More and different : notes from a thoughtful curmudgeon / Philip W. Anderson.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Anderson, P. W. (Philip W.), 1923-

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Science.

Physics--History.

Physics.

Physics--Philosophy.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (423 p.)

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Singapore ; Hackensack, NJ : World Scientific, c2011.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

Philip Anderson was educated at University High School in Urbana, Illinois, at Harvard (BS 1943, PhD 1949), and further educated at Bell Laboratories, where his career (1949-1984) coincided with the greatest period of that remarkable institution. Starting in 1967, he shared his time with Cambridge University (until 1975) and then with Princeton, where he continued full time as Joseph Henry Professor until 1997. As an emeritus he remains active in research, and at press time he was involved in several scientific controversies about high profile subjects, in which his point of view, though unpopular

Contents:

Contents; Preface; I. Personal Reminiscences; Introduction; "BCS" and Me; 1. A Personal Interlude; 2. First Glimmers in the Theory of Superconductivity; 3. BCS: Pairs at Last; A Mile of Dirty Lead Wire: A Fable for the Scientifically Literate; Scientific and Personal Reminiscences of Ryogo Kubo; II. History; Introduction; Physics at Bell Labs, 1949-1984: Young Turks and Younger Turks; It's Not Over Till the Fat Lady Sings; Reflections on Twentieth Century Physics: Historical Overview of the 20th Century in Physics; Introduction; The Flight from "Common Sense"; Emergence as the God Principle

The First Half-Century and World War II: The Triumph of Physics The Age of Big Science; The Flowering of "Small Science"; The Saturation of Small Science: The End of Entitlement; Concluding Comments; 21st Century Physics; 1. Particle Theory; 2. Astronomy and Cosmology; 3. The Opening to Complexity: Emergence and Anti-reductionism; A. The Background as of the Millennium; B. Unfinished Business: Open Problems in Quantum Physics; C. The Physics of Complexity; D. Physics Outside Physics; Y. Nambu and Broken Symmetry

Nevill Mott, John Slater, and the "Magnetic State": Winning the Prize and Losing the PR Battle Mott, Slater and the Magnetic State; III. Philosophy and Sociology; Introduction; Emergence vs. Reductionism; Is the Theory of Everything the Theory of Anything?; Is Measurement Itself an Emergent Property?; Postscript: Verification and Validation of Science; References; Good News and Bad News; The Future Lies Ahead; Science; Sociology; Could Modern America Have Invented Wave Mechanics?; Loose Ends and Gordian Knots of the String Cult; Imaginary Friend, Who Art in Heaven

IV. Science Tactics and Strategy Introduction; Solid State Experimentalists: Theory Should be on Tap, Not on Top; Shadows of Doubt; The Reverend Thomas Bayes, Needles in Haystacks, and the Fifth Force; Emerging Physics; On the Nature of Physical Laws; On the "Unreasonable Efficacy of Mathematics" - A Proposition by Wigner; When Scientists Go Astray; Further Investigations; Conclusion; V. Genius; Introduction; What Mad Pursuit; Complexities of Feynman; Coffee-Table Complexities; Search for Polymath's Elementary Particles; Giant Who Started the Silicon Age; The Quiet Man of Physics

A Theoretical Physicist Some Thoughtful Words (Not Mine) on Research Strategy for Theorists; VI. Science Wars; Introduction; They Think It's All Over; Science: A 'Dappled World' or a 'Seamless Web'?; References; Reply to Cartwright; Postmodernism, Politics and Religion; VII. Politics and Science; Introduction; Politics and Science; The Case Against Star Wars; A Dialogue About Star Wars; By George P. Shultz; Soviet Strategic Defense Program; Soviet Strategic Offensive Forces; Criteria for Evaluating Defenses; The ABM Treaty; SDI and Our Allies; Conclusion; Professor Anderson Replies

Soviet "Defense" Program

Notes:

Description based upon print version of record.

Includes bibliographical references.

ISBN:

9789814350143

9814350141

OCLC:

858228408