portraits-of-the-astronomers-royal|website=rmg.co.uk|publisher=Royal Museums Greenwich|access-date=18 February 2015|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150104225904/http://www.rmg.co.uk/explore/astronomy-and-time/astronomy-facts/history/portraits-of-the-astronomers-royal|archive-date=4 January 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite web| url = http://www.royal.gov.uk/TheRoyalHousehold/OfficialRoyalposts/AstronomerRoyal.aspx| title = Astronomer Royal| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160308012357/http://www.royal.gov.uk/TheRoyalHousehold/OfficialRoyalposts/AstronomerRoyal.aspx| archive-date = 8 March 2016| website = [[Monarchy of the United Kingdom|The British Monarchy]]| publisher = [[Royal Households of the United Kingdom|Royal Household]] | url-status = dead| access-date = 23 June 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c741lll88q5o|title=UK gets first female Astronomer Royal in 350 years|work=BBC News|date=30 July 2025}}</ref> [[Master (college)|Master]] of [[Trinity College, Cambridge]], from 2004 to 2012, and [[President of the Royal Society]] from 2005 to 2010.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.charlierose.com/guest/view/1729|website=charlierose.com|title=Interviews with Charlie Rose, 2003 and 2008|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100128020501/http://www.charlierose.com/guest/view/1729|archive-date=28 January 2010}} accessed 31 August 2014</ref><ref>{{cite web |author=Anon |year=2010 |title=New Statesman Interviews Martin Rees |url=http://www.newstatesman.com/ideas/2010/04/interview-science-climate |website=[[New Statesman]] |publisher=}} accessed 31 August 2014</ref> He has received various physics awards including the [[Wolf Prize in Physics]] in 2024 for fundamental contributions to high-energy astrophysics, galaxies and structure formation, and cosmology.

== Early life and education ==
Rees was born on 23 June 1942 in [[York]], England.<ref name="whoswho">Anon (2017) {{Who's Who | title=REES OF LUDLOW | id = U32152 | edition = online [[Oxford University Press]]|location=Oxford}} {{doi|10.1093/ww/9780199540884.013.32152}} {{subscription required}}</ref><ref>GRO Register of Births: SEP 1942 9c 1465 YORK – Martin J. Rees, mmn=Bett</ref> After a peripatetic life during the war his parents, both teachers, settled with Rees, an only child, in a rural part of [[Shropshire]] near the border with Wales. There, his parents founded [[Bedstone#Bedstone College|Bedstone College]], a boarding school based on progressive educational concepts.<ref name="templetonprize.org">{{Cite web|url=https://www.templetonprize.org/templeton-prize-winners-2/|title=Templeton Prize Winners – Discover Laureates From 1973 to Today|website=Templeton Prize}}</ref> He was educated at Bedstone College, then from the age of 13 at [[Shrewsbury School]]. He studied for the [[mathematical tripos]] at [[Trinity College, Cambridge]],<ref name="whoswho"/> graduating with [[first class honours]]. He then undertook post-graduate research at Cambridge and completed a PhD supervised by [[Dennis W. Sciama|Dennis Sciama]] in 1967.<ref name=mathgene/><ref name="reesphd">{{cite thesis|degree=PhD|first=Martin|last=Rees|title=Physical Processes in Radio Sources and the Intergalactic Medium|publisher=University of Cambridge|date=1967|url=http://copac.jisc.ac.uk/id/6118741?style=html|website=copac.jisc.ac.uk|access-date=30 October 2017|archive-date=13 June 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180613184309/https://copac.jisc.ac.uk/id/6118741?style=html|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.ft.com/content/7c844532-b80b-11e0-8868-00144feabdc0|archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221210221216/https://www.ft.com/content/7c844532-b80b-11e0-8868-00144feabdc0#axzz2IdKRAN00|archive-date=10 December 2022|url-access=subscription|url-status=live|title=Inventory: Martin Rees|publisher=[[Financial Times]]|year=2014|access-date=31 August 2014}}{{subscription required}}</ref> Rees's post-graduate work in astrophysics in the mid-1960s coincided with an explosion of new discoveries, with breakthroughs ranging from confirmation of the [[Big Bang]], the discovery of [[neutron stars]] and [[black holes]], and a host of other revelations.<ref name="templetonprize.org"/>

