Astrophysicist Hubert Reeves dies at age 91 – 10/13/2023 – Science

French-Canadian astrophysicist Hubert Reeves, famous popularizer of cosmos science, died this Friday (13), aged 91, his son announced on Facebook.

“My family joins me in the pain of having to announce that our dear father has gone to join the stars,” Benoit Reeves posted on the social network.

Reeves, who died in Paris, was a remarkable narrator of the history of the universe, his life’s passion, also dedicated to promoting the protection of planet Earth.

“Today, Quebec lost a unique promoter, a renowned astrophysicist. Hubert Reeves knew how to find the words to make us understand humanity and infinity. Today, he is gone as he came, turning into stardust”, commented the Prime Minister of this Canadian province Francophone, François Legault.

Born in Montreal on July 13, 1932, the scientist, with long hair and beard, had the gift of easily explaining complex physical phenomena.

At night, at his home in Quebec, Reeves and his family would go out to admire the sky, where he learned to recognize constellations using a sheet of cardboard.

Reeves excelled in physics and, at age 18, already wanted to become an astronomer. He earned a doctorate at Cornell University and became a scientific advisor to NASA in the early 1960s, before teaching at the University of Belgium.

Reeves later became director of research at France’s National Center for Scientific Research (CNRS) and an advisor to the country’s Atomic Energy Commission.

Reeves has written books and produced popular films and documentaries, all underpinned by a fundamental question: does the universe have meaning? He became a passionate environmental advocate, calling on politicians for action.

“We have to prevent the planet from becoming uninhabitable”, he appealed at the Élysée Palace in 2014, during a conference on the environment. “We face a battle… Who will win? Nobody knows,” she declared, in an emotional speech.

For Reeves, who had four children and eight grandchildren, saving the planet was a matter of “the heart.” “Ecology is not just one big problem, but millions of small problems,” she told AFP during an interview in 2018. This means that people need to “want to face them” every day.