Alumnus’ Theory Draws Int’l Attention

While Jeremy England ‘99’s groundbreaking theory about the origin and evolution of life has recently gained international attention, the Exeter alum and MIT physicist reflects upon his time at the Academy.England, a New Hampshire native who came to Exeter as a new lower due to its advanced math classes, said he was surprised and pleased by the reaction to his research, which builds upon and extends existing theories of evolution to a physics-based examination of its energy sources on the biomolecular level.“What we have understood for a long time thanks to Darwin is why it is that living things seem to be so well adapted to their environment,” England said. “However, we can also look at things from the physics perspective, and I think what’s interesting there, is trying to explain what a plant or animal is doing, physically.”England has developed a mathematical equation for his findings, building off what has been nearly a lifelong relationship with advanced mathematics.“When I was a freshman in high school, I had been going to University of New Hampshire (UNH) to take math classes, which was logistically difficult and sort of isolating,” England said. “So [my parents and I] thought it would be a good idea for me to go somewhere to study advanced math with my peers.”England studied advanced mathematics at Exeter, and spoke highly of Rick Parris, an Exeter math instructor who passed away in 2012. While his professional career and higher education is defined by physics, he said that he “never actually took a class in physics while I was at Exeter, because my studies were a little too advanced for those classes.”England said he especially appreciated the knowledge he gained in the Humanities during his time on campus.“Ironically, the best things of being at Exeter for me didn’t have to do with math and science,” he said. “Exeter provided many opportunities for things that I wouldn’t likely experienced at another school. It’s relatively easy to study math or science in a cave by yourself, but the books at the library, the Harkness discussions, and the extracurriculars like debate and The Exonian were the most valuable experiences I took from my three years at Exeter.”Science instructors Bradford Robinson and Scott Saltman recalled England as a student. Robinson, who was an instructor during England’s time as a student remembered liking him and “knowing that he was really smart.”Saltman agreed, saying that England’s ability trumped Exeter’s science courses. “I recall his name as that of someone who was very good at science and that he was beyond some of the courses we offered at Exeter,” he said.As his theory was proposed fairly recently, many faculty in the department do not know about England.