Many congratulations to James Peebles on being awarded the 2019 Nobel Prize in Physics for his theoretical discoveries in physical cosmology. The Max Planck Institute for the History of Science is highly grateful to him for his vital support in our research into the history of modern physics. In particular his notebooks, to which he generously provided access, are a treasure for understanding the development of physics in the twentieth century. The resources formed an integral part of the Institute’s 2005 exhibition "Albert Einstein—Chief Engineer of the Universe,” and remain available in the open-access online exhibition.

Peebles—an astrophysicist, astronomer and theoretical cosmologist serving as Albert Einstein Professor Emeritus of Science at Princeton University—is regarded as one of the world's leading theoretical cosmologists since 1970. He made major theoretical contributions to dark matter, primordial nucleosynthesis, structure formation, and the cosmic microwave background.