William Napier (astronomer)

William M. Napier or Bill Napier (born 29 June 1940 in Perth, Scotland) is the author of five high tech thriller novels and a number of nonfiction science books.

For other individuals of the same name, see William Napier (disambiguation).

Career

He received his Bachelor of Science degree in 1963 and his Doctor of Philosophy degree in 1966, both from the University of Glasgow.

Napier is a professional astronomer who has worked at the Royal Observatory in Edinburgh, the University of Oxford and Armagh Observatory. He is currently an honorary professor of Astrobiology in the Center for Astrobiology at Cardiff University, which describes him as "a leading figure in the dynamics and physics of comets, and a pioneer of the modern versions of catastrophism."[1] And honorary professor at the Buckingham Centre for Astrobiology, University of Buckingham, which describes him as, "a pioneer of modern studies of the impact hazard due to asteroids and comets," and also as having, "carried out an investigation of long-running claims of anomalous QSO/galaxy associations."[2] His research work focuses on comets and cosmology. The result of his collaboration with Victor Clube and others on the role of giant comets in Earth history is known as "coherent catastrophism."[3]

According to Napier, 13,000 years ago the earth was affected by a major, rapid cooling event that caused the extinction of a large number of species and a major disruption of paleoindian cultures. Previously thought to have been caused by an enormous asteroid crashing into the planet, Professor Napier presented evidence that the cooling event was caused by the collision with "a dense trail of material from a large disintegrating comet."[4][5][6][7]

Selected bibliography

Fiction
  • Nemesis (1998), a science-fiction thriller
  • Revelation (2000)
  • The Lure (2002)
  • Shattered Icon (Splintered Icon in the US) (2003)
  • The Furies (2009) (St. Martin's Press)

Nonfiction
  • The Cosmic Serpent (1982), with Victor Clube
  • The Cosmic Winter (1990), with Victor Clube [8]
  • The Origin of Comets (1990), with M. E. Bailey and Victor Clube

References
  1. "Cardiff Center for Astrobiology, Staff". cardiffcentreforastrobiology.com. Cardiff Center for Astrobiology. Retrieved 5 November 2014.
  2. "Professor William M. Napier". www.buckingham.ac.uk. University of Buckingham. Retrieved 5 November 2014.
  3. Asher, D. J., S. V. M. Clube, W. M. Napier and D. I. Steel (1994). Coherent Catastrophism. Vistas in Astronomy, 38 (1), 1-27; Abstract at Harvard.edu
  4. "Was a giant comet responsible for a North American catastrophe in 11,000 BC?". Science Daily. 1 April 2010. Retrieved 5 November 2014.
  5. Roach, John (7 April 2010). "Comet "Shower" Killed Ice Age Mammals?". National Geographic. Retrieved 5 November 2014.
  6. Hecht, John (2 April 2010). "Did a comet swarm strike America 13,000 years ago?". New Scientist. Retrieved 5 November 2014.
  7. Jenniskens, Petrus Matheus Marie (2006). Meteor Showers and Their Parent Comets. Cambridge University Press. p. 455. ISBN 0521853494.
  8. Nuttall, Nick (24 May 1990). "A cosmic trail with destruction in its wake". Times of London. Retrieved 5 November 2014.
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