Ethan R. Siegel is an American theoretical astrophysicist and science writer, who studies the Big Bang theory.
[3] He received his undergraduate degree in physics, classics and integrated science from Northwestern University in June 2000.
[6] He taught in high school in Houston[2] and at King Drew Magnet High School of Medicine and Science in inner-city Los Angeles for a year and though he "liked some aspects" of teaching he then decided he did not want to teach any longer, had a crisis and, influenced by Carl Sagan's Cosmos,[6] he went back into academia to study the universe.
In 2008, Siegel moved with his then fiancée to Portland, Oregon, after deciding to not pursue an ambitious research career with long hours and instead focus on science outreach and have a "fuller, richer life".
[24] The blog included a monthly podcast and Siegel posts answers to questions from readers in the "Ask Ethan" series.
[22] Topics he covered include adaptive optics, using lasers in astronomy to adjust for atmospheric turbulence, the detection of gravitational waves from colliding black holes by LIGO, and why quantum entanglement does not allow faster-than-light communication.
[25] Described as "beautifully illustrated and full of humour", his blog won the 2010 Physics.org award for best blog, judged by Adam Rutherford, Alom Shaha, Gia Milinovich, Hayley Birch, Lata Sahonta, and Stuart Clark and the people's choice award,[26] and his post "Where Is Everybody?"
[27][22] Siegel headed the RealClearScience list of top science bloggers in 2013, as his "unmatched ability to describe the nearly indecipherable made him an easy choice for #1.