==Career==
After holding [[postdoctoral research]] positions in the United Kingdom and the United States, he was a professor at [[University of Sussex|Sussex University]], during 1972–1973. He later moved to [[Cambridge]], where he was the [[Plumian Professor of Astronomy and Experimental Philosophy|Plumian Professor]] at the [[University of Cambridge]] until 1991, and the director of the [[Institute of Astronomy, Cambridge|Institute of Astronomy]].

He was professor of astronomy at [[Gresham College]], London, in 1975 and became a [[Fellow of the Royal Society]] in 1979. From 1992 to 2003, he was Royal Society Research Professor, and from 2003 Professor of [[physical cosmology|Cosmology]] and [[Astrophysics]]. He was Master of Trinity College, Cambridge, during 2004–2012. He is an Honorary Fellow of [[Darwin College, Cambridge|Darwin College]],<ref name=DarwinCollege>{{cite web|title=Master & fellows|url=https://www.darwin.cam.ac.uk/people/fellows|publisher=Darwin College Cambridge|access-date=19 February 2018}}</ref> [[King's College, Cambridge|King's College]],<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.kings.cam.ac.uk/research/fellows/honorary.html|title=Honorary Fellows|website=www.kings.cam.ac.uk|language=en|access-date=15 March 2018|archive-date=23 January 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180123190625/http://www.kings.cam.ac.uk/research/fellows/honorary.html|url-status=dead}}</ref> [[Clare Hall, Cambridge|Clare Hall]],<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.clarehall.cam.ac.uk/affiliation/honorary-fellow|title=Honorary Fellow {{!}} Clare Hall|website=www.clarehall.cam.ac.uk|language=en|access-date=15 March 2018|archive-date=16 March 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180316023508/https://www.clarehall.cam.ac.uk/affiliation/honorary-fellow|url-status=dead}}</ref> [[Robinson College]] and [[Jesus College, Cambridge]].<ref name="JesusCollege">{{cite web|title=Honorary and St Radegund Fellows|url=https://www.jesus.cam.ac.uk/college/people/honorary-st-radegund-fellows|publisher=Jesus College Cambridge|access-date=19 February 2018}}</ref>

Rees is a member of the Board of the [[Institute for Advanced Study]] in Princeton, and the [[Oxford Martin School]]. He co-founded the [[Centre for the Study of Existential Risk]]<ref>{{cite news |last=Lewsey |first=Fred |date=25 November 2012 |title=Humanity's last invention and our uncertain future |url=http://www.cam.ac.uk/research/news/humanitys-last-invention-and-our-uncertain-future |access-date=28 January 2013 |work=Research News |publisher=University of Cambridge}}</ref> and serves on the Scientific Advisory Board for the [[Future of Life Institute]].<ref>{{Citation |title=Who We Are |year=2014 |url=http://fli.webfactional.com/who |access-date=7 May 2014 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20140507163856/http://fli.webfactional.com/who |archive-date=7 May 2014 |url-status=dead |publisher=Future of Life Institute}}</ref> He has formerly been a Trustee of the [[British Museum]], the [[Science Museum (London)|Science Museum]], the Gates Cambridge Trust and the [[Institute for Public Policy Research|Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR)]].

