Rockport Public Library

Maker of patterns, an autobiography through letters, Freeman Dyson

eng

Includes bibliographical references (pages 385-387) and index

autobiography

index present

non fiction

Maker of patterns

bibliography

1021069509

Freeman Dyson

an autobiography through letters

"Both recalling his life story and recounting many of the major advances in twentieth-century science, a renowned physicist shares his autobiography through letters. While recognizing that quantum mechanics "demands serious attention," Albert Einstein in 1926 admonished fellow physicist Max Born that the theory "does not bring us closer to the secrets of the Old One." Aware that "there are deep mysteries that Nature intends to keep for herself," Freeman Dyson, the 94-year-old theoretical physicist, has nonetheless chronicled the stories of those who were engaged in solving some of the most challenging quandaries of twentieth-century physics. Written between 1940 and the early 1980s, these letters to relatives form an historic account of modern science and its greatest players, including J. Robert Oppenheimer, Richard Feynman, Stephen Hawking, and Hans Bethe. Whether reflecting on the horrors of World War II, the moral dilemmas of nuclear development, the challenges of the space program, or the considerable demands of raising six children, Dyson offers a firsthand account of one of the greatest periods of scientific discovery of our modern age"--, Provided by publisher

Preface -- Great minds around the billiard table -- War and peace -- Truth and reconciliation -- Cornell student -- Go west, young man -- Demigods on stilts -- Nolo contendere -- Well, doc, you're in -- The physicist in love -- Cornell professor -- Mycenean tablets and spin waves -- Moscow and La Jolla -- The forsaken merman -- A spaceship and a wedding -- Homecoming -- Working for peace -- Marching for justice -- Sitting in judgment -- Two deaths and two departures -- Adventures of a psychiatric nurse -- Whale worshippers and moonchildren