# Hubert Reeves

Hubert Reeves CC GOQ (July 13, 1932 – October 13, 2023) was a Canadian astrophysicist and popularizer of science.

## Early life and education

Reeves was born in Montreal on July 13, 1932, and as a child lived in Léry. Reeves attended Collège Jean-de-Brébeuf, a prestigious French-language college in Montreal. He obtained a BSc degree in physics from the Université de Montréal in 1953, an MSc degree from McGill University in 1956 with a thesis entitled "Formation of Positronium in Hydrogen and Helium" and a PhD degree at Cornell University in 1960.

## Career

From 1960 to 1964, he taught physics at the Université de Montréal and worked as an adviser to NASA. He became a Director of Research at the French National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS) in 1965.

## Personal life and death

Reeves often spoke on television, promoting science. He resided in Paris, France, where he died on October 13, 2023, at the age of 91.

## Honours and recognition

* In 1976, he was made Knight of the Ordre national du Mérite (France).
* In 1986, he was made Knight of the Légion d'Honneur (France). He was promoted to Officer in 1994 and to Commander in 2003.
* In 1991, he was made an Officer of the Order of Canada and was promoted to Companion in 2003.
* In 1994, he was made Officer of the National Order of Quebec. He was promoted to Grand Officer in 2017.
* Asteroid 9631 Hubertreeves is named after Reeves: see Meanings of asteroid names (9501-10000).
* In 2001, he received the Albert Einstein Medal for research on the density of the universe.
* In 2011, the Prix Hubert-Reeves was created.
* In 2019, he received the Prix Jules Janssen, the highest award of the Société astronomique de France.

## Selected publications

* Reeves, Hubert (1998). Origins: Speculations on the Cosmos, Earth and Mankind (1st English-language ed.). London: Arcade Publishing. pp. 192pp. ISBN 1-55970-408-X.
* Reeves, Hubert (July 1971). Nuclear Reactions in Stellar Surfaces and Their Relations with Stellar Evolution. London: Gordon and Breach. pp. 88pp. ISBN 0-677-02960-8.
* Reeves, Hubert (1968). Stellar evolution and nucleosynthesis. New York: Gordon and Breach. ISBN 0-677-30150-2.
* Reeves, Hubert (1981). Atoms of Silence: An Exploration of Cosmic Evolution. Paris: Seuil. p. 282. ISBN 2-02-010170-X.
* Reeves, Hubert (1986). L'heure de s'enivrer : l'univers a-t-il un sens?. Seuil. ISBN 2-02-014400-X.
* Reeves, Hubert (1994). Dernières nouvelles du cosmos. Seuil. ISBN 2-02-022831-9.
* Reeves, Hubert; Lenoir, Frédéric (2003). Mal de Terre. Paris: Points. p. 272. ISBN 2-02-079064-5.
* Reeves, Hubert (2005). Chroniques du ciel et de la vie. Éditions du Seuil. ISBN 2-02-080030-6.
* Reeves, Hubert (2007). Chroniques des atomes et des galaxies. Éd. du Seuil. ISBN 978-2-7578-2297-5.
* Reeves, Hubert; Boutinot, Nelly; Casanave, Daniel; Champion, Claire (2017). Hubert Reeves nous explique la biodiversité. Bruxelles: Le Lombard. ISBN 9782803670796.
* Reeves, Hubert; Boutinot, Nelly; Casanave, Daniel; Champion, Claire (2018). Hubert Reeves nous explique la forêt. Bruxelles: Le Lombard. ISBN 9782803672325.
* Reeves, Hubert; Vandermeulen, David; Casanave, Daniel (2019). Hubert Reeves nous explique les océans. Bruxelles: Le Lombard. ISBN 9782803673100.
* Reeves, Hubert, Michel Cassé, Étienne Klein, Marc Lachièze-Rey, Roland Lehoucq, Jean-Pierre Luminet, Nathalie Palanque-Delabrouille, Nicolas Prantzos, and Sylvie Vauclair. (2019). Petite histoire de la matière et de l'univers.
* Conference on the decline of biodiversity, UNESCO Headquarters, Paris in 2009
* Hubert Reeves in La Sorbonne (Paris, France) photographed in 2001 by Olivier Meyer