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pswesson2006.jpg paul s. wesson
 paul s. wesson
paul s. wesson

paul s. wesson , b.sc. , ph.d. , d.sc. , f.r.a.s , is a professor of astrophysics and theoretical physics .
he was educated at the universities of london and cambridge in england , and spent most of his career at the university of waterloo in canada .
he has also spent sabbatical leaves at berkeley and stanford in california , and more recently has been associated with the herzberg institute of astrophysics in victoria , canada .
he has supervised numerous graduate students and postdoctoral fellows , and has occupied several important administrative positions , including science director of the california institute for physics and astronomy .
his scientific interests are broad , ranging from a seismic survey of afghanistan , to guest lectures and media interviews on the big bang in america .
he has published over 250 research papers and a dozen books .
most of his articles have appeared in the standard journals for astronomy and theoretical physics , but he has also written pieces for `` new scientist '' and other magazines of popular science .
in recent years , his research has concentrated on two subjects : -lrb- a -rrb- the intensity of background light between galaxies depends on their luminosity and age , versus the redshift effect and the expansion of the universe .
it is possible to use observations and a mathematical model to determine various astrophysical quantities , including the age of the universe and the nature of dark matter and dark energy .
this approach also resolves the notorious problem of why the night sky is so dark , or olbers ' paradox .
-lrb- b -rrb- the general theory of relativity due to einstein can be extended from four to five dimensions , where the extra dimension measures mass .
this kind of 5d theory avoids problems of older versions , and has gained a considerable following as a means of accounting for matter .
a major discovery is that while the universe may have a big-bang singularity in 4d , it is smooth in 5d .
besides the above-outlined subjects , wesson also has interests in geophysics , panspermia and the philosophy of science .
he writes and reads science fiction .
