Étienne Klein (; born 1958) is a French physicist and philosopher of science, born in 1958. A graduate of École Centrale Paris, he holds a DEA (Master of Advanced Studies) in theoretical physics, as well as a Ph.D. in philosophy of science and an accreditation to supervise research (HDR).
Profile
Étienne Klein is a Research director at the Commissariat à l'énergie atomique et aux énergies alternatives (CEA). He is currently head of the Laboratoire des Recherches sur les Sciences de la Matière (LARSIM), a research laboratory belonging to the CEA and located in Saclay near Paris. He took part in several major projects, such as the adjustment of a method of isotopic separation involving the use of lasers, and the study of a particle accelerator with superconducting cavities. At CERN he was involved in the design of the Large Hadron Collider (LHC).
He taught quantum physics and particle physics at Centrale Paris for several years and currently teaches philosophy of science. He is a specialist in the question of time in physics and has written a number of essays on the subject. He is also a member of the Conseil d'analyse de la société, of the conseil scientifique de la Cité des Sciences, of the Conseil de l'Office parlementaire d'évaluation des choix scientifiques et technologiques (OPECST), of the French Academy of Technologies and of the Conseil d'Orientation de l'Institut Diderot. Every Thursday morning he presents a radio chronicle, Le Monde selon Étienne Klein, as well as La Conversation scientifique every Saturday afternoon, on the French public station France Culture.
Étienne Klein practises mountain-climbing and other endurance sports.
Plagiarism affair
In December 2016, Science magazine, a publication of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, reported that Popular French physicist Étienne Klein was responsible of a plagiarism, his work was said to be plagiarizing the novelist Stefan Zweig and other authors.
Chorizo tweet
On July 22, 2022, Klein tweeted a photo that he claimed was an image taken by the James Webb Space Telescope of Proxima Centuri, the closest star to our solar system. A few days later, he admitted that the photo was actually of a slice of chorizo against a black background. He described his tweet as a "form of amusement" and urged his 92,000 Twitter followers to "be wary of arguments from authority".
Distinctions and awards
Officier dans l’Ordre des Palmes académiques
Award for the best scientific book of the year 1993 in Germany for Conversations avec le Sphinx, les paradoxes en physique Prix Jean Perrin for popularizing science from the Société française de physique in 1997 Grammaticakis-Neumann Award from the Académie des sciences in 2000 Award for the best book of scientific literature of the year for L’Atome au pied du mur et autres nouvelles Prix Budget from the Académie des sciences morales et politiques in 2000 Prix « La science se livre » 2003 for Les Tactiques de Chronos Prix Jean Rostand in 2004 Prix Thorel for Galilée et les Indiens. Allons-nous liquider la science ? in 2008 Chevalier de la Légion d’honneur, promotion du 1er janvier 2010 Prix Thorel from the Académie des sciences morales et politiques in 2010