His doctoral students have included [[Roger Blandford]],<ref name="mathgene" /><ref name="blandphd" /> [[Craig Hogan]],<ref name="Hogan1" /><ref name="Hogan2" /> [[Nick Kaiser]]<ref>{{Cite web |date=7 August 2014 |title=Nick Kaiser {{!}} Higgs Centre for Theoretical Physics |url=https://higgs.ph.ed.ac.uk/people/associates/nick-kaiser |access-date=15 March 2018 |website=higgs.ph.ed.ac.uk |language=en |archive-date=16 March 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180316084730/https://higgs.ph.ed.ac.uk/people/associates/nick-kaiser |url-status=dead }}</ref> [[Priyamvada Natarajan]],<ref name="Yale CampusPress" /> and [[James E. Pringle]].

== Research ==
Rees is the author of more than 500 research papers.<ref name="scopus">{{Scopus id}}</ref> He is an author of books on [[astronomy]] and science intended for the lay public and gives many public lectures and broadcasts. In 2010 he was invited to deliver the [[Reith Lectures]] for the [[BBC]],<ref>{{Cite web |title=BBC Radio 4 – The Reith Lectures, Martin Rees – Scientific Horizons, The Scientific Citizen |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00sj9lh |access-date=16 March 2023 |website=BBC |language=en-GB}}</ref> now published as ''From Here to Infinity: Scientific Horizons''.

Rees has made contributions to the origin of [[cosmic microwave background radiation]], as well as to [[galaxy]] clustering and formation. His studies of the distribution of [[quasar]]s challenged the now-rejected [[steady state theory]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Lord Martin Rees |url=https://achievement.org/achiever/lord-martin-rees/ |access-date=2024-10-13 |website=Academy of Achievement |language=en-US}}</ref> He was one of the first to propose that enormous [[black hole]]s power quasars,<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Rees|first1=M.J.|doi=10.1146/annurev.aa.22.090184.002351|title=Black Hole Models for Active Galactic Nuclei|journal=Annual Review of Astronomy and Astrophysics|volume=22|pages=471–506|year=1984|bibcode=1984ARA&A..22..471R}}</ref> and that [[Faster-than-light|superluminal]] astronomical observations can be explained as an [[optical illusions|optical illusion]] caused by an object moving partly in the direction of the observer.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Rees|first1=M.J.| title=Appearance of Relativistically Expanding Radio Sources|doi=10.1038/211468a0|journal=Nature|volume=211|issue=5048|pages=468–70|year=1966|bibcode=1966Natur.211..468R|s2cid=41065207}}</ref>

Since the 1990s, Rees has worked on [[gamma-ray bursts]], especially in collaboration with [[Péter Mészáros]],<ref name=Meszaros>{{cite journal |title=Tidal heating and mass loss in neutron star binaries – Implications for gamma-ray burst models|first1=P.|last1=Meszaros|first2=M. J.|last2=Rees|year=1992|issue=10|pages=570|journal=[[Astrophysical Journal]]|volume=397|bibcode=1992ApJ...397..570M|doi=10.1086/171813}}</ref> and on how the "cosmic dark ages" ended when the first stars formed. Since the 1970s he has been interested in [[Anthropic principle|anthropic]] reasoning, and the possibility that our visible universe is part of a vaster "[[multiverse]]".<ref name=Carr>{{cite journal |title=The anthropic principle and the structure of the physical world|first1=B. J.|last1=Carr|first2=M. J.|last2=Rees|year=1979|issue=5705|pages=605–612|journal=Nature| volume=278| doi=10.1038/278605a0| bibcode=1979Natur.278..605C|s2cid=4363262}}</ref><ref name=Hawking>{{cite book |title=Before the Beginning: Our Universe and Others |author=Martin J. Rees |publisher=Perseus Books |year=1997 |isbn=978-0-7382-0033-0}}</ref>

