Bob Criss

Robert E. Criss
Alma mater	California Institute of Technology
Known for	Dark-matter-free models of galactic rotation
Scientific career
Fields	Geochemistry, hydrogeology, astrophysics
Institutions	Washington University in St. Louis

Bob Criss (Robert E. Criss) is an American geochemist and professor emeritus of earth, environmental and planetary sciences at Washington University in St. Louis. He is listed in The Worldwide List of Dissident Scientists among critics of aspects of standard cosmology.

Work

Criss earned his PhD at the California Institute of Technology (1981) and spent his career in isotope geochemistry, hydrogeology and the geology of water, publishing on topics such as flood dynamics, groundwater and stable-isotope systematics. He is the author of the textbook Principles of Stable Isotope Distribution (Oxford University Press, 1999).

Views on cosmology and dark matter

In a series of papers co-authored with mineral physicist Anne M. Hofmeister, Criss argues that observed galactic rotation curves can be explained using Newtonian mechanics applied to the actual (oblate, differentially spinning) mass distribution of galaxies, without invoking hypothetical dark matter. Their work, published in journals including Galaxies, offers a new treatment of the Virial theorem and calculates galactic masses consistent with luminous matter. These positions place them outside the mainstream consensus, which attributes flat rotation curves to dark-matter halos. Criss and Hofmeister have similarly questioned other elements of standard astrophysical modeling.

External links

• Faculty page, Washington University in St. Louis
• "Debate on the Physics of Galactic Rotation and the Existence of Dark Matter" (Galaxies, 2020)