VictorFrederick "Viki"Weisskopf (also spelledViktor; September 19, 1908 – April 22, 2002) was an Austrian-born Americantheoretical physicist and Director-General ofCERN from 1961 – 1965.[1][2][3][4][5]
After World War II, Weisskopf joined the physics faculty atMIT, ultimately becoming head of the department. In 1956, he became one of the founding members of thePhysical Science Study Committee (PSSC), developing the curriculum for a revolutionary method of teaching physics at the high school level. As theRed Scare faded, in 1959 Weisskopf joined physicistsGeorge Gamow andHans Bethe in supporting the return of exiled physicistFrank Oppenheimer to science teaching;[10]
At MIT, he encouraged students to ask questions, and even in undergraduate physics courses, taught his students to think like physicists, not just to memorize the equations of physics. He was a memorable teacher, and delighted in posing "Fermi questions" and then helping students to work out approximate answers. For example, he would ask the maximum possible height of a mountain on the Earth, calculated from known basicphysical constants. It took him about half an hour to work through an explanation of his computations, with the result being of the sameorder of magnitude as the known height ofMount Everest. For an encore, he would quickly work out the analogous answers for Mars and Jupiter (when theMars Orbiter survey results later became available, they were consistent with his computed elevation). For his finale, he would compute the energy released by rolling abowling ball down the highest theoretical mountain on Jupiter.
His first wife, Ellen Tvede, died in 1989. Weisskopf died on April 22, 2002, and was survived by his second wife Duscha, daughter of accidentalNight of the Long Knives victimWilli Schmid.[11]
In the 1930s and 1940s, "Viki", as everyone called him, made major contributions to the development of quantum theory, especially in the area ofquantum electrodynamics.[12] One of his few regrets was that his insecurity about his mathematical abilities may have cost him aNobel Prize when he did not publish results (which turned out to be correct) about what became known as theLamb shift.[13] Nevertheless, he was nominated for theNobel Prize in Physics numerous times later in his career.[14]
From 1937 to 1943 he was a Professor of Physics at theUniversity of Rochester.[15] There, he met graduate studentEsther Conwell, and together they formulated the Conwell–Weisskopf theory, which describes the movement of electrons throughsemiconductors and led to a better understanding ofintegrated circuits, knowledge that became essential for modern computing.[16] Weisskopf was a co-founder and board member of theUnion of Concerned Scientists. He served as director-general ofCERN from 1961 to 1966 In 1966 aFestschrift was published in his honor.[17]
Human existence is based upon two pillars: Compassion and knowledge. Compassion without knowledge is ineffective; knowledge without compassion is inhuman.[26]
Citing initial teacher–student interactions,Noam Chomsky attributes to Victor the educationalmaxim,
It doesn't matter what we cover. It matters what we discover.[27]
Weisskopf, Victor (1963).Knowledge and Wonder: The Natural World as Man Knows It. New York: Anchor Books/Doubleday & Co. (Science Study Series S31).ISBN9780262730525.{{cite book}}:ISBN / Date incompatibility (help)
^V. Stefan (Editor).PHYSICS and SOCIETY. Essays in Honor of Victor Frederick Weisskopf by the International Community of Physicists., Forward p. v.ISBN1-56396-386-8
^Noam Chomsky (1991)."Language, Politics, and Composition". I often quote a famous statement from one of MIT’s great physicists, Victor Weisskopf, but it's a standard comment. He was often asked by students, “What are we going to cover this semester?” His standard answer was supposed to have been, “It doesn't matter what we cover; it matters what we discover.” That's basically it: that’s good teaching. It doesn’t matter what you cover; it matters how much you develop the capacity to discover. You do that and you’re in good shape.
Medawar, Jean; Pyke, David (2012).Hitler's Gift: The True Story of the Scientists Expelled by the Nazi Regime (Paperback). New York: Arcade Publishing.ISBN978-1-61145-709-4.
V. Stefan, ed. (1998).Physics and Society: Essays in Honor of Victor Frederick Weisskopf by the International Community of Physicists. AIP Press.ISBN1-56396-386-8.
