James Peebles
active c. 1935, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
Canadian-American theoretical cosmologist who laid modern foundations for large-scale structure and the cosmic microwave background.
At Princeton (from 1958), Peebles predicted the cosmic microwave background with Dicke's group, analyzed galaxy-clustering statistics, developed cold dark matter models, and 'converted' cosmology from speculation to a precisely measurable science. His book 'Physical Cosmology' (1971) remained the standard text for half a century.
Nobel-winning work
The prize recognized 'theoretical discoveries in physical cosmology': Big Bang nucleosynthesis modeling, quantification of CMB anisotropies, the cold-dark-matter plus dark-energy framework (ΛCDM), and two-point correlation statistics of the galaxy distribution. His predictions were confirmed in detail by the COBE, WMAP and Planck missions.
Workplaces: Princeton University
Canada, United States