Jeremy England

Jeremy England is an American physicist who uses statistical physics arguments to explain the spontaneous emergence of life, and consequently, the modern synthesis of evolution.[3][4][5] England terms this process "dissipation-driven adaptation".[6]

Jeremy England
Born1982
NationalityAmerican
Alma mater
Known forDissipation-driven adaptation hypothesis of abiogenesis
Scientific career
FieldsBiophysics
InstitutionsGlaxoSmithKline
ThesisTheory and Simulation of Explicit Solvent Effects on Protein Folding in Vitro and in Vivo (2009)
Doctoral advisorVijay S. Pande[2]
Websitewww.englandlab.com

Early life

England's mother was the daughter of Polish Jewish Holocaust survivors while his father was a non-observant Lutheran.[7] England was born in Boston[8] and raised in a college town in New Hampshire. He was raised Jewish but did not study Judaism until he attended graduate school at Oxford University. He now considers himself an Orthodox Jew.[7]

England earned a bachelor's degree in biochemistry from Harvard in 2003. After being awarded a Rhodes Scholarship, he studied at St. John's College, Oxford, from 2003 until 2005. He earned his Ph.D. in physics at Stanford in 2009.[1][9] In 2011, he joined the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's physics department as an assistant professor.[8] In 2019, he joined GlaxoSmithKline as a senior director in artificial intelligence and machine learning.[10]

Theoretical work

England has developed a hypothesis of the physics of the origins of life, that he calls "dissipation-driven adaptation."[3][5] The hypothesis holds that random groups of molecules can self-organize to more efficiently absorb and dissipate heat from the environment. His hypothesis states that such self-organizing systems are an inherent part of the physical world.[7]

Pulitzer Prizewinning science historian Edward J. Larson said that if England can demonstrate his hypothesis to be true, "he could be the next Darwin."[7]

A fictionalized version of England and his 'dissipation-driven adaptation' theory features in Dan Brown's novel Origin. England, who is an Orthodox Jew and ordained Rabbi,[11] has written that he strongly rejects Brown's depiction of him as being a scientist who is unconcerned with spiritual matters.[12]

Awards

England shared APS 2021 Irwin Oppenheim Award with Sumantra Sarkar.[13] He is also listed in a Forbes "30 under 30" in science.[14][15]

England was selected as Rhodes Scholar in 2003.[16] Also in 2003, the Hertz Foundation awarded England a Hertz Fellowship.[15]

See also

References

  1. Curriculum Vitae- Jeremy L. England (PDF), EnglandLab.com, retrieved December 17, 2014
  2. England, Jeremy (2009). Theory and Simulation of Explicit Solvent Effects on Protein Folding in Vitro and in Vivo (PhD thesis). ISBN 978-1243607553.
  3. Wolchover, Natalie (Jan 28, 2014). "A New Physics Theory of Life". Scientific American. Retrieved Dec 11, 2014.
  4. Tafarella, Santi (Jan 28, 2014). "Dissipation-Driven Adaptive Organization: Is Jeremy England The Next Charles Darwin?". Prometheus Unbound. Retrieved Dec 11, 2014.
  5. Jones, Orion (Dec 9, 2014). "MIT Physicist Proposes New "Meaning of Life"". Big Think. Retrieved Dec 11, 2014.
  6. Perunov, Nikolai; Marsland, Robert; England, Jeremy (2016). "Statistical Physics of Adaptation". Physical Review X. 6 (2): 021036. arXiv:1412.1875. Bibcode:2016PhRvX...6b1036P. doi:10.1103/PhysRevX.6.021036. S2CID 15928632.
  7. Meet the Orthodox Jewish physicist rethinking the origins of life" by Simona Weinglass, The Times of Israel, October 29, 2015.
  8. Faculty biography of Jeremy England Archived 2019-04-29 at the Wayback Machine, MIT Dept. of Physics, accessed Jan. 9, 2015.
  9. England, Jeremy. "Curriculum Vitae". englandlab. Archived from the original on April 15, 2017. Retrieved April 14, 2017.
  10. "GlaxoSmithKline recruits a new coach and top player for their AI/ML team out of Genentech and MIT". San Francisco Biotechnology Network News. July 11, 2019. Archived from the original on July 28, 2019. Retrieved July 28, 2019.
  11. "Judaism, Physics and Biology on the Origins of Life: A Conversation with Dr. Jeremy England". Sinai and Synapses. 16 December 2020. Retrieved 2022-10-17.
  12. England, Jeremy (2017-10-12). "Dan Brown Can't Cite Me to Disprove God". Wall Street Journal. ISSN 0099-9660. Retrieved 2022-10-17.
  13. "Irwin Oppenheim Award". American Physical Society. Retrieved 2021-01-28.
  14. "Jeremy England". Forbes. Retrieved 2021-01-29.[Forbes]
  15. "Jeremy England - Fanny and John Hertz Foundation". Hertz Foundation. Retrieved 2021-01-29.
  16. Ken Gewertz (2002-12-12). "Five Harvard students selected as 2003 Rhodes Scholars".

^ Forbes.com seems to have lost most of the content on his profile and lists a broken link to the 2012 30-under-30 in Science. The Hertz Foundation profile mentions the 2018 Forbes 30-under-30. However, neither the 2012 nor the 2018 official listing pages on Forbes.com list England.

Further reading

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