Paul Adrien Maurice Dirac
Reminiscences about a Great Physicist

Behram N. Kursunoglu (Edited by), Eugene Paul Wigner (Edited by)

9780521386883, Cambridge University Press

Paperback, published 26 April 1990

316 pages
22.8 x 15.2 x 1.9 cm, 0.46 kg

Paul Dirac, who died in 1984, was without question one of the greatest physicists of the twentieth century. His revolutionary contribution to modern quantum theory is remembered for its insight and creativity. He is especially famous for his prediction of the magnetic moment and spin of the electron and for the existence of antiparticles. He was awarded the Nobel Prize for physics in 1933 at the age of 31. In this memorial volume, 24 of Dirac's friends, colleagues and contemporaries remember him with affection. There are chapters describing Dirac's personality, and many anecdotes about the man with a reputation for silence. Other chapters describe Dirac's science and its impact on modern physics.

Portrait R. Feyman
List of contributors
A memorial to P. A. M. Dirac B. N. Kursunoglu
Preface B. N. Kursunoglu and E. P. Wigner
Chronology
Part I. Human Side: 1. Thinking of my darling Paul M. Dirac
2. Dirac in coral gables S. A. Kursunoglu
3. Recollections of Paul Dirac at Florida State University J. E. Lannutti
4. My association with Professor Dirac Harish-Chandra
5. What Paul Dirac meant in my life N. Kemmer
6. Dirac's way R. Peierls
7. An experimenter's view of P. A. M. Dirac A. D. Krisch
8. Dirac at the University of Miami H. K. Stanford
9. Remembering Paul Dirac E. P. Wigner
Part II. More Scientific Ideas: 10. Another side to Paul Dirac R. H. Dalitz
11. Playing with equations, the Dirac way A. Pais
12. Paul Dirac and Werner Heisenberg - a partnership in science L. M. Brown and H. Rechenberg
13. Dirac's magnetic monopole and the fine structure constant W. J. Marciano and M. Goldhaber
14. Magnetic monopoles and the halos of galaxies F. Hoyle
15. The inadequacies of quantum field theory P. A. M. Dirac
16. Dirac and the foundation of quantum mechanics P. T. Matthews
Part III. Influenced and Inspired by Association: 17. At the feet of Dirac J. C. Polkinghorne
18. Reminiscences of Paul Dirac N. Mott
19. From relativistic quantum theory to the human brain H. J. Lipkin
20. Dirac in 1962, weak and gravitational radiation interactions J. Weber
21. Schrödinger's cat W. E. Lamb, Jr.
22. Dirac and finite field theories A. Salam
23. Dirac's influence on unified field theory B. N. Kursunoglu
Index.

Subject Areas: Physics [PH]