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In this memorial volume, twenty-four of Dirac's closest friends, colleagues and contemporaries remember him with affection.Dirac, who died in 1984, was unquestionably one of the greatest physicists of the twentieth century.The book describes his human side, with many anecdotes about the man with a reputation for silence.His immense influence on modern physics is surveyed in chapters written by eminent scientists.Dirac was awarded the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1933 at the age of thiry-one.His tremendous contributions to the field included his prediction of the magnetic moment and antiparticles as well as the spin of the electron.His formulations of the quantum field theory, statistics of particles and fields, his work on gravitational waves, and his prediction of magnetic monopoles stand as monuments to his originality and deep understanding of natural phenomena.This book will appeal to anyone interested in the development of quantum theory or in Paul Dirac. ... Read more

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This digital document is an article from Science and Its Times, brought to you by Gale®, a part of Cengage Learning, a world leader in e-research and educational publishing for libraries, schools and businesses.The length of the article is 413 words.The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase.You can view it with any web browser.The histories of science, technology, and mathematics merge with the study of humanities and social science in this interdisciplinary reference work. Essays on people, theories, discoveries, and concepts are combined with overviews, bibliographies of primary documents, and chronological elements to offer students a fascinating way to understand the impact of science on the course of human history and how science affects everyday life. Entries represent people and developments throughout the world, from about 2000 B.C. through the end of the twentieth century. ... Read more

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Paul Adrien Maurice Dirac was one of the founders of quantum theory. He is numbered alongside Newton, Maxwell and Einstein as one of the greatest physicists of all time. Together the lectures in this volume, originally presented on the occasion of the dedication ceremony for a plaque honoringDirac in Westminster Abbey, give a unique insight into the relationship between Dirac's character and his scientific achievements. The text begins with the dedication address given by Stephen Hawking at the ceremony. Then Abraham Pais describes Dirac as a person and his approach to his work. Maurice Jacob explains how Dirac was led to introduce the concept of antimatter, and its central role in modern particle physics and cosmology. This is followed by David Olive's account of the origin and enduring influence of Dirac's work on magnetic monopoles. Finally, Sir Michael Atiyah explains the deep and widespread significance of the Dirac equation in mathematics. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

Marvelous scientific biography
I have ofter wondered about Dirac who I consider the mystery man of quantum physics. He seemed to be totally consumed my the underlying mathematics of physics, at the same time he was so naive about the trifles of human interchanges. This is a concise and illuminating history and I assume, the one that another recent book about Dirac is based. The book clears the clouds.

A Tribute to a Brilliant Man
A man Stephen Hawking calls 'probably the greatest British theoretical physicist since Newton,' has got to be a pretty bright man. Paul Dirac wrote the definitive equasion that joined the Theory of Relativity and Quantum Mechanics. Like Einstein before him, his equasion is very simple to express, very complex in its overall impact. It explains things like how television sets or computers work.

This book is not exactly a biography, but more a tribute to him. It is a series of four talks given about Dirac eleven years after his death, upon the dedication of a plack to him in Westminster Abby.

Abraham Pais describes Dirac's character and his approach to his work.

Maurice Jacob explains not only how and why Dirac was led to introduce the concept of antimatter, but also its central role in modern particle physics and cosmology.

David Olive gives an account of Dirac's work on magnetic monopoles and shows how it has had a profound influence in the development of fundamental physics down to the present day.

Sir Michael Atiyah explains the widespread significance of the Dirac equation in mathematics, its roots in algebra and its implications for geometry and topology.

Paul Dirac - The man and his work
We were ourselves participating in the inauguration of the Paul Dirac memorial in Westminster Abbey. Especially the speeches of Stephan Hawking and Abraham Pais were very touching as they did not only touch Dirac's workbut also his personality and life. He was a very complex person and a greatphysicist. This book reflects that more than others about him.

An insightful recollection of a nearly invisible genius.
After missing the first collection of essays on this brilliant recluse published soon after his death, Ipicked up the present version as soon as I was able. It did not disappoint.

The book is a collection of four lectures given in the subject's honor in 1995 on the tenth anniversary ofhis death. The final lecture and the latter part of the third are highlymathematical and technical and clearly intended for a professionalaudience.

But for me, the first lecture by Abraham Pais is worth thepurchase price alone.Pais was not only a contemporary physicist, but alsoa close friend and as close to a confidant as was possible with such areticent man.

