Jeremiah Ostriker

When he was growing up on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, Jeremiah Ostriker seldom got to see the stars. But he still went on to become one of the world's most influential astronomers. Ostriker was among the first researchers in the field of cosmology-the study of the origin and fate of the universe-to propose a model of the universe that accounts for two unseen elements that are shaping it: gravitationally powerful dark matter, which holds galaxies together, and dark energy, a mysterious force pushing the universe apart. He has since studied the formation of galaxies and their relationship with black holes. Jeremiah Ostriker is a professor of astronomy at Columbia University in New York City. He was elected to the National Academy of Sciences in 1974.