Cohen, Jack 1933–

PERSONAL: Born September 19, 1933, in London, England; married Carmela Mia Dawidowicz (divorced); married Judith Rosalind Evans (divorced); married Carol Murtha Irving (divorced); children: two from first marriage, four from second marriage. Education: London University, B.Sc. (with honors), 1954; University of Hull, Ph.D., 1957; University of Birmingham, D.Sc., 1974.

ADDRESSES: Home—3 Picklenash Ct., Bradfords Ln., Newent, Gloucestershire GL18 1QT, England. Office—Mathematics Institute, University of Warwick, Coventry, CV4 7AL, England. E-mail—drjackcohen@aol.com

CAREER: Biologist, educator, and writer. University of Birmingham, Birmingham, England, medical school post-doctoral fellow, 1957–59, department of zoology and comparative physiology, embryology lecturer, 1959–68, senior lecturer in animal reproduction, 1968–87; school of biological sciences, honorary lecturer, 1987–88, department of medicine and Birmingham Women's Hospital, consultant embryologist, 2000–03; Harvard University, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, research fellow in pharmacology, 1963–64; Humana Hospital Wellington, London, England, Infertility Unit, senior embryological advisor and manager of labs, 1987–89; Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel, research fellow, 1995–96; University of Warwick, Coventry, England, consultant, 1996–2000, honorary professor, 2000–; University of Durham, visiting professor, 2005.

Co-chairman of Committee of Concerned Scientists, 1974–76. Has participated in the production of television programs, including Horizon: Genesis, British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC); Take Another Look, ITV; Reality on the Rocks, Channel 4; Fancy Fish, BBC Channel 2; The Natural History of an Alien, BBC Channel 2.

MEMBER: American Society of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, American Chemical Society, American Association for Cancer Research, Biophysical Society.

AWARDS, HONORS: Fellowship for Israel from British Science Research Council, 1964–66; Institute of Biology, fellowship, 1974; New England Complex Systems Institute, invited to be fellow, 1995; Institute for the Study of Coherence and Emergence, fellowship, 2000.

WRITINGS:

Living Embryos, an Introduction to the Study of Animal Development, Macmillan (New York, NY), 1963, 2nd revised and enlarged edition, Pergamon Press (New York, NY), 1967, 3rd edition, 1981.

Reproduction, Butterworth (Boston, MA), 1977.

Animal Reproduction: Parents Making Parents, E. Arnold (Baltimore, MD), 1984.

(With Ian Stewart) The Collapse of Chaos: Discovering Simplicity in a Complex World, Viking (New York, NY), 1994.

Figments of Reality: The Evolution of the Curious Mind, Cambridge University Press (New York, NY), 1997.

(With Graham Medley) Stop Working & Start Thinking: A Guide to Becoming a Scientist, introduction by Ian Stewart, cartoons by Harry Venning, S. Thornes (Cheltenham, England), 2000, Taylor & Francis Group (New York, NY), 2005.

(With Ian Stewart) Wheelers (science fiction novel), Aspect/Warner (New York, NY), 2000.

(With Ian Stewart) What Does a Martian Look Like?: The Science of Extraterrestrial Life, Wiley (Hoboken, NJ), 2002, published in England as Evolving the Alien: The Science of Extraterrestrial Life, Ebury Press (London, England), 2002.

(With Terry Pratchett and Ian Stewart) The Science of Discworld II: The Globe, Ebury (London, England), 2002.

(With Ian Stewart) Heaven (science fiction novel), Warner Books (New York, NY), 2004.

(With Terry Pratchett and Ian Stewart) The Science of Discworld III: Darwin's Watch, Ebury (London, England), 2005.

Contributor of more than 150 articles to scientific journals and popular magazines, including Nature and Trends in Biochemical Sciences. Member of editorial board of Journal of Biochemical and Biophysical Methods and Biopolymers.

Contributor to numerous books, including: Topics in Phosphorus Chemistry, Volume VI, edited by M. Grayson and M. Griffiths, Wiley, 1969; Experimental Methods in Biophysical Chemistry, edited by Claude Nicolau, Wiley, 1974; Frontiers in Protein Chemistry, edited by T.Y. Liu, G. Mamiya, and K. Yasunobu, Elsevier, 1980; Interactions Between Iron and Proteins in Oxygen and Electron Transport, edited by Chien Ho and William Eaton, Elsevier, 1982; New Methods and Applications of NMR Spectroscopy (monograph), edited by George Levy American Chemical Society, 1982; 31P NMR Spectroscopy, edited by David Gorenstein, Academic Press, 1985; NMR in Biology and Medicine: Life Chemistry Reports, Volume 1, edited by J.V. Bannister and A.M. Michelson, Harwood, 1985; Important Advances in Oncology, by V.T. Devita, S. Hellman, and S. Rosenberg, Lippincott, 1989.

SIDELIGHTS: Jack Cohen is an internationally renowned reproductive biologist who also has a strong interest in science fiction and uses his expertise as a science fiction alien design consultant. He is the author or coauthor of numerous science books and two science fiction novels, as well as books pertaining to science fiction. In The Collapse of Chaos: Discovering Simplicity in a Complex World, Cohen and coauthor Ian Stewart delve into the world of theoretical physics and present their concepts of "simplexity" and "complicity" as it pertains to a more encompassing view of the universe. Gilbert Taylor, writing in Booklist, referred to the authors as "rebels who keep honest the prevailing epistemology of science."