Through Pais' eyes, we see a mathematician turned physicistwho was very different from the man to whom Dirac is most frequentlycompared, Albert Einstein.Einstein was a physicist first, mathematiciansecond.Dirac was exactly the opposite.Einstein became a social andpolitical critic, Dirac never strayed far from his study.The two weresimilar in that both viewed mathematical beauty as primary and both hatedthe modern remake of quantum mechanics (after the initial theory) for verysimilar reasons.This last point was interesting as Dirac was the firstone to combine all his contemporaries' work on this improved quantumphysics into a formal mathematical structure.His resulting equation,called naturally the Dirac equation, is classic Dirac, short and sweet. Itcombined Einsteinian relativity with the new quantum theory and Diracconsidered the result to govern most of physics and all of chemistry. Stephen Hawking, the renowned theoretical physicist, says in hisintroductory memorial address to the book, "If Dirac had patented theequation ... he would have become one of the richest men in the world.Every television set or computer would have paid him royalties."For thiswork, Dirac shared the 1933 Nobel Prize with German physicist ErwinSchroedinger.One unexpected consequence of this work was a mathematicalconclusion that defined a "negative energy" matter (aka antimatter)solution. Simply put, he had discovered a universe noone had imagined.Tothis day, we see the effects of this discovery from medical necessities(PET scan imaging-Positron Emission Tomography) to science fiction (StarTrek).

The quotations and anecdotes Pais chooses are well placed andoften very funny.They are also supported by theimages of Diracportrayed in the sketch on the cover and in the few photographs scatteredthrough the first two lectures.They reveal his character well.He sawmathematical and physical realities so clearly that he simply could notunderstand why others did not see them as well.The photo of him"listening" to future Nobel Laureate Richard Feynman in Maurice Jacob'ssection is one of the most amusing of the collection.

In the secondlecture, Jacob shows the path of discovery and effect on latter dayexperimental physics of antimatter.He goes too long in spots but isgenerally fine. ... Read more

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Paul Dirac, who died in 1984, was one of the greatest physicists of the twentieth century. The warm regard in which he was held, both personally and professionally, by his colleagues shines through each of the contributions to this memorial volume. Most of the articles in this book were first presented at the Dirac Memorial Meeting held in Cambridge in 1985, at which many of Dirac's contemporaries and former students gathered together to commemorate his life and work. Some of the more personal reminiscences offer us a unique glimpse of the character of Dirac - who always remained and intensely private person, shunning honours and publicity even when he was widely regarded as one of the greatest sceintists of our time. This volume also contains a biographical sketch of Dirac and studies Dirac's important contributions to physics and mathematics, which should offer valuable summaries for all those who are interested in the history of modern physics and the development of ideas of quantum mechanics in the twentieth century. ... Read more

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This first full-length biography of Paul Adrien Maurice Dirac offers a comprehensive account of his physics in its historical context, including less known areas such as cosmology and classical electron theory.It is based extensively on unpublished sources, including Dirac's correspondence with Bohr, Heisenberg, Pauli, Schrödinger, Gamow and others.Dirac was undoubtedly one of the most brilliant and influential physicists of the twentieth century.Between 1925 and 1934, the Nobel Prize laureate revolutionized physics with his brilliant contributions to quantum theory. This work examines Dirac's successes and failures, and pays particular attention to his opposition to modern quantum electrodynamics; an opposition based on aesthetic objections. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

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This book is a very in depth scientific biography of the famous theoretical physicist. Since it is a scientific biography it is heavy on the physics and prepare yourself to see a lot of equations. Also prepare to not see explanation of notation. All in all this is probably not a great biography for the layman and even the physicist who reads it will hopefully know a bit of QED since a lot of his career revolved around that subject.

The book may not be to blame for not being a great read. This is simply because Dirac did not especially do much in his life but physics. Therefore, in the book there is little connect to more familiar pieces of history. Contrast this with the life of Einstein or any of the German physicists of the time period.

My favorite parts of the book were the anecdotes of Dirac's bizarre, reclusive, and ultra-logical personality. For instance, someone once called him up and invited him to an event. Dirac said he would think about it and then put the phone down on the table, not hanging it up. After thinking for a minute, he picked it up again and gave his answer. Many more humorous examples were in the book. ... Read more

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Quantum Theory, together with the principles of special and general relativity, constitute a scientific revolution that has profoundly influenced the way in which we think about the universe and the fundamental forces that govern it. The Historical Development of Quantum Theory is a definitive historical study of that scientific work and the human struggles that accompanied it from the beginning. Drawing upon such materials as the resources of the Archives for the History of Quantum Physics, the Niels Bohr Archives, and the archives and scientific correspondence of the principal quantum physicists, as well as Jagdish Mehra's personal discussions over many years with most of the architects of quantum theory, the authors have written a rigorous scientific history of quantum theory in a deeply human context. This multivolume work presents a rich account of an intellectual triumph: a unique analysis of the creative scientific process. The Historical Development of Quantum Theory is science, history, and biography, all wrapped in the story of a great human enterprise. Its lessons will be an aid to those working in the sciences and humanities alike. ... Read more

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This digital document is an article from UXL Encyclopedia of Science, brought to you by Gale®, a part of Cengage Learning, a world leader in e-research and educational publishing for libraries, schools and businesses.The length of the article is 414 words.The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase.You can view it with any web browser.This collection of entries covers major areas of science including: biology, genetics, microbiology, astronomy, chemistry, physics, engineering, technology, geology, weather, archaeology, psychology, mathematics, and medicine, and provides readers with a wide range of up-to-date, relevant, and accurate information. ... Read more