(Translated by https://www.hiragana.jp/)
Chris Rapley - Voices of Science - The British Library
The Wayback Machine - https://web.archive.org/web/20160420212543/http://www.bl.uk/voices-of-science/interviewees/chris-rapley

Chris Rapley

Chris Rapley (1947-), physicist and climate scientist, began his career in X-Ray astronomy at UCL’s Mullard Space Science Laboratory, where he developed the bent crystal spectrometer used on the NASA Solar Maximum Mission to examine solar flares. Subsequent work, involving satellites pointed at the Earth rather than at space, led to Directorship of the International Geosphere-Biosphere Programme (1994-1998) and thedevelopment of research in ‘Earth-system’ science and climate change. These research interests are reflected in his achievements as Director of the British Antarctic Survey (1998-2007) and of the Science Museum (2007-2011). He is currently Professor of Climate Science at UCL.

  • Birth name:  Chris Rapley
  • Born:  1947 Staffordshire, UK
  • Occupation:  Climate scientist
  • Disciplines:  Climate Change Science, Space Science and Engineering
  • Education:  Jesus College, University of Oxford; University of Manchester; University College, London

Related Audio Clips

The following clips are short extracts from an in-depth interview.
To listen to the full interview visit http://sounds.bl.uk

Chris Rapley: the bent crystal spectrometer 00:03:15

Chris Rapley tells story of designing bent crystal spectrometer for NASA Solar Maximum Mission at UCL's Mullard Space Science Laboratory in the 1970s.

Chris Rapley: trainspotting 00:02:48

Chris Rapley remembers the development of childhood interest in trains through the 1950s and 1960s.

Chris Rapley: a tour of Mullard Space Science Laboratory in the 1970s. 00:03:48

Chris Rapley describes Mullard Space Science Laboratory in the 1970s where he was working on satellite instruments for X-ray astronomy.

Chris Rapley: differences between British and American space engineering 00:03:23

Chris Rapley considers differences between space science engineering in Britain and the US in the 1970s.

Chris Rapley: childhood cultures of space and technology 00:02:55

Chris Rapley remembers childhood interest in space and technology in the 1960s.

Chris Rapley: doing science as a rejection of materialism 00:03:21

Chris Rapley reflects on the choice he faced in the late 1970s of continuing in space science, or becoming a businessman.

Chris Rapley: leading change in scientific organisations 00:03:12

Chris Rapley discusses his management of organisational change in the International Geosphere Biosphere Programme and at the British Antarctic Survey, in the 1990s.

Chris Rapley: increasingly bureaucratic British space science of the 1970s 00:02:12

Chris Rapley comments on effect on individual British space scientists of increasing bureaucratic control over their working lives in the 1970s.

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