Figments of Reality: The Evolution of the Curious Mind was another collaborative effort between the author and Stewart. This time the authors focus on their theory that the human mind evolved in response to the world's complex nature and human language. Writing in the Library Journal, Mark L. Shelton noted that the authors "are witty, erudite, clever, at times funny, and generally clear-headed." Quarterly Review of Biology contributor David L. Wilson commented, "Stewart and Cohen have written a wonderful book about how mind has evolved through brains grappling with complex environments."

In 2000, Cohen collaborated with Stewart on their first science fiction novel, titled Wheelers. The story revolves around an archaeologist who discovers a gear-shaped artifact on the moons of Jupiter. Called the "Wheeler," the artifact eventually leads scientists to the discovery of a new civilization. Eric Robbins, writing in Booklist, called the book an "imaginative and well-written story." In a review in the New York Times, Gerald Jonas noted that the authors "adopt a leisurely narrative pace" in what he called an "ambitious and entertaining novel." A Publishers Weekly contributor commented that the authors provide "some real old-fashioned sense of wonder."

Cohen's interest in space and science fiction and his consulting work in the area of possible alien anatomy and appearance come to bear in his and Stewart's book What Does a Martian Look Like?: The Science of Extraterrestrial Life, which was published in England as Evolving the Alien: The Science of Extraterrestrial Life. Writing in Analog Science Fiction & Fact, Tom Easton noted that the authors "have done an admirable job of pulling together a great many developments from modern biology, chemistry, and astronomy to show the vast breadth of living possibility that awaits discovery."

Cohen also collaborated with Stewart and science fiction writer Terry Pratchett on books that combine the science fiction of Pratchett with scientific commentary by Cohen and Stewart. For example, in The Science of Discworld II: The Globe, the fantasy backdrop of Pratchett's Discworld is used to tell about real science through the story of wizards meddling with history. In The Science of Discworld III: Darwin's Watch, Discworld wizards are working hard to make sure that On the Origin of the Species gets written by Charles Darwin. Writing in the New Scientist, Stephen Baxter noted that the authors' "collaboration is an earnest and conscientious educational project, a fun book which deserves to be taken very seriously indeed."

Stewart and Cohen teamed up for another science fiction novel called Heaven. This time they write a space adventure about a completely different kind of society visited by people from the Cosmic Unity group, who are proselytes out to convert the creatures on this strange planet to their way of thinking and their approach to a vision of heaven. Writing in Entertainment Weekly, Noah Robischon called the book "an edifying … read." A Publishers Weekly contributor commented that the book is "not just a satisfying brainteaser but actually might make readers think." Jackie Cassada noted in the Library Journal that Heaven is "a tale of wild invention and solid speculative science."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Analog Science Fiction & Fact, June, 2003, Tom Easton, review of What Does a Martian Look Like?: The Science of Extraterrestrial Life, p. 134.

Birmingham Post (Birmingham, England), May 31, 2002, Sophie Blakemore, "Academic Input for New Pratchett Book Meeting of Minds: Experts Add Science to Best-Selling Fiction," p. 5.

Booklist, February 15, 1994, Gilbert Taylor, review of The Collapse of Chaos: Discovering Simplicity in a Complex World, p. 1041; August, 2000, Eric Robbins, review of Wheelers, p. 2126.

Chronicle, June, 2004, Don D'Ammassa, review of Heaven, p. 41.

Coventry Evening Telegraph (Coventry, England), May 27, 2002, "Author's Work Explained," p. 9; June 3, 2002, "Science Buffs Join Top Author in Fantasy World," p. 8.

Entertainment Weekly, June 11, 2002, Noah Robischon, review of Heaven, p.129; June 11, 2004, review of Heaven, p. 129.

Library Journal, October 15, 1997, Mark L. Shelton, review of Figments of Reality: The Evolution of the Curious Mind, p. 88; October 15, 2000, Jackie Cassada, review of Wheelers, p. 107; May 15, 2002, Jackie Cassada, review of Heaven, p. 118.

New Scientist, October 5, 2002, David Langford, review of Evolving the Alien: The Science of Extraterrestrial Life, p. 50; April 23-April 29, 2005, Stephen Baxter, review of The Science of Discworld III: Darwin's Watch, p. 56.

New York Times Book Review, Victor K. McLlneny, March 26, 1978, review of A Century of DNA, p. 10; November 12, 2000, Gerald Jonas, review of Wheelers, p. 36.

Publishers Weekly, February 28, 1994, review of The Collapse of Chaos, p. 67; October 16, 2000, review of Wheelers, p. 53; April 26, 2004, review of Heaven, p. 46.

Quarterly Review of Biology, September, 2000, David L. Wilson, review of Figments of Reality, p. 307.

Scotland on Sunday (Edinburgh, Scotland), September 1, 2002, review of Evolving the Alien, p. 7.

ONLINE

Time Warner Bookmark, http://www.twbookmark.com/ (February 1, 2006), brief profile of author.