== Public engagement ==
In addition to expansion of his scientific interests, Rees has written and spoken extensively about the problems and challenges of the 21st century, and interfaces between science, ethics, and politics.<ref>{{cite web |title=Martin Rees Biography and Interview |url=https://achievement.org/achiever/lord-martin-rees/#interview/ |website=www.achievement.org |publisher=[[American Academy of Achievement]]}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Rees |first=Martin |date=9 June 2006 |title=Dark materials |url=https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2006/jun/10/science.comment |access-date=16 March 2023 |work=The Guardian |language=en-GB |issn=0261-3077}}</ref><ref>[http://www.21school.ox.ac.uk/downloads/podcasts/200902_rees.mp3 Podcast of Lecture "The World in 2050"]{{Dead link|date=December 2024 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}, given at the [[James Martin 21st Century School]], 21school.ox.ac.uk, February 2009.</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Rees |first=Martin |date=23 May 2015 |title=Astronomer Royal Martin Rees: How soon will robots take over the world? |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/hay-festival/11605785/Astronomer-Royal-Martin-Rees-predicts-the-world-will-be-run-by-computers-soon.html |access-date=23 June 2019 |work=The Telegraph |language=en-GB |issn=0307-1235}}</ref>

In his books ''[[Our Final Hour]]'' and ''[[On the Future]]'', Rees warns that humanity faces significant [[existential risks]] in the 21st century due to technological advancements, particularly in [[bioengineering]] and [[artificial intelligence]]. He estimated a 50% chance of human extinction during the 21st century, but remains optimistic that if the risks are successfully managed, technology could drastically improve standards of living.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Illing |first=Sean |date=2018-10-18 |title=Cosmologist Martin Rees gives humanity a 50-50 chance of surviving the 21st century |url=https://www.vox.com/future-perfect/2018/10/18/17886974/science-technology-climate-change-existential-threats-martin-rees |access-date=2024-10-13 |website=Vox |language=en-US}}</ref>

In 2007, he delivered the [[Gifford Lectures]] on ''21st Century Science: Cosmic Perspective and Terrestrial Challenges'' at the [[University of St Andrews]].<ref>{{cite web |title=The St Andrews Gifford Lectures |url=https://gifford.wp.st-andrews.ac.uk |website=st-andrews.ac.uk |publisher=University of St Andrews}}</ref> He made two [[TED (conference)|TED]] talks on existential risks.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Rees |first=Martin |title=Martin Rees {{!}} Speaker |url=https://www.ted.com/speakers/sir_martin_rees |access-date=2024-10-13 |website=TED |language=en}}</ref>

Rees thinks the [[search for extraterrestrial intelligence]] is worthwhile and has chaired the advisory board for the "[[Breakthrough Listen]]" project, a programme of [[Search for extraterrestrial intelligence|SETI]] investigations funded by the Russian/US investor [[Yuri Milner]].<ref>[http://www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/2010/02/cosmic-man/ Interview with Paul Broks] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120223211001/http://www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/2010/02/cosmic-man/|date=23 February 2012}}, Prospectmagazine.co.uk; accessed 31 August 2014.</ref>

In August 2014, Rees was one of 200 public figures who were signatories to a letter to ''[[The Guardian]]'' expressing their hope that Scotland would vote to remain part of the United Kingdom in September's [[2014 Scottish independence referendum|referendum on that issue]].<ref>{{cite news |date=7 August 2014 |title=Celebrities' open letter to Scotland – full text and list of signatories |url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2014/aug/07/celebrities-open-letter-scotland-independence-full-text |access-date=26 August 2014 |work=The Guardian |location=London}}</ref>

To mark the 300th anniversary of the [[Board of Longitude]] in 2014, he instigated a programme of new challenge prizes of £5-10m under the name "[[Longitude Prize]] 2014" for which he chairs the advisory board. The themes of the first two prizes are the reduction of inappropriate antibiotic use, and enhancing the safety and independence of dementia sufferers. The Longitude Prize on Dementia was announced in 2022.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2022-09-26 |title=£4m prize offers hope to people with dementia to stay independent |url=https://www.ukri.org/news/4m-prize-offers-hope-to-people-with-dementia-to-stay-independent/ |access-date=2024-10-13 |website=UK Research and Innovation |language=en-GB}}</ref>

