J. P. McEvoy

J.P. McEvoy was born in the USA and received his B.S. in physics and mathematics at St. Joseph's College (now University). After receiving the Masters Degree in Physics from the University of Pennsylvania, he worked as a research physicist at the Radio Corporation of America (RCA) in NJ. Named the David Sarnoff Doctoral Fellow, he received the PhD in physics from the University of London. He returned to the USA as an associate at the RCA Laboratories in Princeton, NJ and for the next 15 years worked in solid state physics as a research scientist and university professor in the USA, Switzerland and Britain. He has published over 50 papers, mostly on the low temperature properties of metals.

At Clark University in Massachusetts from 1968-1973, McEvoy played a leading part in the radical movement among academics to make physics more accessible to the non- specialist. He developed courses in physics and astronomy for students from the arts, the humanities and the social sciences using an historical approach initially inspired by the Harvard Project Physics course.

He returned to London as Head of Physics at the American School in London (ASL). Now a populariser of physics and astronomy, he has been involved in journalism and radio broadcasting. In 1999 his book, Eclipse, the study of the history of solar eclipses, was published by Fourth Estate in Britain and Berlin Verlag in Germany.

His two guides written for Icon Books, Introducing Stephen Hawking, and Introducing Quantum Theory have been acclaimed world wide and and translated into a dozen languages. His latest book for Constable/Robinson A Brief History of the Universe, is selling throughout the English-speaking world. Recently, he received the prestigious founder’s award given by the American School in London for Inspiring and Dedicated Service to Education. He lives in London with his wife Patricia, a family therapist.