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Donald Eugene Brownlee (born December 21, 1943) is a professor of astronomy at the University of Washington at Seattle and the principal investigator for NASA's Stardust mission. In 2000, along with his co-author Peter Ward, he co-originated the term Rare Earth, in reference to the possible scarcity of life elsewhere in the universe. His primary research interests include astrobiology, comets, and cosmic dust. He was born in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Education and employment

Brownlee studied electrical engineering at University of California, Berkeley, prior to attending graduate school at the University of Washington. Brownlee received his doctorate in astronomy from the University of Washington in 1971, joining the astronomy department as faculty in 1975. He has also conducted research as a distinguished visiting professor at the Enrico Fermi Institute at the University of Chicago. Alongside paleontologist Peter Ward, Brownlee is the coauthor of two books, Rare Earth: Why Complex Life is Uncommon in the Universe (which put forth the Rare Earth Hypothesis) and The Life and Death of Planet Earth, with his third book The Sixth Element: How Carbon Shapes Our World being co-authored with Theodore P. Snow.

Honors

Asteroid 3259 was named after Brownlee in 1991. The International Mineralogical Association has also named a new mineral in honor of Donald Brownlee. This new silicide mineral (with chemical formula MnSi) is now called brownleeite, and is the first mineral found from a comet. He has been awarded the J. Lawrence Smith Medal from the National Academy of Sciences, the Leonard Medal from the Meteoritical Society, and the NASA Medal for Exceptional Scientific Achievement in 2007. He was elected a member of the National Academy of Sciences in 1995 and in 1999 a fellow of the American Geophysical Union.

References

1. Stardust | JPL | NASA
2. ^ Matt Williams (29 July 2020). "Beyond "Fermi's Paradox" IV: What is the Rare Earth Hypothesis?" (PDF). Universe Today. Archived from the original on 28 November 2020. Retrieved 6 June 2021. Origins: The term "Rare Earth" takes its name from the book Rare Earth: Why Complex Life Is Uncommon in the Universe (2000), by Peter Ward and Donald E. Brownlee ... As the authors describe it, the Rare Earth argument comes down to two central hypotheses ... making Earth a very special place
3. The Universe - Spaceship Earth on YouTube
4. Brownlee, Donald E(ugene) 1943-. Contemporary Authors. January 1, 2005.
5. University of Washington Astronomy Department
6. University of Washington Astronomy Department 1990-91 Faculty Research Report (Report). 1990–1991. Retrieved 11 April 2021.
7. | Like a rock: New mineral named for UW astronomer | University of Washington News and Information Archived 2008-07-08 at the Wayback Machine
8. Showstack, Randy (2008-06-24). "News: In Brief". Eos Archives. Vol. 89, no. 26. p. 235. doi:10.1029/2008EO260004.
9. "J. Lawrence Smith Medal Recipients". 1994. Retrieved 11 April 2021.
10. "Donald E. Brownlee". Member Directory, National Academy of Sciences.
11. "Union Fellows, search". American Geophysical Union.

• 1943 births
• UC Berkeley College of Engineering alumni
• University of Washington College of Arts and Sciences alumni
• University of Washington faculty
• Living people
• Members of the United States National Academy of Sciences
• American astrobiologists
• Scientists from Las Vegas
• Fellows of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences
• Fellows of the American Geophysical Union