A man of many parts
The renowned astrophysicist and leading expert on cosmology lives and works in Paris as research director of the CNRS (Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique) and is based at the Paris-Meudon Observatory. Luminet has published numerous popular science books and is an artist and poet. He has won several awards for his work. Asteroid 5523, which he discovered in 1991 with the Mount Palomar telescope, was named after him. In France he was awarded the title of Knight of Arts and Letters, the 1999 International Georges Lemaitre Prize and the 2006 Great Prize of the French Academy of Sciences for Science Communication. He has published many novels, poetry books, film scripts on the life and work of distinguished scientists and has worked together with journalists on an educational radio series. Many of his books have been translated into Greek: «Physics and Infinity» (published by Travlos, 1997), «Euclides’ Baton» (Livanis, 2003), «Rendez-vous with Venus» (Electra, 2005) and «A Star Is Dying» (Travlos, 2006).
