Memories of a Theoretical Physicist
Memories of a Theoretical Physicist

Author: Joseph Polchinski

Publisher: MIT Press

Published: 2022-05-24

Total Pages: 339

ISBN-13: 0262368900

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A groundbreaking theoretical physicist traces his career, reflecting on the successes and failures, triumphs and insecurities of a life cut short by cancer. The groundbreaking theoretical physicist Joseph Polchinski explained the genesis of his memoir this way: “Having only two bodies of knowledge, myself and physics, I decided to write an autobiography about my development as a theoretical physicist.” In this posthumously published account of his life and work, Polchinski (1954–2018) describes successes and failures, triumphs and insecurities, and the sheer persistence that led to his greatest discoveries. Writing engagingly and accessibly, with the wry humor for which he was known, Polchinski gives theoretical physics a very human face. Polchinski, famous for his contributions to string theory, may have changed the course of modern theoretical physics, but he was a late bloomer—doing most of his important work after the age of forty. His death from brain cancer at sixty-three cut short a career at its peak. Working on the memoir after his diagnosis, using a text-to-speech algorithm because he could no longer read words on a page, he was able to recapitulate his entire career, down to the details of problems he had worked on. For Polchinski, physics went deeper than words. This edition includes photographs from Polchinski’s professional and family life, as well as physics explainer boxes, other technical edits, and bibliographic notes by his former student Ahmad Almheiri, a foreword by Andrew Strominger, and an afterword by his wife Dorothy Chun and sons Steven and Daniel.

Memories of a Theoretical Physicist
Memories of a Theoretical Physicist

Author: Joseph Gerard Polchinski

Publisher:

Published: 2022

Total Pages:

ISBN-13: 9780262368919

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"Breakthrough Prize recipient Joseph Polchinksi (now deceased) reveals details of his upbringing, his collaborations with major figures in physics, and his significant contributions to string theory and cosmology"--

Bird of Passage
Bird of Passage

Author: Rudolf Peierls

Publisher: Princeton University Press

Published: 2014-07-14

Total Pages: 376

ISBN-13: 140085461X

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Here is the intensely personal and often humorous autobiography of one of the most distinguished theoretical physicists of his generation, Sir Rudolf Peierls. Born in Germany in 1907, Peierls was indeed a bird of passage," whose career of fifty-five years took him to leading centers of physics--including Munich, Leipzig, Zurich, Copenhagen, Cambridge, Manchester, Oxford, and J. Robert Oppenheimer's Los Alamos. Peierls was a major participant in the revolutionary development of quantum mechanics in the 1920s and 1930s, working with some of the pioneers and, as he puts it, "some of the great characters" in this field. Originally published in 1985. The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback and hardcover editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905.

Memoirs of a Physicist in the Atomic Age
Memoirs of a Physicist in the Atomic Age

Author: Walter M. Elsasser

Publisher:

Published: 1978

Total Pages: 286

ISBN-13:

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This is the autobiography of Walter Maurice Elsasser (1904-1991), a Johns Hopkins University geophysicist who won a National Medal of Science in 1987 for his research in planetary magnetism, the movement of the earth's crust and other fields. A refugee from Nazi Germany, he came to the United States in 1936. He taught and did research at various institutions, joining the Johns Hopkins faculty in 1975. He is one of the first to recognize that fluid motions within the earth's iron core arising from its cooling might be responsible for the earth's magnetic field. He is also known for work in quantum physics, theory of radioactive nuclei, theoretical biology, logical classes in mathematical biology and systems biology.

Landau: The Physicist & the Man
Landau: The Physicist & the Man

Author: J B J B Sykes

Publisher: Elsevier

Published: 2013-10-22

Total Pages: 359

ISBN-13: 1483286886

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The name of Lev Davidovich Landau is widely known as that of one of the greatest twentieth-century physicists. A brilliant teacher to those pupils he carefully chose, notoriously controversial in his outlook and opinions, the combination of his outstanding intellect and striking personality brought him almost legendary fame. This volume contains letters, papers and recollections by friends and pupils, describing Landau's views of science, culture and life, and provides the reader with a vivid portrait of a remarkable man.

Under The Spell Of Landau: When Theoretical Physics Was Shaping Destinies
Under The Spell Of Landau: When Theoretical Physics Was Shaping Destinies

Author: Misha Shifman

Publisher: World Scientific

Published: 2013-06-12

Total Pages: 560

ISBN-13: 9814436585

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This invaluable collection of memoirs and reviews on scientific activities of the most prominent theoretical physicists belonging to the Landau School — Landau, Migdal, Zeldovich, Smorodinsky, Ter-Martirosyan, Kirzhnits, Gribov, Larkin and Anselm — are being published in English for the first time.The main goal is to acquaint readers with the life and work of outstanding Soviet physicists who, to a large extent, shaped theoretical physics in the 1950s-70s. Many intriguing details have remained unknown beyond the “Iron Curtain” which was dismantled only with the fall of the USSR.

Memoirs of a Hayseed Physicist
Memoirs of a Hayseed Physicist

Author: Peter Martel

Publisher: Strategic Book Publishing

Published: 2008-10

Total Pages: 151

ISBN-13: 1606933418

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Coming from humble origins, the protagonist in these memoirs was completely innocent of the fact that like all human endeavors, physics is often strongly influenced by politics. In reading the biographies of famous physicists like Einstein, one often ends up with the feeling that physicists are above petty politics. However, even great physicists get caught up in the politics that often exists in their own laboratories. An interesting memoir with a scientific edge.

The Pursuit of Quantum Gravity
The Pursuit of Quantum Gravity

Author: Cécile DeWitt-Morette

Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media

Published: 2011-02-15

Total Pages: 161

ISBN-13: 3642142702

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1946 is the year Bryce DeWitt entered Harvard graduate school. Quantum Gravity was his goal and remained his goal throughout his lifetime until the very end. The pursuit of Quantum Gravity requires a profound understanding of Quantum Physics and Gravitation Physics. As G. A. Vilkovisky commented , "Quantum Gravity is a combination of two words, and one should know both. Bryce understood this as nobody else, and this wisdom is completely unknown to many authors of the flux of papers that we see nowadays." Distingished physicist Cecile DeWitt-Morette skillfully blends her personal and scientific account with a wealth of her late husband's often unpublished writings on the subject matter. This volume, through the perspective of the leading researcher on quantum gravity of his generation, will provide an invaluable source of reference for anyone working in the field.

Bird of Passage
Bird of Passage

Author: Rudolf Peierls

Publisher:

Published: 1988-06-01

Total Pages: 380

ISBN-13: 9780691024165

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Here is the intensely personal and often humorous autobiography of one of the most distinguished theoretical physicists of his generation, Sir Rudolf Peierls. Born in Germany in 1907, Peierls was indeed a bird of passage," whose career of fifty-five years took him to leading centers of physics--including Munich, Leipzig, Zurich, Copenhagen, Cambridge, Manchester, Oxford, and J. Robert Oppenheimer's Los Alamos. Peierls was a major participant in the revolutionary development of quantum mechanics in the 1920s and 1930s, working with some of the pioneers and, as he puts it, "some of the great characters" in this field. Originally published in 1988. The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These paperback editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905.