Freeman Dyson 1923 - 2020
February 28, 2020 9:37 AM Subscribe
"Freeman Dyson Dies at 96; Wrestled With Questions of Physics and Morality" (SLNYT) Freeman J. Dyson, a mathematical prodigy who left his mark on subatomic physics before turning to messier subjects like Earth’s environmental future and the morality of war, died on Friday at a hospital near Princeton, N.J. He was 96.
As a young graduate student at Cornell in 1949, Dr. Dyson wrote a landmark paper — worthy, some colleagues thought, of a Nobel Prize — that deepened the understanding of how light interacts with matter to produce the palpable world. The theory the paper advanced, called quantum electrodynamics, or QED, ranks among the great achievements of modern science.
But it was as a writer and technological visionary that he gained public renown. He imagined exploring the solar system with spaceships propelled by nuclear explosions and establishing distant colonies nourished by genetically engineered plants.
As a young graduate student at Cornell in 1949, Dr. Dyson wrote a landmark paper — worthy, some colleagues thought, of a Nobel Prize — that deepened the understanding of how light interacts with matter to produce the palpable world. The theory the paper advanced, called quantum electrodynamics, or QED, ranks among the great achievements of modern science.
But it was as a writer and technological visionary that he gained public renown. He imagined exploring the solar system with spaceships propelled by nuclear explosions and establishing distant colonies nourished by genetically engineered plants.
He's been dead to a lot of people for quite a while. Don't know if he ever came round on that.
posted by aleph at 10:02 AM on February 28, 2020 [7 favorites]
posted by aleph at 10:02 AM on February 28, 2020 [7 favorites]
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posted by stevil at 10:14 AM on February 28, 2020 [1 favorite]
posted by stevil at 10:14 AM on February 28, 2020 [1 favorite]
1949, Dr. Dyson wrote a landmark paper ....
A book called something like 'Quantum Mysteries for Bluffers' put it this way:
Feynman, Schwinger and Tomonaga independently discovered quantum electrodynamics. Then Freeman Dyson explained it -- to the first three!
posted by JonJacky at 11:13 AM on February 28, 2020 [3 favorites]
A book called something like 'Quantum Mysteries for Bluffers' put it this way:
Feynman, Schwinger and Tomonaga independently discovered quantum electrodynamics. Then Freeman Dyson explained it -- to the first three!
posted by JonJacky at 11:13 AM on February 28, 2020 [3 favorites]
Isn't Niven's use of Dyson spheres based on his work?
posted by Mrs Potato at 11:36 AM on February 28, 2020 [4 favorites]
posted by Mrs Potato at 11:36 AM on February 28, 2020 [4 favorites]
He had a brilliant and wonderfully weird mind. It is a shame that his ridiculous views on climate will tarnish his legacy. I'm glad he got to live a long and interesting life.
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posted by gwint at 12:31 PM on February 28, 2020 [1 favorite]
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posted by gwint at 12:31 PM on February 28, 2020 [1 favorite]
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posted by Rufous-headed Towhee heehee at 1:06 PM on February 28, 2020
posted by Rufous-headed Towhee heehee at 1:06 PM on February 28, 2020
. Disturbing the Universe was my favorite book as a teenager and made me want to be a physicist. I was so frustrated in college that my math skills weren't good enough to ever to go into that field.
posted by octothorpe at 1:24 PM on February 28, 2020
posted by octothorpe at 1:24 PM on February 28, 2020
(o)
posted by cmfletcher at 1:24 PM on February 28, 2020 [1 favorite]
posted by cmfletcher at 1:24 PM on February 28, 2020 [1 favorite]
Dyson, reflecting on his own life in the oral history / biography project Web of Stories (multipart video, transcripts available).
posted by Westringia F. at 1:58 PM on February 28, 2020
posted by Westringia F. at 1:58 PM on February 28, 2020
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posted by JoeXIII007 at 5:27 PM on February 28, 2020
posted by JoeXIII007 at 5:27 PM on February 28, 2020
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posted by brambleboy at 5:40 PM on February 28, 2020
posted by brambleboy at 5:40 PM on February 28, 2020
I heard they're going to build a coffin around him that will capture 100% of the energy he emits.
posted by Mr.Encyclopedia at 6:38 PM on February 28, 2020 [4 favorites]
posted by Mr.Encyclopedia at 6:38 PM on February 28, 2020 [4 favorites]
Dyson spheres, rings, swarms. If only I could live long enough.
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posted by zengargoyle at 7:18 PM on February 28, 2020
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posted by zengargoyle at 7:18 PM on February 28, 2020
I read his (first?) memoir, Disturbing the Universe and some later collected essays. I definitely envied his imaginative and dauntless brain.
The climate stuff was so disappointing. I kind of suspected it grew out of an temperament that was sympathetic to minority viewpoints. He also had a lot of tolerance for psychics and spiritualists.
Isn't Niven's use of Dyson spheres based on his work?
Dyson was willing to speculate wildly about things and then do the math to write them up and publish them in journals. His ideas were raided by a lot of SF writers, most definitely including Niven.
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posted by mark k at 9:28 PM on February 28, 2020 [1 favorite]
The climate stuff was so disappointing. I kind of suspected it grew out of an temperament that was sympathetic to minority viewpoints. He also had a lot of tolerance for psychics and spiritualists.
Isn't Niven's use of Dyson spheres based on his work?
Dyson was willing to speculate wildly about things and then do the math to write them up and publish them in journals. His ideas were raided by a lot of SF writers, most definitely including Niven.
.
posted by mark k at 9:28 PM on February 28, 2020 [1 favorite]
Also, he did a paper called Time without End if anyone is wondering what the universe might look like in 101500 years or more.
posted by mark k at 9:30 PM on February 28, 2020 [1 favorite]
posted by mark k at 9:30 PM on February 28, 2020 [1 favorite]
Interestingly enough, the original design of the USS Discovery for 2001 was supposed to be an Orion nuclear pulse propulsion spaceship. Freeman Dyson was heavily involved in the development of this type of space vessel.
posted by zooropa at 6:00 AM on February 29, 2020
posted by zooropa at 6:00 AM on February 29, 2020
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posted by TheophileEscargot at 8:33 PM on February 29, 2020
posted by TheophileEscargot at 8:33 PM on February 29, 2020
There's actually an interview with Dyson that Kubrick filmed for the introduction to 2001 but cut from the release.
posted by octothorpe at 4:27 AM on March 1, 2020
posted by octothorpe at 4:27 AM on March 1, 2020
Freeman Dyson's Letters Offer Another Glimpse of Genius (nyer)
posted by kliuless at 3:56 PM on March 6, 2020
posted by kliuless at 3:56 PM on March 6, 2020
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posted by clawsoon at 9:51 AM on February 28, 2020 [6 favorites]