Eshel Ben-Jacob (1952–2015) was an influential theoretical and experimental physicist who made groundbreaking contributions to the fields of biocomplexity and complex systems. Over his distinguished career, he served as a professor at Tel Aviv University, where he held the Maguy-Glass Chair in Physics of Complex Systems. He was also highly active internationally, serving as a Fellow of the Center for Theoretical Biological Physics at Rice University, where he collaborated on cutting-edge biological physics research. Ben-Jacob first gained international recognition during the 1980s as a leader in the theory of self-organization and pattern formation in open systems. He later extended this physical framework to adaptive complex systems and biocomplexity. In the late 1980s, he transitioned to the study of biological systems, focusing specifically on bacterial self-organization. His innovative research led to the development of new pattern-forming bacteria species, making him a pioneer in the study of bacterial intelligence and the social behaviors of bacteria. By demonstrating that bacteria could exhibit sophisticated collective behaviors, his research bridged the disciplines of physics and microbiology, opening up new avenues of study in biological self-organization.
