Marc Abrahams writes about topics so surprising that they make people laugh, then think.
A living embodiment of everything that the Ig-Nobel prizes stand for.
In this article, we’ll take a quick look at the man behind the prizes – covering just a snippet of his many achievements.
The Founding Father
Marc initially founded the IG-Nobel Prize Ceremony way back in 1991 and now serves as a master of the ceremonies, most recently leading the online proceedings for 2021. The prizes are handed out by genuine previous Nobel laureates during a gala-type event every year, as well as broadcast online and on public radio.
Marc spent four years between 1990-94 as the editor of the Journal of Irreproducible Results. At the end of his time at the magazine the publisher’s decided to abandon the magazine, so the founders and entire editorial staff of the Journal abandoned the publisher – creating AIR. The Improbable Research editorial board is made up of more than 50 scientists distinguished in their fields, including multiple Nobel Laureates. Members are also made up of several previous Ig-Nobel Prize winners and even an IQ record holder in Marilyn Vos Savant.
Marc Abrahams in certainly qualified himself, holding a degree in applied mathematics from the prestigious Harvard College. He then went on to spend several years developing optical character recognition computer systems (which includes a reading machine for the blind), founded Wisdom Simulators which used computers to give users experience in making tough or incredibly difficult decisions. Harvard Business School conducted a case study on Marc dubbed “Marc Abrahams: Annals of an Improbable Entrepreneur.”
In his personal life, he is married to psychologist Robin Abrahams who writes the “Miss Conduct” advice column for the Boston Globe Magazine.
Jack Of All Trades – Achievements
Writing
Marc Abrahams famously co-founded and continues to edit the magazine ‘Annals of Improbable Research’ as well as authoring the books ‘This Is Improbable’, ‘The Ig Nobel Prizes’ plus others. He somehow finds time to edit and write much of the website and blog content for improbable.com, as well as the monthly newsletter.
Marc also spent thirteen years writing for The Guardian, regularly tending to a newspaper column called ‘Improbable Research’. Further to this, he also created and hosts the Improbable Research Podcast
Marc Abrahams brilliance and commitment to improbable science has been recognised world over, with many household names crediting him for his bounty of achievements.
He has previously been described as “The Pope of improbable science…” and “The nation’s guru of academic grunge…” by Le Monde and The Washington Post, respectively.
These statements do a fantastic job of summarising Marc Abrahams character – who consistently makes science look effortlessly cool in everything he does.
Speaking and Events
Marc Abrahams is, as you can imagine, an incredibly in demand public speaker. His huge previous experience with improbable research and working with people from all walks of life has led to development of an encyclopaedic knowledge of everything that humans have discovered, devised, or desired.
He himself has also devised several new kinds of public events (The Ig Nobel Prize Ceremony, most famously) like Improbable Dramatic Readings and Improbable Research Talks/Questions. Every February, Marc hosts a unique Improbable Research show at the Annual Meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) before leading the Ig Nobel EuroTour in March and April, performing live shows across cities in Europe.
Operas
Surprisingly, Marc has written librettos for multiple comedic science-based mini operas that premiered as part of the Ig Nobel Prize ceremonies. These operas pay homage to the tradition of the classic Bugs Bunny cartoons – with each mini-opera marrying a brand-new story and words to beloved music from operas, pop music, or other well-known tunes.
Magazine Columns, TV, Radio, Podcast
Marc writes for other publications on science, technology, medicine, and other topics. He has been at multiple publications a regular columnist, including Cómo Ves, The Harvard Business Review, Zeitwissen, Le Scienze, Etiqueta Negra, Chemistry World, Embedded Systems Design, Design News, and BetaBoston. He had a brief spell as a commentator for ABC-TV’s World News Now and on a public radio show – “Science Friday”.
Books
As already alluded to, Marc Abrahams has found a strong degree of success as an author – writing the books The Ig Nobel Prizes, The Man Who Cloned Himself, Why Chickens Prefer Beautiful Humans, This Is Improbable, This Is Improbable Too, and The Ig Nobel Cookbook Vol 1.
Workshops
Marc’s attitude towards sharing science with the world is demonstrated in his commitment to taking workshops at various universities across the world for scientists. Previous locations include Manchester University and Harvard University, answering the question – How do you get non-specialists to want to know about your work?
Press
A hero to the scientific community, Marc Abrahams (as well as several previous Ig Nobel Prize Winners) are the heroes in a Japanese manga for Young Jump Magazine, which is Japan’s most popular manga magazine.
The Winners of The Ig Nobel Prizes 2021
INSERT LINKS TO PUBLISHED ARTICLES HERE, REFERRING TO EACH CATEGORY still to do
- Biology
- Ecology
- Chemistry
- Economics
- Medicine
- Peace
- Physics
- Kinetics
- Entomology
- Transportation
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