Welcome to my homepage

Dr Benny Peiser

Faculty of Science

Liverpool John Moores University
Henry Cotton Campus, Webster Street, Liverpool L3 2ET, United Kingdom
Tel:- +44 (0)151 231 4338, Fax:- +44 (0)151 231 4353, Email:- B.J.Peiser@ljmu.ac.uk

Ubi dubium ibi libertas.

He, who has learned to doubt and to ask questions where the

norms forbid it, can never stop the habit. As such, every creative

person is building bridges to those masses of people who are tied

up helplessly by the pressures of peers and society. His is a step

out and above the group. And however strong the creative person

is enchained by conventions, he has unshackled himself on his

way as a free and autonomous personality. As such, he may

have cleared a new path for his group, his society and

perhaps humankind in order to transform culture and

to create space for other free personalities who want to

set new goals.

--Franz Oppenheimer (1864-1943)

Benny Peiser is a social anthropologist with particular research interest in human and cultural evolution. His research focuses on the effects of environmental change and catastrophic events on contemporary thought and societal evolution.

Benny is a Fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society, a Visiting Fellow of the University of Buckingham and a member of Spaceguard UK. He has written extensively on neo-catastrophism and the potential risk posed by near-Earth objects. He is the editor of CCNet, an electronic science and science policy network with more than 7,000 subscribers from around the world. It is in this capacity that a 10km-wide asteroid, Minor Planet (7107) Peiser, was named in his honour by the International Astronomical Union. Wonderfully, in 2002, a second asteroid was named after Benny’s youngest daughter, Minor Planet (11956) Tamarakate.

He is the co-editor of Energy & Environment and a scientific advisor to the Lifeboat Foundation.

My views on climate policies and climate politics

Publications

B. Peiser (2003) Climate Change and Civilisation Collapse, in K. Okonski (ed), Adapt or Die: The science, politics and economics of climate change, London: Profile Books, 191-201

M. Paine and B. Peiser (2004) The frequency and consequences of cosmic impacts since the demise of the dinosaurs, in: Bioastronomy 2002: Life among the Stars, eds. R. Norris & F. Stootman, (Sydney), 214-226

B. Peiser and T. Reilly (2004) Environmental factors in the summer Olympics in historical perspective. Journal of Sports Science 22(10) 981-1002

B. Peiser (2005) From Genocide to Ecocide: The Rape of Rapa Nui. Energy & Environment 16:3/4: 513-539.

B. Peiser (2005) Cultural aspects of neo-catastrophism: Implications for archaeoastronomy. In: Current Studies in Archaeoastronomy (J Fountain and R Sinclair, eds). The Carolina Academic Press Press, Durham, North Carolina, pp. 25-37

T. Reilly and B. Peiser (2006) Seasonal variations in health-related human physical activity, Sports Medicine 36:6: 473-485.

A. Ball, S. Kelley and B. Peiser (2006) Near Earth Objects and the Impact Hazard. (Milton Keynes: Open University)

B Peiser, T Reilly, G Atkinson, B Drust, J Waterhouse (2006). Seasonal changes and physiological responses: Their impact on activity, health, exercise and athletic performance. (The extreme environment and sports medicine) International SportMed Journal 7(1), 16-32

Barry W. Brook et al. (2007) Would the Australian megafauna have become extinct if humans had never colonised the continent? Quaternary Science Reviews, Volume 26, Issues 1-2, January 2007,

B. Peiser (2007) IPCC: The only game in town? Energy & Environment 18:8/7: i-iv.

B. Peiser, ed. (2007) IPCC: Structure, Processes and Politics. Energy & Environment 18:8/7

B. Peiser (2009) Seasonal Affective Disorder and Exercise Treatment Biological Rhythm Research 40:85-97

B. Peiser, ed. (2009) Climate Policy and Energy Poverty. Energy & Environment 20:5

B. Peiser (2009) The Crisis of International Climate Policy. Energy & Environment 20:5, i-vii

Comments and op-eds on climate policy & politics

· Die Weltwoche: Kopenhagen und das Ende der grünen Utopie

· Die Weltwoche: Vergiftetes Klima

· G8 Stalemate: Time for a Cool-Down

· Climate Policy Frozen Over

· Cooling on Global Warming

· Europe’s Climate Revolt