In 2015, he was co-author of the report that launched the [[Global Apollo Programme]], which calls for developed nations to commit to spending 0.02% of their GDP for 10 years, to fund coordinated research to make [[Renewable energy|carbon-free]] [[Base load power plant|baseload electricity]] less costly than [[Fossil fuel power station|electricity from coal]] by the year 2025.<ref name="Guardian">{{cite news |last1=Carrington |first1=Damian |title=Global Apollo programme seeks to make clean energy cheaper than coal |url=https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2015/jun/02/apollo-programme-for-clean-energy-needed-to-tackle-climate-change |access-date=2 June 2015 |work=The Guardian |publisher=[[Guardian News Media]] |issue=2 June 2015}}</ref>

In his general writings and in the [[House of Lords]], his focus has been on the uses and abuses of advanced technology and on issues such as [[Assisted suicide|assisted dying]], preservation of dark skies, and reforms to broaden the post-16 and undergraduate curricula in the UK.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Lord Rees of Ludlow {{!}} Spoken contributions |url=https://members.parliament.uk/member/3751/contributions |website=UK Parliament}}</ref> He is also a current member of the House of Lords Science and Technology Committee.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://committees.parliament.uk/committee/193/science-and-technology-committee-lords/membership/ | title=Science and Technology Committee - Membership - Committees - UK Parliament }}</ref>

== Selected bibliography ==
* ''[[iarchive:cosmiccoinciden000grib|Cosmic Coincidences: Dark Matter, Mankind, and Anthropic Cosmology]]'' (co-author [[John Gribbin]]), 1989, Bantam; {{ISBN|0-553-34740-3}}
* ''New Perspectives in Astrophysical Cosmology'', 1995; {{ISBN|0-521-64544-1}}
* ''Gravity's Fatal Attraction: Black Holes in the Universe'', 1995; {{ISBN|0-7167-6029-0}}, 2nd edition 2009, {{ISBN|0-521-71793-0}}
* ''Before the Beginning – Our Universe and Others'', 1997; {{ISBN|0-7382-0033-6}}
* ''Just Six Numbers: The Deep Forces That Shape the Universe'', 1999; {{ISBN|0-297-84297-8}} (see {{slink|Fine-tuned universe|Examples}} for a list of the six numbers)
* ''Our Cosmic Habitat'', 2001; {{ISBN|0-691-11477-3}}
* ''[[Our Final Hour]]: A Scientist's Warning: How Terror, Error, and Environmental Disaster Threaten Humankind's Future In This Century—On Earth and Beyond'' (UK title: ''Our Final Century: Will the Human Race Survive the Twenty-first Century?''), 2003; {{ISBN|0-465-06862-6}}
* ''What We Still Don't Know'' {{ISBN|978-0-7139-9821-4}} yet to be published.
* ''From Here to Infinity: Scientific Horizons'', 2011; {{ISBN|978-1-84668-503-3}}
* ''[[On the Future]]: Prospects for Humanity'', October 2018, Princeton University Press; {{ISBN|978-0-691-18044-1}}
* {{cite journal |author=Rees, Martin |date=September 2020 |title=Our place in the universe |journal=Scientific American |volume=323 |issue=3 |pages=56–62 |doi=10.1038/scientificamerican0920-58 |pmid=39014689 |url=https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/how-astronomers-revolutionized-our-view-of-the-cosmos/ |url-access=limited <!--|access-date=2022-06-21-->}} (Online version is titled "How astronomers revolutionized our view of the cosmos".)
* [https://www.hup.harvard.edu/catalog.php?isbn=9780674257726 The End of Astronauts] (co-author Donald Goldsmith), 2022, Harvard University Press {{ISBN|9780674257726}}
* [https://www.wiley.com/en-us/If+Science+is+to+Save+Us-p-9781509554201 If Science is to Save us], 2022, Polity Press {{ISBN|9781509554201}}
* Rees, M.,[https://www.annualreviews.org/doi/abs/10.1146/annurev-astro-111021-084639 "Cosmology and High Energy Astrophysics: A 50 year Perspective on Personality, Progress, and Prospects"], Annual Review of Astronomy and Astrophysics, vol. 60:1–30, 2022.

