Imperial Cosmologist selected as Global Thinker by international magazine

Dr Roberto Trotta (left) at Foreign Policy event to honour the Global Thinkers

Dr Roberto Trotta has been named as a Global Thinker by the international politics magazine, Foreign Policy, for his book 'The Edge of the Sky'.

The book was launched last month and tells the story of great discoveries and outstanding mysteries in modern cosmology through the eyes of a female scientist. The prose has been described as both poetic and accessible, using only the 1,000 most common words in the English language: quite a challenge when tackling the complexity of astrophysics.

Dr Trotta, from the Department of Physics at Imperial College London, is one of 100 Leading Global thinkers selected by Foreign Policy for 2014 for their ability to translate important ideas into action that changes the world. His unique skill was described by the magazine as the ability to ‘junk astronomer’s jargon’ which he does by avoiding even the more well-known scientific words such as ‘physics’, ‘astronomy’, ‘science’, ‘planet’ and even ‘moon’.

Dr Trotta said about his selection: "I was hugely surprised by this utterly unexpected honour. Astrophysics is not something that you'd usually associate with foreign affairs! In their mention, Foreign Policy described my radical approach to communicating my science to the public as ‘junking astronomy jargon’ - an equally radical summary, and a good one! I was delighted they thought that my little book had a place among the great and important work of the other Global Thinkers - among them politicians, activists, technologists and artists. This award highlights the wider cultural importance of fundamental science, and the central role of an engaged dialogue with the public at large.”

His contribution falls into the category of ‘The Chroniclers’ which includes storytellers that communicate their message, using all forms of media from the printed word to twitter streams. His fellow Global Thinkers in other categories include Germany’s chancellor Angela Merkel, Harvard engineer Jennifer Lewis, Joshua Wong - the student leader of the Hong Kong protests -  and Drs Kevin Whaley and Larry Zeitlin who created the Ebola drug Zmapp.

Global Thinker Awards

Earlier this week Dr Trotta attended an event in Washington to honour the Global Thinkers which featured a keynote speech by US Secretary of State, John Kerry.  “The event was an eclectic, immensely stimulating gathering,” said Dr Trotta. “In just a few hours I had so many fascinating conversations, ranging from dark matter to the future role of China in the geopolitical equilibrium. It's fair to say that I would never have imagined that ‘The Edge of the Sky’ could have such a reach. I greatly enjoyed discovering the work of the other Global Thinkers, and I'll be following them and their endeavours in the year to come."

Details of the 100 Leading Global Thinkers and their work are in the November issue of Foreign Policy and on the website foreignpolicy.com