Editor of DEATH wins an award

Neil Gehrels, gamma-ray astronomer and Principle Investigator on the Swift GRB mission, just received the 2009 SPIE George W. Goddard award!

The SPIE says that he got it "…in recognition of Neil’s pioneering contributions in opening the gamma-ray spectral window as its own astronomical discipline through his leadership of the Compton Gamma Ray Observatory and the Swift Mission." But I know the real reason: he edited two chapters in my book, Death from the Skies! (the supernova and gamma-ray burst ones, natch), and they couldn’t give the award to me because I’d just throw it on my pile of statuettes.

So congrats to my friend Neil, who really does have an ever-growing pile of awards. Swift is a remarkable mission, still going strong, and still doing great science. This is richly deserved.

February 26th, 2009 11:00 AM by Phil Plait in Astronomy, DeathfromtheSkies!, Humor | 6 comments | RSS feed | Trackback >

6 Responses to “Editor of DEATH wins an award”

1. IVAN3MAN Says:
February 26th, 2009 at 11:29 am

Phil Plait: “… and they couldn’t give the award to me because I’d just throw it on my pile of statuettes.”

Phil, do you have evidence to substantiate that claim?
2. Larian LeQuella Says:
February 26th, 2009 at 11:29 am

I can’t help but to note a serious deficiency on his bookshelf.

Well done sir!
3. o rly Says:
February 26th, 2009 at 12:02 pm

@Larian: I’m sure he has Phil’s books on his “private collection” shelf.

It’s a shame things like this don’t become headline news, it would be a nice break from bad politics and fear mongering.. or worse, celebrity news. Congrats Neil!
4. hale_bopp Says:
February 26th, 2009 at 1:22 pm

Yeah, Neil! I have an incriminating picture of him from the 2003 meeting at Goddard…now might be the time to cash in
5. The Chemist Says:
February 26th, 2009 at 4:42 pm

Congratulations to him. God only knows you don’t get awards in science for “participation”.

Or wonderflonium. (Damn, I’ve been thinking about that a lot lately.)
6. Radwaste Says:
February 26th, 2009 at 6:27 pm

I wonder if this fellow is the principal investigator. Hey, I keep apogee and perigee straight…

About Bad Astronomy

Phil Plait, the creator of Bad Astronomy, is an astronomer, lecturer, and author. After ten years working on Hubble Space Telescope and six more working on astronomy education, he struck out on his own as a writer. He's written two books, dozens of magazine articles, and 12 bazillion blog articles. He is a skeptic and fights the abuse of science, but his true love is praising the wonders of real science.

The original BA site (with the Moon Hoax debunking, movie reviews, and all that) can be found here.

Contact me: The Bad Astronomer "at" gmail "dot" com




		Bad Astronomy was chosen as one of Time.com's Best Blogs of 2009.

Death from the Skies!

Order a copy of Death from the Skies! from Amazon, or Barnes and Noble.

"If things worked the way I wanted them to, any reporter about to do another 'sensational' story on deadly meteors would consult this volume, and bang! common sense would find its way into the news. How strange would that world be?"
-- Adam Savage, Mythbusters

"Reading this book is like getting punched in the face by Carl Sagan. Frightening, but oddly exhilarating."
-- Daniel H. Wilson, author of How to Survive a Robot Uprising