Jim Peebles is both a great scientist and a great human being. Brilliant and kind can come in the same person.
The award of the Nobel prize to Peebles goes some way to correct an historical quirk. Decades ago, the 1978 prize (also split with a completely unrelated discovery in low temperature physics) was awarded to Penzias & Wilson for discovering the cosmic microwave background.
At the time it was discovered (early ‘60s), it was an announce to P&W. Dicke & Peebles we’re actively looking for it, and are credited with the confirming observation. But P&W didn’t know WTF they were detecting until Peebles explained it to them.
In addition to literally writing the book on cosmology, Peebles was also the primary inventor of what is now called cold dark matter. He practically invented the thriving field around the CMB. So one could justifiably throw multiple Nobel prizes in his direction.
This is completely different from the other winners of this year’s physics Nobel prize. That is awarded for the first detection of a planet around another sun-like star. As a straight-up gee-whiz discovery, this is very much in line with the spirit of Nobel’s bequeath.
Even if it is pure astronomy. No pretense that it is somehow physics as with “dark energy”. The “experiment” with type Ia Supernovae as cosmic standard candles is pure astronomy - astrophysical cosmology in the vein pioneered by Peebles in the tradition of Hubble & Sandage before
