Jim Al-Khalili
Jim Al-Khalili is a theoretical physicist, author and broadcaster who explores big scientific questions through BBC documentaries, The Life Scientific and his YouTube channel Unbaffled.
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Latest
Jim’s happenings, collected from public sources, plus his backstory and Starbook, where fans write.
Known for
- The Life Scientific2011–present · Host
BBC Radio 4 - Unbaffled with Jim Al-Khalili2026–present · Presenter
YouTube - Princeton University PressOn Time2026 · Author
- Princeton University PressThe Joy of Science2022 · Author
- Princeton University PressThe World According to Physics2020 · Author
- Life on the Edge2014 · Co-author with Johnjoe McFadden
Bantam Press
Overview
- Born
- 20 September 1962, Baghdad, Iraq
- Based in
- Southsea, Portsmouth, England
- Work
- Theoretical physicist, author and science broadcaster
- Academic home
- Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Physics, University of Surrey
- Television breakthrough
- Atom, BBC Four, 2007
- Radio home
- The Life Scientific, BBC Radio 4, since 2011
Mini bio
How it started.
Born in Baghdad to an Iraqi father and an English mother, Jim moved to Britain with his family in 1979. He studied physics at the University of Surrey and completed his PhD in theoretical nuclear physics there in 1989. After a research fellowship at University College London, he returned to Surrey in 1991 and became a lecturer the following year.
Finding his audience.
Jim’s television breakthrough came with Atom, the three-part BBC Four series in 2007. Science and Islam followed in 2009, exploring the history of science in the medieval Islamic world. In 2011 he began The Life Scientific with an interview with Nobel-winning geneticist Paul Nurse, giving listeners a way into both scientists’ discoveries and their lives.
Ideas that cross boundaries.
His writing ranges from quantum biology, explored with Johnjoe McFadden in Life on the Edge, to everyday reasoning in The Joy of Science. The World According to Physics was shortlisted for the Royal Society’s 2020 science book prize. Alongside broadcasting, he helped establish Surrey’s doctoral training centre in quantum biology in 2018.
Where to catch him now.
Jim now holds an emeritus professorship at Surrey. In 2026 he introduced the YouTube channel Unbaffled and published On Time, continuing to turn questions about reality into conversations readers and viewers can follow. He is also the Royal Institution’s announced 2026 Christmas Lecturer, with lectures on time planned for December.
Creditschronological, newest first
Books
- 2026On Time: The Physics That Makes the Universe TickAuthor
- 2022The Joy of ScienceAuthor
- 2020The World According to PhysicsAuthor
- 2014Life on the Edge: The Coming of Age of Quantum BiologyCo-author with Johnjoe McFadden
Television, radio and online
- 2026–presentUnbaffled with Jim Al-KhaliliPresenter
- 2025Secrets of the BrainPresenter
- 2011–presentThe Life ScientificHost
- 2009Science and IslamPresenter
Awards
- Darwin Day Medal2025 · Humanists UK, recognising science communication and humanist advocacy.
- Commander of the Order of the British Empire2021 · Awarded for services to science and public engagement in STEM.
- Wilkins-Bernal-Medawar Medal and Lecture2020 · Royal Society recognition for communicating physics with historical context.
- Stephen Hawking Medal for Science Communication2016 · An inaugural recipient.
- Kelvin Medal and Prize2011 · Institute of Physics award for communicating physics through public events, writing and broadcasting.
- Michael Faraday Prize2007 · Royal Society prize for science communication.
Quotes
Time is something we all experience, but the deeper you look, the stranger it becomes.Jim Al-Khalili, University of Surrey
Shared in Surrey’s October 2026 announcement of his Guildford Book Festival discussion of On Time.
Trivia
- He has supported Leeds United since childhood, when his British grandparents sent football magazines to Baghdad.
- At 14, he built his own guitar and learned songs by ear.
- He loved the original Star Trek and has used it in undergraduate lectures to explain relativity.
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