A SCIENTIFIC thinker best known for developing 'out of this world' theoretical concepts has died aged 96.
Famous physicist and mathematician Freeman Dyson from Crowthorne died on Friday, February, 28 and was known for his work in science such as developing quantum electrodynamics, solid-state physics, astronomy and nuclear engineering.
READ THIS: Coronavirus: Three patients test positive for virus in Wokingham
However, Dyson's work was often criticised by the likes of physicists Richard Feynman and Hans Bethe for his 'ludicrous' ideas about the world.
The Guardian said the late Freeman Dyson proposed the idea that comets – lumps of ice and organic chemicals that periodically orbit the sun – could serve as nurseries for genetically altered trees that could grow, in the absence of gravity, to heights of hundreds of miles and release oxygen from their roots to sustain human life.
This far-fetched idea called the 'Dyson Tree' was rejected by many in the field of science.
Dyson was interested in space travel since he was a child, reading such science fiction classics as Olaf Stapledon's Star Maker.
As a young man, he worked for General Atomics on the nuclear-powered Orion spacecraft.
ALSO READ: Coronavirus: Second person in Bracknell tests positive for Covid-19
He hoped Project Orion would put men on Mars by 1965, Saturn by 1970.
In 2008, Dyson endorsed the idea of "global warming" with climate change but argued that political efforts to reduce the causes of climate change distract from other global problems that should take priority.
The scientist was born in 1923 and his father, George Dyson, was a musician and composer, and his mother, Mildred Atkey, a lawyer.
He graduated from Cambridge and in 1943 became a civilian scientist with RAF Bomber Command, which experienced hideous losses with each raid over Germany.
The late Dyson said this was because the Lancaster bomber’s gun turrets slowed the plane, increased its burden and made it more vulnerable to German fighters - a view which was rejected.
