Named a Top Five Book of 2012 by Physics Today, USA.
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 at the moment, is likely to prevail eventually. His colleagues have made him one of the two physicists most often cited in the scientific literature, for several decades.
His work is characterized by mathematical simplicity combined with conceptual depth, and by profound respect for experimental findings. He has explored areas outside his main discipline, the quantum theory of condensed matter (for which he won the 1977 Nobel Prize), on several occasions: his paper on what is now called the “Anderson-Higgs mechanism” was a main source for Peter Higgs' elucidation of the boson; a crucial insight led to work on the dynamics of neutron stars (pulsars); and his concept of the spin glass led far afield, to developments in practical computer algorithms and neural nets, and eventually to his involvement in the early years of the Santa Fe Institute and his co-leadership with Kenneth Arrow of two influential workshops on economics at that institution. His writing career started with a much-quoted article in Science titled “More is Different” in 1971; he was an occasional columnist for Physics Today in the 1980s and 1990s. He was more recently a reviewer of science and science-related books for the Times (London) Higher Education Supplement as well as an occasional contributor to Science, Nature, and other journals.
Author(s): Philip W. Anderson
Publisher: World Scientific
Year: 2011
Language: English
Pages: 425
Personal Reminiscences:
Introduction
“BCS” and Me
A Mile of Dirty Lead Wire: A Fable for the Scientifically Literate
Scientific and Personal Reminiscences of Ryogo Kubo
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
21st Century Physics
Y Nambu and Broken Symmetry
Nevill Mott, John Slater, and the “Magnetic State”: Winning the Prize and Losing the PR Battle
Philosophy and Sociology:
Introduction
Emergence vs Reductionism
Is the Theory of Everything the Theory of Anything?
Is Measurement Itself an Emergent Property?
Good News and Bad News
The Future Lies Ahead
Could Modern America Have Invented Wave Mechanics?
Loose Ends and Gordian Knots of the String Cult
Imaginary Friend, Who Art in Heaven
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
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
Science Wars:
Introduction
They Think It's All Over
Science: A 'Dappled World' or a 'Seamless Web'?
Reply to Cartwright
Postmodernism, Politics and Religion
Politics and Science:
Introduction
Politics and Science
The Case Against Star Wars
A Dialogue About Star Wars
No Facts, Just the Right Answers
Futurology:
Introduction
Futurology
Dizzy with Future Schlock
Einstein and the p-Branes
Forecaster Fails to Detect Any Clouds
Complexity:
Introduction
Physics: The Opening to Complexity
Is Complexity Physics? Is It Science? What Is It?
Complexity II: The Santa Fe Institute
Whole Truths False In Part
Popularization Attempts:
Introduction
Who Or What Is RVB?
More on RVB
Brainwashed by Feynman?
Just Exactly What Do You Do, Dr Anderson?
What Is a Condensed Matter Theorist?
Global Economy II: Or, How Do You Follow a Great Act?
