George F. Smoot, Renowned Cosmologist, Dies at 80

George F. Smoot, an influential physicist and Nobel laureate known for his groundbreaking contributions to our understanding of the universe, passed away on September 18, 2023, at his home in Paris. He was 80 years old. According to his sister, Sharon Bowie, Smoot died from cardiac arrest, marking the end of a remarkable career that significantly advanced cosmology.

Born on February 20, 1945, in Yukon, Florida, Smoot was a prominent figure at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and the Space Sciences Laboratory at the University of California, Berkeley. He led a pivotal research team that constructed a detailed image of the early universe using a specialized instrument he developed in the 1970s. This instrument was launched into space in 1989 aboard the NASA satellite known as the Cosmic Background Explorer, or COBE.

The COBE mission revolutionized our understanding of cosmic origins by detecting minute temperature fluctuations in the remnant light from the Big Bang. These temperature variations provided critical evidence of how matter was unevenly distributed across the universe billions of years ago, which Smoot referred to as the “primordial seeds” that eventually formed galaxies and clusters.

In a notable announcement at the American Physical Society conference in 1992, Dr. Smoot stated, “If you’re religious, it’s like seeing God,” following the release of COBE’s findings. His work garnered worldwide attention, with the New York Times featuring the story as its lead article on April 24, under the headline “Scientists Report Profound Insight on How Time Began.” Theoretical physicist Stephen Hawking hailed it as “the greatest discovery of the century, if not of all time.”

Smoot’s research built upon earlier findings by physicists Arno A. Penzias and Robert W. Wilson, who discovered the cosmic microwave background in 1964. Their work established that the universe had a beginning and had expanded from a singular event. Prior to these revelations, cosmology was often speculative, lacking empirical support. The data gathered from the COBE satellite transformed the field into a science founded on precise measurements, allowing researchers to test various theories about the universe’s inception and evolution.

In recognition of his contributions, Smoot shared the 2006 Nobel Prize in Physics with fellow scientist John C. Mather, both serving as team leaders on the COBE project. While celebrated for his intellect, he faced some criticism from peers who felt he received disproportionate credit for the team’s accomplishments. A news release from Berkeley Lab just days before the conference announcement was perceived by some as unfairly attributing the discovery solely to Smoot.

His 1993 book, “Wrinkles in Time: Witness to the Birth of the Universe,” co-authored with Keay Davidson, chronicled the journey leading to the discovery. Some collaborators challenged his narrative, prompting Mather to publish his perspective in “The Very First Light: The True Inside Story of the Scientific Journey Back to the Dawn of the Universe” in 1996.

Dr. Smoot was born into a family that valued education and science. His father, George Smoot II, a World War II fighter pilot, later became a hydrologist, while his mother, Talicia (Crawford) Smoot, was a science educator and school principal. The family relocated several times during Smoot’s childhood, providing him a diverse upbringing that nurtured his scientific curiosity.

He pursued higher education at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, earning degrees in physics and mathematics in 1966 and a Ph.D. in particle physics in 1970. After joining Berkeley, he shifted his focus to cosmology, collaborating with physicist Richard Muller to develop instruments that measured cosmic background temperature differences using a U-2 spy plane.

In 1974, Smoot proposed a mission to NASA to send his instruments into space, ultimately contributing to the formation of the COBE team. Following its launch, the data analyzed by Mather’s team solidified the connection between the cosmic microwave background and the Big Bang, determining the temperature of this background to be approximately 2.7 kelvin (around -455 degrees Fahrenheit).

The implications of COBE’s discoveries extended beyond confirming the Big Bang theory. They bolstered evidence for dark matter and the theory of cosmic inflation, which suggests rapid expansion of the universe shortly after its inception. Subsequent missions, including the Planck observatory launched by the European Space Agency in 2009, refined COBE’s measurements, with Smoot playing a role in its proposal.

In 1994, he became a professor at Berkeley, where he established the Berkeley Center for Cosmological Physics, utilizing a significant portion of his Nobel Prize winnings to support its establishment. His impact on the field extended globally, helping to create cosmology institutes in countries such as France and South Korea. He was elected to both the National Academy of Sciences and the National Academy of Inventors.

Later in his career, Dr. Smoot focused on public outreach and education in science. He initiated programs aimed at educating high school teachers and students about cosmology and taught an online course on gravity that attracted over 87,000 participants. His engaging personality led to appearances on popular culture platforms, including the CBS sitcom “The Big Bang Theory,” and he participated in the Fox game show “Are You Smarter Than a Fifth Grader?” where he won $1 million and donated his winnings to create scholarships for aspiring scientists.

Dr. Smoot is survived by his partner, Nóra Csiszár, and his sister, Sharon Bowie. His legacy as a pioneering figure in cosmology will continue to inspire future generations of scientists and enthusiasts.