Karl Kruszelnicki

Karl Kruszelnicki
AM, BSc, MSc(Qual), MBiomedE, MBBS, MAIP
Karl Kruszelnicki holding a copy of his book Sensational Moments in Science
At the University of Sydney open day on 26 August 2006
Born Karl Sven Woytek Sas Konkovitch Matthew Kruszelnicki[1]
Helsingborg, Sweden
Residence Maroubra, Australia
Other names "Dr Karl"
Education Edmund Rice College, West Wollongong
Alma mater University of Wollongong
University of New South Wales
University of Sydney
Occupation Science journalist, author and broadcaster
Years active 1981–present
Known for Popular science
Notable work Great Moments in Science
Home town Wollongong, New South Wales, Australia
Television Quantum
Sleek Geeks
Title The Julius Sumner Miller Fellow, Science Foundation for Physics, University of Sydney
Term 1994–present
Parents
  • Ludwick Kruszelnicki (father)
  • Rina (mother)
Awards Member of the Order of Australia (2006)
Ig Nobel Prize (2002)
Australian Father of the Year (2003)
Website DrKarl.com
Dr Karl on ABC.net.au

Karl Kruszelnicki AM (/ˌkrʊʃəlˈnɪtski/ KRUUSH-əl-NIT-skee); often referred to as "Dr Karl",[2] is an Australian science communicator and populariser,[2] who is known as an author and science commentator on Australian radio and television.

Kruszelnicki is the Julius Sumner Miller Fellow in the Science Foundation for Physics at the School of Physics, University of Sydney.[3]

Early life

Kruszelnicki (Polish pronunciation: [kruʂɛlˈɲitskʲi]) was born in Helsingborg, Sweden, to Polish parents. His mother's background was hidden from him for a long time, with his mother having told him that she was Swedish and a Lutheran but was, in fact, Jewish.[1] Both his parents were Holocaust survivors.[4] His father was turned in to the Gestapo for smuggling Jews out of Poland, and survived by swapping identities with a dead person.[5] His mother escaped the Auschwitz concentration camp when the Nazis ran out of Zyklon B used to gas prisoners.[5] They separately fled to Sweden, where they met.[5]

Kruszelnicki's family emigrated to Australia when he was 2. The family were tenanted at the migrant camp in Bonegilla, Victoria for the first three years[6] before they settled in the city of Wollongong, New South Wales, where he grew up.

Education

Kruszelnicki attended Edmund Rice Christian Brothers College in Wollongong, New South Wales.[7] After high school, he attended the University of Wollongong, completing a Bachelor of Science majoring in physics in 1968.[8] 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.[8] In 2016, he received an honorary doctorate from the University of the Sunshine Coast.[9]

Career

After high school, Kruszelnicki's first job was as a ditch digger in the Wollongong suburb of Dapto.[10] He worked as a taxi driver in Sydney, and on one occasion was beaten unconscious after picking up a passenger trying to escape a group of men.[1]

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.[10]

Television

Kruszelnicki presented the first series of Quantum (replaced by Catalyst) in 1985. As a science communicator and presenter, he appears on the Seven Network's Weekend Sunrise and on ABC TV. From early 2008 to 2010 he co-hosted a TV series called Sleek Geeks with Adam Spencer.

Journalism, radio and podcasts

Australian Skeptics Convention held in Sydney, November 2014. Kruszelnicki speaking on "Great moments in science".

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.[11]

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).[12]

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.[13]

In 2017, he was also host of Dr. Karl's Outrageous Acts of Science on Discovery Channel (Australia).

Kruszelnicki writes a regular column for Australian Geographic magazine, called 'Need to Know' which is republished as a blog on the magazine's website.

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.[14]

Recognition and awards

In 2000, the Australian Financial Review Internet Awards awarded Kruszelnicki the Best Science and Technology Website.[15]

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".[16]

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 2006 honours list, he was made a Member of the Order of Australia.[17][18]

In 2006, the Australian Skeptics recognized him as the Australian Skeptic Of The Year.[2][19]

In 2012, Kruszelnicki was named as a National Living Treasure by the National Trust of Australia (NSW).[20]

In 2012, Main-belt asteroid 18412 Kruszelnicki was named in his honour.[21]

In 2014, Readers Digest readers voted Kruszelnicki as the ninth most trusted person in Australia[22]

Bibliography

This list is incomplete; you can help by expanding it.

