HANOVER — Sitting in one of Marcelo Gleiser’s desk drawers is a gift he received when he was 13: an autographed picture of Albert Einstein. One of Gleiser’s relatives hosted the famous physicist when he gave a lecture in Brazil in 1925.
“I was fascinated by this guy,” Gleiser, a professor of physics, astronomy and philosophy at Dartmouth College, said on Monday. “(Einstein) always said the inspiration to embrace the mystery of existence through science and the arts is the same.”
That comes through in Gleiser’s own work. He’s a cosmologist, using physics and astronomy to try to answer questions about the origin of the universe. But for Gleiser, those answers and questions have implications that go beyond science. They shape how humans think about themselves and the world around them, he says.
The way Gleiser thinks about science and the spiritual has earned him the 2019 Templeton Prize, named for Sir John Templeton, an American-born Wall Street executive who became a major figure in the mutual fund industry, and includes an award of $1.4 million.
The international prize, announced Tuesday at 6 a.m., “honors a living person who has made an exceptional contribution to affirming life’s spiritual dimension, whether through insight, discovery or practical works,” according to the foundation. Past winners include Mother Teresa, Archbishop Desmond Tutu and the Dalai Lama.
“Professor Gleiser embodies the values that inspired my grandfather to establish the Templeton Prize and to create the John Templeton Foundation,” said Heather Templeton Dill, the Pennsylvania-based foundation’s president. “Two values which were especially important for him, and the focus of various foundation grants, are the pursuit of joy in all aspects of life, and the profound human experience of awe.”
Gleiser, who also turns 60 on Tuesday, said that after paying taxes on the prize, he plans to save some for his children’s college fund, some for retirement, and donate the rest.
He’s also the first Latin American to win the award. Born in Brazil, Gleiser attended university in his home country, got his Ph.D. from King’s College in London and then immigrated to Chicago in 1986.
“It is indeed possible for a person from another country to have a very successful career here and do good to everyone, not just in the United States, but in their original country and the world as a whole,” he said.
The last time a scientist won the award was 2011.
Gleiser’s first major breakthrough came in the early ’90s when he co-discovered oscillons — small, long-lived energy “lumps” made of sub-atomic particles, according to a news release from Dartmouth. His most recent research focuses on studying the life and death of stars, and other objects using information theory.
“To me, science is a flirt with the unknown,” Gleiser said. “We’re trying to figure things out, but there’s so much going on right now, all around us, that’s invisible to the eye, and science kind of is a bridge to this mystery, and by walking on this bridge we kind of have a better sense of who we are.”
Over the years, Gleiser has written several books and a blog for National Public Radio to help the public understand science, and the historical and personal context around it, which is important to him, as politicians and others question the science that explains climate change, for example.
“I think by making science more human, you make it more accessible and make it less arrogant,” he said.
For all the aspects of life and the functions of the world science has explained, Gleiser said it has its limitations.
“Because guess what? Science is a product of our creativity, and humans are both amazing and fallible. In fact, science works through mistakes,” he said. “That’s really the core of science. We don’t know all this stuff about the world, and we want to know more, right? That should make people humble.”
But even after thousands of years and several scientific theories, people still have questions about the origin of the universe.
“These are the questions that define who we are,” he said. “We are literally made of stuff from stars. Your atoms are more than 5 billion years old. I think that’s awesome.”
This fact “connects us to a history that is billions of years old, and (to) not feel spiritual about this or connected to the universe as a whole, it’s just crazy.
“How can you not? Because it’s so impactful,” he said.
And thinking this way, Gleiser says, has consequences.
“The fact that we, these molecular machines, are capable of asking questions about our origins and understanding the importance of life should be the unifying story of humanity,” he said. “We are most essentially a very unique species in a very hostile universe, living in a very precarious planet. And that to me, is the only way we’re going to be able to lift ourselves from this mess we’re in right now.”
Gleiser, who trains for ultramarathons on trails around Hanover, thinks about these questions as he runs. But he knows he won’t have all the answers.
“It’s OK to admit ignorance and to say that some questions may not have a final answer. A lot of them don’t,” he said. “What matters is not so much the final answer, but being part of the process of discovery. That’s what brings you joy.”
And it’s what gets Gleiser up in the morning.
“OK,” he says to himself, “Let’s do some physics, and let’s do some running.”
Daniela Vidal Allee can be reached at dallee@vnews.com or 603-727-3211.