Drawing theories apart : the dispersion of Feynman diagrams in postwar physics / David Kaiser.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Kaiser, David.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Feynman diagrams.

Physics--United States--History--20th century.

Physics.

Physics--History--20th century.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (490 p.)

Place of Publication:

Chicago : University of Chicago Press, 2005.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

Winner of the 2007 Pfizer Prize from the History of Science Society. Feynman diagrams have revolutionized nearly every aspect of theoretical physics since the middle of the twentieth century. Introduced by the American physicist Richard Feynman (1918-88) soon after World War II as a means of simplifying lengthy calculations in quantum electrodynamics, they soon gained adherents in many branches of the discipline. Yet as new physicists adopted the tiny line drawings, they also adapted the diagrams and introduced their own interpretations. Drawing Theories Apart traces how generations of young theorists learned to frame their research in terms of the diagrams-and how both the diagrams and their users were molded in the process. Drawing on rich archival materials, interviews, and more than five hundred scientific articles from the period, Drawing Theories Apart uses the Feynman diagrams as a means to explore the development of American postwar physics. By focusing on the ways young physicists learned new calculational skills, David Kaiser frames his story around the crafting and stabilizing of the basic tools in the physicist's kit-thus offering the first book to follow the diagrams once they left Feynman's hands and entered the physics vernacular.

Contents:

Frontmatter

Contents

Preface and Acknowledgments

Abbreviations

Chapter 1 . Introduction: Pedagogy and the Institutions of Theory

Chapter 2. An Introduction in the Poconos

Chapter 3. Freeman Dyson and the Postdoc Cascade

Chapter 4. International Dispersion

Chapter 5. The Seeds of Dispersion

Chapter 6. Family Resemblances

Chapter 7. Teaching the Diagrams in an Age of Textbooks

Chapter 8. Doodling toward a New "Theory"

Chapter 9. "Democratic" Diagrams in Berkeley and Princeton

Chapter 10. Paper Tools and the Theorists' Way of Life

Appendix A. Feynman Diagrams in the Physical Review, 1949-54

Appendix B. Feynman Diagrams in Proceedings of the Royal Society, 1950-54

Appendix C. Feynman Diagrams in Progress of Theoretical Physics, 1949-54

Appendix D. Feynman Diagrams in Soryȗshi-ron Kenkyȗ, 1949-52

Appendix E. Feynman Diagrams in Zhurnal eksperimental'noi i teoreticheskoi fiziki, 1952-59

Appendix F. Feynman Diagrams in Other Journals, 1950-54

Interviews

Bibliography

Index

Notes:

Description based upon print version of record.

Includes bibliographical references (p. [421]-460) and index.

ISBN:

9786612426612

9781282426610

1282426613

9780226422657

0226422658

OCLC:

474997455