Books

Dr Karl lecturing at QED 2016.
  • Kruszelnicki, Karl (1991). Latest great moments in science. Illustrated by Kerrie Lester. Sydney: Australian Broadcasting Corporation.
  • Spacescape, Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, (Australia), 1992, ISBN 0-7295-1100-6.
  • Absolutely Fabulous Moments in Science, Australian Broadcasting Corporation Enterprises, Sydney, Australia, 1994, ISBN 0-7333-0407-9.
  • Sensational Moments in Science, Australian Broadcasting Corporation Enterprises, Sydney, Australia, 1995, ISBN 0-7333-0456-7.
  • Pigeon Poo the Universe & Car Paint – and other awesome science moments, HarperCollins Publishers Pty Ltd, Australia, 1996, ISBN 0-7322-5723-9.
  • Flying Lasers, Robofish and Cities of Slime – and other brain-bending science moments, HarperCollins Publishers Pty Ltd, Australia, 1997, ISBN 0-7322-5874-X.
  • Dr Karl's Collection of Great Australian Facts & Firsts
1. Ears, Gears and Gadgets, HarperCollins Publishers Pty Ltd, Australia, 1997, ISBN 0-207-19610-9.
2. Forests, Fleece & Prickly Pears, HarperCollins Publishers Pty Ltd, Australia, 1997, ISBN 0-207-19611-7.
3. Flight, Food & Thingummygigs, HarperCollins Publishers Pty Ltd, Australia, 1997, ISBN 0-207-19612-5.
  • Munching Maggots, Noah's Flood and TV Heart Attacks and other cataclysmic science moments, HarperCollins Publishers Pty Ltd, Australia, 1998, ISBN 0-7322-5858-8.
  • Fidgeting Fat, Exploding Meat & Gobbling Whirly Birds – and other delicious science moments - New Moments in science 4, 1999.
  • Q&A With Dr. K – Why It Is So. Headless Chickens, Bathroom Queues and Belly Button Blues, HarperCollins Publishers Pty Ltd, Australia, 2001, ISBN 0-7322-5855-3.
  • Dr. Karl's Collection of Great Australian Facts & Firsts, HarperCollins Publishers Pty Ltd, Australia, 2002, ISBN 0-207-19860-8.
  • Bumbreath, Botox and Bubbles and other Fully Sick Science Moments, HarperCollins Publishers Pty Ltd, Australia, 2003, ISBN 0-7322-6715-3.
  • Great Mythconceptions – Cellulite, Camel Humps and Chocolate Zits, HarperCollins Publishers Pty Ltd, Australia, 2004, ISBN 0-7322-8062-1.
  • Dis Information and Other Wikkid Myths: More Great Myths In Science, HarperCollins Publishers Pty Ltd, Australia, 2005, ISBN 0-7322-8060-5.
  • It Ain't Necessarily So Bro, HarperCollins Publishers Pty Ltd, Australia, 2006, ISBN 0-7322-8061-3.
  • Please Explain, HarperCollins Publishers Pty Ltd, Australia, 2007, ISBN 0-7322-8535-6.
  • Science Is Golden, HarperCollins Publishers Pty Ltd, Australia 2008 ISBN 978-0-732-28536-4
  • Never Mind the Bullocks, Here's the Science, HarperCollins Publishers Pty Ltd, Australia, 2009, ISBN 0-7322-8537-2.
  • Dinosaurs Aren't Dead, Pan Macmillan Pty Limited, Australia, 2010 ISBN 978-0-330-42579-7
  • Curious and Curiouser, Pan Macmillan Pty Limited, Australia, 2010 ISBN 978-1-742-61170-9
  • Brain Food, Pan Macmillan Pty Limited, Australia, 2011 ISBN 978-1-742-61039-9
  • 50 Shades of Grey Matter, Pan Macmillan Pty Limited, Australia, 2012 ISBN 978-1-742-61138-9
  • Game of Knowns, Pan Macmillan Pty Limited, Australia, 2013 ISBN 978-1-742-61334-5
  • Dr Karl's Big Book of Science Stuff and Nonsense, Pan Macmillan Pty Limited, Australia, 2013 ISBN 978-1-742-61368-0
  • House of Karls, Pan Macmillan Pty Limited, Australia, 2014 ISBN 978-1-743-51951-6
  • Dr Karl's Short Back & Science, Pan Macmillan Pty Limited, Australia, 2015 ISBN 978-1-743-53334-5
  • The Doctor, Pan Macmillan Pty Limited, Australia, 2016 ISBN 978-1-743-54742-7
  • Karl, The Universe and Everything, Pan Macmillan Pty Limited, Australia, 2017 ISBN 978-1-925-48132-7

