| Mark Brake | |
| Birth Date: | 31 October 1958 |
| Birth Place: | Mountain Ash, Rhondda Cynon Taff, Wales |
| Nationality: | British |
| Fields: | Physics, Science Communication |
| Known For: | Popularising the relationship between space, science and culture |
Mark Brake (born 31 October 1958) is a Welsh author, broadcaster and former professor of science communication at the University of Glamorgan.[1]
Brake was born at Mountain Ash, Wales, UK. He was awarded a BSc by the University of Glamorgan and a MSc by University College Cardiff in 1988.[2]
In 1999, Brake established what he described as 'the world's first science fiction degree',[3] and in 2000, as Head of Earth and Space Sciences at The University of Glamorgan, was involved with an initiative to introduce school children to the study of astrophysics.[4] The following year, Russian cosmonauts Commander Aleksandr Aleksandrovich Volkov and Alexandre Martynov toured Britain in a series of lectures organised by Brake's department.[5] In 2005, Brake helped establish, and became head of, a degree in Astrobiology, described by a fellow academic as the UK's first full degree in the subject.[6] Between 2003 and 2008, Brake was responsible for leading public engagement initiatives in science, which attracted around £5 million of funding.[7]
The RoCCoTO project, launched in 2001, was a community-based science course for the public, featuring ideas about science and their cultural context in an instance of "Third Culture" studies.[8] The RoCCoTO project received a Public Engagement Award from the Astrobiology Society of Britain in 2008.[9] Alien Worlds, a multimedia website associated with the RoCCoTO project, was launched in 2009, and is an animated guide to phenomena such as eclipses of the sun and moon.
Brake has co-written and co-hosted a series of live tours with educational rapper Jon Chase,[10] appearing at the 2012 Hay Festival with a show entitled The Science of Doctor Who,[11] and the 2014 festival with The Science of Star Wars.[12]
In 2006, Brake submitted a grant application to the Research Councils' Procurement Organisation in which he falsely claimed to have a PhD from Cardiff University. The University of Glamorgan described this as "an isolated incident."[13] Brake continued to work at the University of Glamorgan as a professor of science communication until 2010.[14]
Brake has argued that Charles Darwin's theory of evolution, as expressed in his 1859 Origin of Species, was influenced by the work of Alfred Russel Wallace.[15] This view has been contested.[16]