Matt Ridley

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Matt Ridley (2009)

Matt (Matthew) White Ridley, 5th Viscount Ridley (born February 7, 1958 in Newcastle upon Tyne ) is a British peer , politician ( Conservative Party ), entrepreneur , zoologist and author of popular science books.

Life

Ridley is the son of Matthew White Ridley, 4th Viscount Ridley (1925–2012) and Anne Katharine Gabrielle Lumley (1928–2006). His great-grandfather was the architect Edwin Lutyens , his uncle the politician Nicholas Ridley . Matt Ridley is a father of a son and daughter. He has three siblings, his sister Rose (1956-2020) was the wife of Owen Paterson .

After studying zoology, Ridley worked from 1984 to 1987 as a science editor at the British Economist , then until 1992 as its correspondent in the USA. From 1996 to 2003 he was chairman of the International Center for Life. In some of his works, Ridley explains how evolutionary adaptation establishes complex human behavior. His book The Origins of Virtue received great attention in Germany . His latest book, The Rational Optimist (2010), closes with an appeal: "Dare to be an optimist!"

Ridley is climate "skeptical" . and sits on the advisory board of the influential think tank Global Warming Policy Foundation , which denies human-made global warming. He considers global warming to be fundamentally positive and the damage caused by climate policy (e.g. use of biomass, wind energy) to be greater than the damage caused by global warming. Climate researchers such as Dana Nuccitelli reject his theses on the subject as being wrong. Ridley is also criticized for his contacts in the coal industry. Ridley owns land with coal mines on which he receives lease payments. In 2016 he promoted the then Conservative Energy Minister Lord Bourne for a new technology in the operation of coal-fired power plants , whereupon he was accused of lobbying for the coal industry. Ridley himself denies the allegations that he was acting in his own financial interest.

From 1994 to 2007 Ridley was a member of the board of directors of the Northern Rock bank , from 2004 its chairman. He resigned from this post in 2007 after the bank got into difficulties as a result of the subprime crisis in 2007 and he was accused by members of parliament of failing to recognize the risks in the bank's business in good time.

After his father's death in 2012, Ridley inherited the title of Viscount Ridley. On February 6, 2013 he was then elected as a hereditary peer in the House of Lords . He succeeded Robert Shirley, 13th Earl Ferrers . He also inherited Blagdon Hall , the Ridley's country estate.

In 2011 he was awarded the $ 50,000 Hayek Prize by the New York think tank "Manhattan Institute" for his book "The Rational Optimist".

In 2012 Matt Ridley was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences .

The Royal Agricultural Society of England awarded Ridley the 2015 Bledisloe Gold Medal for his extensive environmental improvements on the Blagdon Hall land.

Books (selection)

  • Red Queen: Sex and the Evolution of Human Nature . Prentice Hall, 1994, ISBN 0-02-603340-2 .
    • German Eros and Evolution. The natural history of sexuality. Knaur, Munich 1995, ISBN 3-426-26852-3 .
  • The Origins of Virtue: Human Instincts and The Evolution of Cooperation . Viking Adult, 1997, ISBN 0-670-87449-3 .
    • german The biology of virtue. Why it pays to be good. Ullstein, Berlin 1997, ISBN 3-550-06953-7 .
  • Genome: The Autobiography of a Species in 23 Chapters . Fourth Estate, 1999, ISBN 1-85702-834-1 .
    • German alphabet of life. The history of the human genome. Claassen, Munich 2000, ISBN 3-546-00226-1 .
  • Nature Via Nurture: Genes, Experience, and What Makes Us Human . HarperCollins, 2003, ISBN 0-06-000678-1 .
  • Francis Crick: Discoverer of the Genetic Code . Eminent Lives, 2006, ISBN 0-06-082333-X .
  • The Rational Optimist: How Prosperity Evolves . Harper, 2010, ISBN 978-0-06-145205-5 .
    • deutsch When ideas have sex. How progress is made and prosperity is increased. DVA, Munich 2011, ISBN 978-3-421-04528-7 .
  • The Evolution of Everything: How Ideas Emerge . Harper, 2015, ISBN 978-0-06-229601-6 .
  • How Innovation Works: And Why It Flourishes in Freedom . Harper, 2020, ISBN 978-0-00-833481-9 .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Rose Paterson, Aintree chairman and wife of Owen who invigorated the Grand National - obituary. In: The Telegraph. June 25, 2020, accessed on June 29, 2020 .
  2. ↑ Beware of priests, thieves and chiefs. on: presse.com , March 24, 2012. (Interview)
  3. ↑ See e.g. B. Volker Sommer : Scratch an altruist. Lo and behold, a hypocrite is bleeding: Matt Ridley wants to show us that the biology of virtue itself has none. In: FAZ. December 19, 1997.
  4. ↑ Optimists do not need to read this text. Pessimists should learn it by heart. ( Memento from November 23, 2010 in the Internet Archive ). In: The magazine . No. 27 of July 10, 2010.
  5. ^ Myles Allen: Matt Ridley has joined the real climate debate. . In: The Guardian , May 21, 2013. Retrieved December 22, 2013.
  6. ↑ Dana Nuccitelli: Global warming is unpaused and stuck on fast forward, new research shows. In: The Guardian , December 10, 2013. Retrieved December 22, 2013.
  7. ↑ a b Matt Ridley accused of lobbying the UK government on behalf of coal industry . In: The Guardian , July 15, 2016. Retrieved July 15, 2016.
  8. ↑ climate change is good for the world, don't panic! The scientific consensus is that warmer temperatures do more good than harm , The Spectator, Matt Ridley October 19, 2013
  9. ^ Matt Ridley: Earth to Met Office: check your climate facts. . In: The Times , May 20, 2013. Retrieved December 22, 2013.
  10. ↑ Matt Ridley's misguided climate change policy , in: The Guardian , May 23, 2013
  11. ^ Chairman of Northern Rock Resigns. In: New York Times. October 22, 2007, accessed March 6, 2019 .
  12. ↑ See Manhattan Institute awards Matt Ridley $ 50,000 Hayek Prize in: Washington Post, September 27, 2011, accessed September 30, 2015.
  13. ^ Adam Luke: Northumberland's Blagdon Estate landowner wins prestigious national award. In: Chronicle Live. July 21, 2015, accessed March 6, 2019 .
predecessor Office successor
Matthew Ridley Viscount Ridley
2012– 		current title holder
personal data
SURNAME Ridley, Matt
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Ridley, Matthew White, 5th Viscount Ridley (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION British zoologist and politician
DATE OF BIRTH 7th February 1958
PLACE OF BIRTH Newcastle upon Tyne