Fredric William Taylor (24 September 1944 – 16 December 2021) was a British physicist and academic. He was Halley Professor of Physics Emeritus at the University of Oxford,^[1][2] where he lived until his death.

Taylor was born 24 September 1944 in Amble, Northumberland, England.^[3] His father, William, was a joiner who had been wounded in World War II, and his mother, Ena, was a teacher. In 1949, the family moved to Howick, Northumberland.^[4] He was educated at The Duke's School, then an all-boys school in Alnwick.^[4][5] He studied physics at the University of Liverpool, graduating with a first class Bachelor of Science (BSc) degree.^[6] He then undertook postgraduate research in atmospheric physics at Jesus College, Oxford under the supervision of Sir John Houghton, and graduated from the University of Oxford with a Doctor of Philosophy (DPhil) degree.^[4][6]

In 1970, Taylor joined the Jet Propulsion Laboratory of the California Institute of Technology.^[4][7] He was principal investigator for the first experiment into the meteorology of the atmosphere of Venus, building an instrument for the Pioneer Venus Orbiter that launched in 1978.^[6] Arriving at Venus in December 1978, this included the first British-built hardware to travel to another planet.^[8] He was also involved in the mission that sent the unmanned spacecraft Galileo to study Jupiter and its moons.^[6]

In 1980, he returned to Oxford University where he became Professor and Head of Department.^[4] Under his leadership, the Group was involved in space missions to study the atmospheres of Earth, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn and Titan, as well as Mercury, the Moon, and a comet.^[9] In 1999, one of the Oxford projects placed the first British-built hardware on the surface of Mars, albeit unwittingly.^[10]

Taylor was the author of twelve books on atmospheric and planetary physics.^[11][12] In September 2011, he retired from full-time academia and from the Halley Professorship of Physics.^[7] He died on 16 December 2021.^[3]

Academic

• Taylor, Fredric W. (2001). The Cambridge photographic guide to the planets. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0521781831.
• Lopez-Puertas, Manuel; Taylor, Fredric W. (2001). Non-Local Thermodynamic Equilibrium in Atmospheres. Singapore: World Scientific. ISBN 978-9810245665.
• Taylor, F. W. (2005). Elementary climate physics. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0198567332.
• Coustenis, Athena; Taylor, Fredric W. (2008). Titan: exploring an earthlike world (2nd ed.). Singapore: World Scientific. ISBN 978-9812705013.
• Taylor, Fredric W. (2010). The scientific exploration of Mars. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0521829564.
• Taylor, F. W. (2010). Planetary Atmospheres. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0199547425.
• Vardavas, Ilias; Taylor, Fredric W. (2011). Radiation and Climate (2nd ed.). Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0199697144.
• Taylor, Fredric W. (2014). The scientific exploration of Venus. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-1107023482.

Personal

• Taylor, Fred (2016). Exploring the Planets: A Memoir. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0199671595.