Articles

  • Kruszelnicki, Karl (May–Jun 2014). "Cervical cancer vaccine". Your AG. Inventions. Australian Geographic. 120: 124.

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 Dr Karl Kruszelnicki Transcript, ABC, archived from the original on 20 December 2011, retrieved 14 March 2012
  2. 1 2 3 "Skepticality Episode 71". Skeptic Magazine.
  3. ↑ Dr Karl Kruszelnicki — The Julius Sumner Miller Fellow – Physics – The University of Sydney. Physics.usyd.edu.au (3 May 2010). Retrieved on 22 October 2011.
  4. ↑ "What I know about women". Daily Life. Retrieved 2018-09-20.
  5. 1 2 3 "The stuff you didn't know about Dr Karl". NewsComAu. Retrieved 2018-09-20.
  6. ↑ "Talking Heads - Dr Karl Kruszelnicki". ABC website. 9 June 2008. Retrieved 20 December 2014.
  7. ↑ McIlwain, Kate. (30 July 2012). Dr Karl's advice for Edmund Rice boys", Illawarra Mercury. Retrieved 3 March 2016.
  8. 1 2 "Dr Karl Kruszelnicki" (22 July 1988). Campus Bulletin, University of Newcastle, Australia. Number 5.
  9. ↑ "Science commentator Dr Karl awarded honorary doctorate". ABC News. Retrieved 2016-03-20.
  10. 1 2 Kate Jones (25 November 2013). "My first job: From ditch-digger to celebrity scientist". The New Daily. Retrieved 20 December 2014.
  11. ↑ "Dr Karl on triplej (ABC Science)". Retrieved 20 December 2014.
  12. ↑ "Sleek Geeks podcast". Retrieved 20 December 2014.
  13. ↑ "BBC - Podcasts and Downloads - 5 live Science".
  14. ↑ Dr Karl to Run for the Senate on Climate Change. Climatechangecoalition.com.au. Retrieved on 22 October 2011. Archived from the original on 20 October 2010.
  15. ↑ "ABC science online wins national Award". Australian Broadcasting Commission. 30 November 2000. Retrieved 2 March 2016.
  16. ↑ "It's an honour: Australia celebrating Australians". itsanhonour.gov.au. Commonwealth of Australia. Retrieved 26 August 2014.
  17. ↑ "Myth-buster Dr Karl makes honours list". Nine News. Nine MSN. Australian Associated Press. 26 January 2006. Archived from the original on 25 September 2012. Retrieved 10 July 2010.
  18. ↑ "It's an honour: Australia celebrating Australians". itsanhonour.gov.au. Commonwealth of Australia. Retrieved 26 August 2014. For service to the community through promoting greater understanding and knowledge of the application of science to daily living as an author and science commentator on radio and television.
  19. ↑ "Merit Awards". skeptics.com.au/. Australian Skeptics Inc. Skeptic of the Year. Retrieved 26 August 2014.
  20. ↑ "Seven added to national living treasure list". Lauren Farrow. Canberra Times. 5 March 2012. Retrieved 8 March 2012.
  21. ↑ JPL Small-Body Database Browser: 18412 Kruszelnicki (1993 LX)
  22. ↑ Flynn, Hazel (July 2014). "Trusted People 2014". readersdigest.com.au. The Reader's Digest Association, Inc. Archived from the original on 26 August 2014. Retrieved 26 August 2014.
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