Victor Weisskopf | |
|---|---|
 Weisskopf in the 1940s | |
| Born | (1908-09-19)September 19, 1908 |
| Died | April 22, 2002(2002-04-22) (aged 93) Newton, Massachusetts, U.S. |
| Nationality | Austria,United States |
| Alma mater | University of Göttingen |
| Awards | Max Planck Medal (1956) Oersted Medal (1976) National Medal of Science (1980) Wolf Prize (1981) Enrico Fermi Award (1988) Public Welfare Medal (1991) |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Physics |
| Institutions | University of Leipzig University of Berlin ETH Zurich Niels Bohr Institute University of Rochester Manhattan Project MIT CERN |
| Thesis | Zur Theorie der Resonanzfluoreszenz (1931) |
| Doctoral advisor | Max Born |
| Doctoral students | J. Bruce French David H. Frisch Kerson Huang J. David Jackson Arthur Kerman Murray Gell-Mann Kurt Gottfried Raymond Stora Lawrence Biedenharn |
VictorFrederick "Viki"Weisskopf (also spelledViktor; September 19, 1908 – April 22, 2002) was an Austrian-born Americantheoretical physicist. He did postdoctoral work withWerner Heisenberg,Erwin Schrödinger,Wolfgang Pauli, andNiels Bohr.[1] DuringWorld War II he was Deputy Division Leader of the Theoretical Division of theManhattan Project atLos Alamos,[2] and he later campaigned against theproliferation of nuclear weapons.[3]
Weisskopf was born inVienna toJewish parents and earned his doctorate inphysics at theUniversity of Göttingen in Germany in 1931. His brilliance in physics led to work with the great physicists exploring the atom, especiallyNiels Bohr, who mentored Weisskopf at his institute in Copenhagen. By the late 1930s, he realized that, as a Jew, he needed to get out of Europe. Bohr helped him find a position in the United States.[4]
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.[5] 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.[6] Nevertheless, he was nominated for theNobel Prize in Physics numerous times later in his career.[7]
From 1937 to 1943 he was a Professor of Physics at theUniversity of Rochester.[8] 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.[9]
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]: 130 a decade later, Oppenheimer would found the innovativeExploratorium museum of science, technology, and arts in San Francisco.
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.
Weisskopf was a co-founder and board member of theUnion of Concerned Scientists. He served as director-general ofCERN from 1961 to 1966.[11][12][13][14][15] In 1966 aFestschrift was published in his honor.[16]
Weisskopf was awarded theMax Planck Medal in 1956 and thePrix mondial Cino Del Duca in 1972, theNational Medal of Science (1980), theWolf Prize (1981) and thePublic Welfare Medal from theNational Academy of Sciences (1991).[17]
Weisskopf was a member of theNational Academy of Sciences and theAmerican Philosophical Society.[18][19] He was president of theAmerican Physical Society (1960–61)[20] and theAmerican Academy of Arts and Sciences (1976–1979).[21]
He was appointed byPope Paul VI to the 70-memberPontifical Academy of Sciences in 1975, and in 1981 he led a team of four scientists sent byPope John Paul II to talk to PresidentRonald Reagan about the need to prohibit the use of nuclear weapons.
In a joint statement "Preserving and Cherishing the Earth" with other noted scientists includingCarl Sagan, it concluded that: "The historical record makes clear that religious teaching, example, and leadership are powerfully able to influence personal conduct and commitment ... Thus, there is a vital role for religion and science."[22]
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.[23]
There is a street,Route Weisskopf, named after Weisskopf atCERN,Geneva, Switzerland.
Human existence is based upon two pillars: Compassion and knowledge. Compassion without knowledge is ineffective; knowledge without compassion is inhuman.[27]
Citing initial teacher–student interactions,Noam Chomsky attributes to Victor the educationalmaxim,
It doesn't matter what we cover. It matters what we discover.[28]
 | This articlelacksISBNs for the books listed. Please helpadd the ISBNs or run thecitation bot.(March 2022) |
I might even have shared the Nobel Prize with Lamb
| Preceded by John Adams (Acting Director-General) | CERN Director General 1961–1965 | Succeeded by |
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