== Honours and awards ==
He has been president of the [[Royal Astronomical Society]] (1992–94) and the [[British Science Association]] (1995–96), and was a Member of Council of the [[Royal Institution of Great Britain]] until 2010. Rees has received honorary degrees from a number of universities including Bath,<ref>{{Cite web |title=Lord Rees of Ludlow: oration |url=https://www.bath.ac.uk/corporate-information/lord-rees-of-ludlow-oration/ |access-date=2025-10-16 |website=www.bath.ac.uk}}</ref> Hull, Sussex, Uppsala, Toronto, Durham, Oxford, Cambridge, Harvard, Yale, Melbourne and Sydney. He belongs to several foreign academies, including the [[US National Academy of Sciences]], the [[Russian Academy of Sciences]], the [[Pontifical Academy of Sciences]], the [[Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences]],<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.knaw.nl/en/members/foreign-members/4688 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160214092416/https://www.knaw.nl/en/members/foreign-members/4688|title=M.J. Rees|publisher=Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences|archive-date=14 February 2016|access-date=14 February 2016}}</ref> the [[Science Academy of Turkey]]<ref>{{cite web|url=http://en.bilimakademisi.org/uyeler/foreign-honorary-members-of-the-science-academy|title=Foreign Honorary Members|website=Bilim Akademisi|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150106184357/http://en.bilimakademisi.org/uyeler/foreign-honorary-members-of-the-science-academy/|archive-date=6 January 2015|url-status=dead|access-date=31 August 2014}}</ref> and the [[Japan Academy]]. He became president of the [[Royal Society]] on 1 December 2005<ref>{{Cite news|date=29 March 2005|title=Rees tipped to head science body|language=en-GB|work=BBC News |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/4391243.stm|access-date=16 March 2023}}</ref><ref>[http://www.royalsoc.ac.uk/news.asp?id=3022 Martin Rees nominated for presidency of the Royal Society] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071001001405/http://www.royalsoc.ac.uk/news.asp?id=3022 |date=1 October 2007 }}, royalsoc.ac.uk, 29 March 2005; accessed 31 August 2014.</ref> and continued until the end of the Society's 350th Anniversary Celebrations in 2010. In 2011, he was awarded the [[Templeton Prize]].<ref>{{Cite news |last1=Sample |first1=Ian |date=6 April 2011 |title=Martin Rees wins controversial £1m Templeton prize |url=https://www.theguardian.com/science/2011/apr/06/martin-rees-templeton-prize |access-date=16 March 2023 |work=The Guardian |language=en-GB |issn=0261-3077}}</ref> In 2005, Rees was elevated to a [[life peer]]age, sitting as a [[crossbencher]] in the [[House of Lords]] as Baron Rees of Ludlow, of [[Ludlow]] in the County of Shropshire.<ref>{{cite news |title=State: Crown Office |url=https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/57753 |work=[[The London Gazette]] |number=57753 |page=11653 |date=9 September 2005 |access-date=5 January 2020}}</ref><ref>[http://www.admin.cam.ac.uk/news/dp/2005080101 Sir Martin Rees appointed to the House of Lords] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110606190012/http://www.admin.cam.ac.uk/news/dp/2005080101 |date=6 June 2011 }}, admin.cam.ac.uk, 1 August 2005; accessed 31 August 2014.</ref> In 2005, he was awarded the Crafoord Prize.<ref>[http://www.admin.cam.ac.uk/news/dp/2005020801 Professor Sir Martin Rees wins Crafoord Prize] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050329142814/http://www.admin.cam.ac.uk/news/dp/2005020801 |date=29 March 2005 }}, admin.cam.ac.uk, 10 February 2005; accessed 31 August 2014.</ref> Other awards and honours include:

