In addition to the Nobel Prizes, the Royal Swedish Academy of Science annually recognizes with its Crafoord Prize one of the fields of astronomy, biosciences, geophysics, and mathematics. This year’s prize, astronomy, is being shared by James E. Gunn, P. James E. Peebles, and Martin J. Rees “for contributions towards understanding the large-scale structure of the universe.” The academy writes, “Together these three scientists are responsible for most of the current picture of galaxy and structure formation in the universe.”
The Academy praised Gunn for his theoretical contributions to the understanding of galaxy formation and of the properties of the gaseous medium between galaxies. He has also suggested important observational tests for the presence of dark matter in galaxies, and his later work has been closely related to observational projects. He has been “central in several instrumental projects for understanding the formation of galaxies,” writes the academy—in particular, projects using...
