Residence Sydney, Australia Name Karl Kruszelnicki Other names Dr Karl Role Author | Years active 1981–present Spouse Mary Kruszelnicki | |
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Full Name Karl Sven Woytek Sas Konkovitch Matthew Kruszelnicki Alma mater University of WollongongUniversity of New South WalesUniversity of Sydney Children Lola Kruszelnicki, Alice Kruszelnicki, Karl Kruszelnicki Books Game of Knowns: Science I, House of Karls, 50 Shades of Grey Matter, Great Mythconceptions, Curious and Curiouser Profiles | ||
Tam 2014 karl kruszelnicki great moments in australian science
Karl Kruszelnicki (born 20 March 1948), often referred to as "Dr Karl", is a well-known Australian science communicator and populariser, who is known as an author and science commentator on Australian radio and television.
Contents
- Tam 2014 karl kruszelnicki great moments in australian science
- Doctor karl kruszelnicki on cigarette smoking
- Early life
- Education
- Television
- Radio and podcasts
- Politics
- Recognition and awards
- Writing
- Books
- References
Kruszelnicki is the Julius Sumner Miller Fellow in the Science Foundation for Physics at the School of Physics, University of Sydney.
Doctor karl kruszelnicki on cigarette smoking
Early life
Kruszelnicki's family immigrated to Australia from Poland when he was two years of age. The family were tenanted at the migrant camp in Bonegilla, Victoria, for the first three years before they settled in the city of Wollongong, New South Wales, where he grew up. After high school, his first job was as a ditch digger in the summer between the end of high school and the start of university, using pick and shovel to dig and lay sewerage pipes in the Wollongong suburb of Dapto.
After university, Kruszelnicki's first job as a physicist was working for a steel works in his home town of Wollongong where he had to test the strength of steel made for use in Melbourne's West Gate Bridge, which was under construction at that time. Kruszelnicki designed a machine to test the steel but its results suggested that the steel did not meet specifications. His boss at the time asked him to recheck the results but when the steel continually failed to meet the specifications his boss asked him to fake the data. Kruszelnicki refused and eventually quit. (The West Gate Bridge collapsed during construction but the fault was found to have occurred due to structural failure not due to the quality of the steel used.)
Education
Kruszelnicki attended Edmund Rice Christian Brothers College in Wollongong, New South Wales, between 1960 and 1964. On completion he attended the University of Wollongong, completing a Bachelor of Science majoring in physics in 1968. In 1980 Kruszelnicki was awarded a Master of Biomedical Engineering at the University of New South Wales. He completed a Bachelor of Medicine and a Bachelor of Surgery at Sydney University in 1986. In 2016, he received an honorary doctorate from the University of the Sunshine Coast.
Television
Kruszelnicki presented the first series of Quantum (replaced by Catalyst) in 1985. As a science communicator and presenter, he appears on Channel 7's Weekend Sunrise program and on ABC television. From early 2008 to 2010 he co-hosted a TV series called Sleek Geeks with Adam Spencer.
Radio and podcasts
Kruszelnicki does a number of weekly radio shows. His hour-long show on ABC radio station Triple J has been going on in one form or another since 1981. This weekly science talkback show, is broadcast on Thursday mornings from 11:00 am to 12:00 noon and attracts up to 300,000 listeners; it is also available as a podcast.
Kruszelnicki also often helps with other science and education Triple J promotions, such as the Sleek Geek Week roadshow with Adam Spencer and Caroline Pegram. He and Adam Spencer release the Sleek Geeks podcast regularly (about once a week).
In the United Kingdom, Kruszelnicki appears on a live weekly late-night link-up on BBC Radio 5 Live's Up All Night, usually with Rhod Sharp (Thursdays 03:00 - 04:00 UK time), answering science questions.
Politics
Kruszelnicki was an unsuccessful candidate for the Australian Senate in the 2007 Australian federal election. He was placed number two on the Climate Change Coalition ticket in New South Wales.
Recognition and awards
In 2000, the Australian Financial Review Internet Awards awarded Kruszelnicki the Best Science and Technology Website.
One of Kruszelnicki's more notable undertakings was his part in a research project on belly button fluff, for which he received the tongue-in-cheek Ig Nobel Prize in 2002.
He received the Australian Father of the Year award in 2003. In the 2001 honours list, he was awarded the Centenary Medal "for major service in raising public awareness of the importance of science and technology".
In the 2006 honours list, he was made a Member of the Order of Australia.
In 2006, the Australian Skeptics recognized him as the Australian Skeptic Of The Year.
In 2012, Kruszelnicki was named as a National Living Treasure by the National Trust of Australia (NSW).
Also in 2012, Main-belt asteroid 18412 Kruszelnicki was named in his honour.
In 2014, Readers Digest readers voted Kruszelnicki as the ninth most trusted person in Australia
Writing
As of 2017, Kruszelnicki has written 40 books, along with numerous lecture series (using material that often ends up in his books, or vice versa). Some of these lecture series and books have been televised for events such as Australia's National Science Week, with him supplying voice-overs and sometimes appearing in claymation. Kruszelnicki's earlier work focused on interesting scientific curiosities, but recently his writing has moved towards the theme of scientific myths and misconceptions.