{{Div col|colwidth=35em}}
* 1975 – Elected to the [[American Academy of Arts and Sciences]]<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.amacad.org/person/martin-john-rees|title=Martin John Rees|website=American Academy of Arts & Sciences|date=7 August 2023 }}</ref>
*1982 – Elected to the [[National Academy of Sciences]]<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.nasonline.org/member-directory/members/45936.html|title=Martin J. Rees|website=www.nasonline.org}}</ref>
* 1984 – [[Dannie Heineman Prize for Astrophysics|Heineman Prize]]
* 1987 – [[Gold Medal of the Royal Astronomical Society]]
* 1989 – [[Balzan Prize]] for High Energy Astrophysics
* 1992 – [[Knight Bachelor]]<ref>{{London Gazette |issue=52935 |date=29 May 1992 |page=9177}}</ref>
* 1993 – [[Bruce Medal]]
* 1993 – Elected to the [[American Philosophical Society]]<ref>{{cite web|url=https://search.amphilsoc.org/memhist/search?creator=Martin+Rees&title=&subject=&subdiv=&mem=&year=&year-max=&dead=&keyword=&smode=advanced| title=APS Member History }}</ref>
* 1995 – Honorary doctorate from the Faculty of Science and Technology at [[Uppsala University]], Sweden<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.uu.se/en/about-uu/traditions/prizes/honorary-doctorates/|title=Honorary doctorates – Uppsala University, Sweden|website=www.uu.se|date=9 June 2023 }}</ref>
* 1999 – Golden Plate Award of the [[Academy of Achievement|American Academy of Achievement]]<ref>{{cite web|title= Golden Plate Awardees of the American Academy of Achievement |website=www.achievement.org|publisher=[[American Academy of Achievement]]|url=  https://achievement.org/our-history/golden-plate-awards/#science-exploration}}</ref>
* 2000 – [[Bruno Rossi Prize]]
* 2001 – [[Gruber Prize in Cosmology]]
* 2003 – [[Albert Einstein World Award of Science]]<ref>{{cite web|title=Albert Einstein World Award of Science 2003|url=http://www.consejoculturalmundial.org/winners-science-martinrees.php|access-date=13 August 2013|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140607001523/http://www.consejoculturalmundial.org/winners-science-martinrees.php|archive-date=7 June 2014}}</ref>
* 2004 – [[Henry Norris Russell Lectureship]] of the [[American Astronomical Society]]
* 2004 – [[Lifeboat Foundation]]'s Guardian Award
* 2004 – [[Royal Society]]'s [[Michael Faraday Prize]] for science communication
* 2005 – [[Life Peerage]]<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=57753|date=9 September 2005|page=11653}}</ref>
* 2005 – [[Crafoord Prize]], with [[James E. Gunn (astronomer)|James Gunn]] and [[Philip James Edwin Peebles|James Peebles]]
* 2007 – [[Order of Merit]] – in the personal gift of [[Elizabeth II|The Queen]]<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=58379|date=29 June 2007|page=9395}}</ref>
* 2007 – [[Caird Medal]] of the [[National Maritime Museum]]
* 2007 – [[Honorary Fellow]]<ref name="List of Fellows"/> of the [[Royal Academy of Engineering]]<ref name="List of Fellows"/>
* 2011 – [[Templeton Prize]]<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Cressey|first=Daniel|year=2011|title=Martin Rees takes Templeton Prize|journal=Nature|language=en|doi=10.1038/news.2011.208}}</ref>
* 2012 – [[Institute of Physics Isaac Newton Medal]]
* 2012 – [[Manchester Literary and Philosophical Society]] Dalton Medal<ref>Memoirs And Proceedings Of The Manchester Literary And Philosophical Society Volume 152 2013-14 </ref> 
* 2013 – [[Dirac Medal (ICTP)|Dirac Medal]] ICTP<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.ictp.it/about-ictp/prizes-awards/the-dirac-medal/the-medallists.aspx|title=ICTP - The Medallists|website=www.ictp.it}}</ref>
* 2016 – Honorary Doctorate, [[Harvard University]] (awarded in Cambridge, Massachusetts, US on 26 May 2016)
* 2017 – [[Lilienfeld Prize]]
* 2020 – [[Fritz Zwicky Prize for Astrophysics and Cosmology]]<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://eas.unige.ch/documents/eas_prizes_2020.pdf |title=European Astronomical Society 2020 prizes |date=6 March 2020 |website=European Astronomical Society |access-date=6 March 2020}}</ref>
* 2020 – Elected a Legacy Fellow of the [[American Astronomical Society]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://aas.org/grants-and-prizes/aas-fellows|title=AAS Fellows|publisher=AAS|access-date=30 September 2020}}</ref>
* 2023 – [[Copley Medal]]<ref>[https://royalsociety.org/grants-schemes-awards/awards/copley-medal/ Copley Medal 2023]</ref>
* 2024 – [[Wolf Prize in Physics]]<ref>{{cite web|url=https://wolffund.org.il/martin-rees/|title=Martin Rees Wolf Prize Laureate in Physics 2024|website=Wolf Prize|date=3 July 2024 |access-date=20 August 2024}}</ref>
{{Div col end}}
The [[Asteroid]] [[4587 Rees]] and the Sir Martin Rees Academic Scholarship at [[Shrewsbury International School]] are named in his honour.

In June 2022, to celebrate his 80th birthday, Rees was the subject of the BBC programme ''[[The Sky at Night]]'', in conversation with Professor [[Chris Lintott]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m0018b4q|title=BBC Four – The Sky at Night, The Astronomer Royal at 80|website=BBC}}</ref>

==Personal life==
Rees married the anthropologist [[Caroline Humphrey]] in 1986.<ref name=whoswho/> He is an atheist but has criticized [[New Atheism|militant atheists]] for being too hostile to religion.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.templeton.org/templeton_report/20110420/index.html|title=Templeton Report: Martin J. Rees Wins 2011 Templeton Prize|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303194123/http://www.templeton.org/templeton_report/20110420/index.html|archive-date=3 March 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/science/2011/apr/06/astronomer-royal-martin-rees-interview|title=Martin Rees: I've got no religious beliefs at all – interview|first=Ian|last=Sample|website=[[TheGuardian.com]] |date=6 April 2011}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Can humanity survive the future? |quote=Rees, while stating he is an atheist, declares that he shares a sense of "mystery" with those who believe in God. |work=Financial Times |date=October 2018 |url=https://www.ft.com/content/3ebb3122-cb11-11e8-8d0b-a6539b949662 |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221210/https://www.ft.com/content/3ebb3122-cb11-11e8-8d0b-a6539b949662 |archive-date=10 December 2022 |url-status=live |url-access=subscription |access-date=5 January 2020}}</ref> Rees is a lifelong supporter of the [[Labour Party (UK)|Labour Party]], but has no party affiliation when sitting in the House of Lords.<ref>{{cite news |title=Martin Rees: 'We shouldn't attach any weight to what Hawking says |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/profiles/martin-rees-we-shouldnt-attach-any-weight-to-what-hawking-says-about-god-2090421.html |access-date=20 February 2020 |work=The Independent |date=27 September 2010 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Radford |first1=Tim |title=Guardian profile: Martin Rees |url=https://www.theguardian.com/science/2005/dec/02/highereducationprofile.research |access-date=20 February 2020 |work=The Guardian |date=2 December 2005}}</ref>

==See also==
*[[Particle chauvinism]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

{{CC-notice|cc=by4|url=https://royalsociety.org/people/martin-rees-12156/}}
{{Commons category|Martin Rees}}
{{Wikiquote|Martin Rees}}
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