DOCSLIB.ORG

*31.7 Books.Indd NS AB NEW.Indd

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
*31.7 Books.Indd NS AB NEW.Indd NATURE|Vol 454|31 July 2008 SUMMER BOOKS OPINION edge and extension at the trailing edge. as T. rex’s crater of doom by proving it was with others, including my late professor, Derek Alvarez leads us to this hypothesis along a 300,000 years too old. Alvarez’s frequent refer- Ager, he has helped geologists to understand personal and scientific journey through many ences to the crater as the uncontested ‘smoking that uniformitarianism and gradualism are not scientific, historical and cultural byways. gun’ would otherwise, presumably, have been the same thing. On the timescale of a planet, The book reads like an extended field guide phrased more circumspectly. uniformity must also embrace rare, catastrophic and notebook — Alvarez mingles the story of Like Alvarez’s previous book, The Mountains events that may recur on timescales far beyond his involvement with Italian geologists with of St Francis is a first-person participant history. the duration of civilizations and even species. accounts of his travels, discoveries and what This genre carries dangers, not least the pitfall Whatever the truth behind his sometimes might be called an Italian history of the world, of overplaying the author’s centrality. Alvarez is overconfident side-statements about the end- in which various historical figures receive given to grand gesture, and sometimes allows Cretaceous extinction, meteorite impacts, the proper credit for thinking of things first. himself to come too close to writing what iridium anomaly, Chicxulub crater and science Many of them, such as the seventeenth-cen- Stephen Jay Gould dubbed “cardboard history”. history, the tectonic story running through this tury Danish geologist Nicolaus Steno, need no For example, he avers that, by the 1930s, Alfred book is compelling and engagingly told. It also introduction to geological readers. But some Wegener’s ideas on continental drift had been holds appeal for lay readers, perhaps less so Italian figures will be unfamiliar, such as the “mostly rejected”. True, Wegener’s fellow geo- than his previous book, but those who venture ‘father of Italian geology’ Giovanni Arduino, physicists rejected his hypothesis because they into the mountains of St Francis with Alvarez who gave us the now obsolete term ‘tertiary’ thought it was physically impossible. But, as sci- will not regret it. I would make it required back- in the eighteenth century. ence historian Naomi Oreskes has shown, it was ground reading for students of Earth science. It Alvarez obsesses a little about issues of pri- only in the United States — for a long time a bas- would certainly help counteract the occasional ority, recalling my feeling that his other book tion of old-fashioned continental fixism — that philistinism of those leading their field trips. ■ was uncomfortably full of praise for those col- geologists rejected drift en masse. Elsewhere Ted Nield is editor of Geoscientist magazine and laborators who had set their competing claims they remained more open-minded. author of Supercontinent. aside. Here, too, using many historical exam- Alvarez deserves his place in posterity. Along e-mail: [email protected] ples, Alvarez shows the reader how well scien- tists behave when science works. I particularly relished the moral he draws from how alpine thrust faults were correctly explained. These faults are flat planes along Stalin’s war on genetic science which huge masses of rock have travelled hori- zontally, often for hundreds of kilometres. After The Murder of Nikolai Vavilov: The Story the Lysenko affair with verve and pace. Prin- years of doubt, geologists finally accepted that of Stalin’s Persecution of One of the Great gle makes it clear how Vavilov’s patriotism, rocks could be pushed such large distances Scientists of the Twentieth Century dedication to science and determination to be — their acceptance of plate tectonics sapped all by Peter Pringle open-minded led to his downfall and death. controversy from the issue. Alvarez uses this to Simon and Schuster: 2008. 384 pp. $26 Vavilov was born in 1887 in Moscow into remind us of a phenomenon first identified by a comfortable, bourgeois family. In 1906 he astronomers Alan Lightman and Owen Gin- It is not surprising, given the parlous state entered the Petrovskaya Agriculture Academy, gerich in 1992, whereby well-established ruling of Russia in the years following the Revolu- or Petrovska, one of many institutes established theories “develop a life of their own” and seem tion, that its political system put ideology and after the devastating famine of 1892. Russian to take forever to collapse under the weight of practical outcomes above all else, including agricultural practices lagged behind those conflicting evidence. scientific fact. This was most evident in agri- of other European countries and the United There is an irony here because the connec- culture, where it was imperative to produce States, and efforts to reform them were unsuc- tion that Alvarez and others made between the more food by whatever means. The conse- cessful. Vavilov undertook “to work for the iridium anomaly and the Chicxulub crater has quences were tragic for the Russian people and benefit of the poor, the enslaved class of my become just such a ruling theory in recent years, for Nikolai Ivanovich Vavilov, Russia’s greatest country, to raise their level of knowledge”. one that sceptical scientists have challenged at geneticist. Vavilov fell foul of Trofim Deniso- This pledge, Pringle explains, drove Vavilov their peril. One must conclude that the book was vich Lysenko who, through political manipu- throughout his life. already with the publishers last year when Gerta lation and intrigue, came to dominate Soviet After graduating, Vavilov spent a year Keller, a professor at Princeton University in genetics.Peter Pringle’s compelling book, The researching wheat with Robert Regel at the New Jersey, persuasively debunked Chicxulub Murder of Nikolai Vavilov, tells the story of Bureau of Applied Botany in St Petersburg, To Follow the Water: Exploring the Ocean to Brussels Versus the Beltway: Advocacy in the Discover Climate United States and the European Union by Dallas Murphy (Basic Books, $15.95, £9.99) by Christine Mahoney As well as covering the history of human (Georgetown Univ. Press, $29.95) expansion across the globe and the science of Political decisions made in Washington DC and oceanography, Murphy also gives first-hand Brussels have global effects, but US and European accounts of life on a research vessel. “Meticulously advocacy styles are often assumed to be culturally following the waters of the Gulf Stream into the different. This book challenges stereotypes, arguing blue beyond, Murphy’s book gets it right,” wrote that the context of issues and institutions is more Arnold Gordon (Nature 449, 407–408; 2007). important than differences between cultures. 577 OPINION SUMMER BOOKS NATURE|Vol 454|31 July 2008 before embarking on a two-year tour of somatic cells, and second by Mendel’s work. European laboratories. His stay with William Scientists rejected Lysenko’s claims, but by Bateson in Cambridge, UK, was the highlight. skilful manipulation of the political situa- Bateson was the leading proponent of Gregor tion throughout his career, Lysenko scaled Mendel’s work on inherited traits, rediscov- the Soviet scientific hierarchy. He was twice ered 10 years earlier, and wrote the first genet- awarded the Order of Lenin, and became ics textbook, Mendel’s Principles of Heredity, president of the Lenin Academy of Agricul- published in 1909. Bateson’s enthusiasm for tural Sciences of the USSR, a full member Mendelian genetics seems to have rubbed off: of the country’s Academy of Sciences and a Vavilov based his life’s work on Mendelian member of the Supreme Soviet. principles and their elaboration by, among The conflict between Lysenko and the others, fly geneticist Thomas Hunt Morgan. ‘Mendelian–Morganists’ came to a head in 1936 Bateson had led an expedition to the Russian at a conference at the Lenin Academy. Despite Steppes in 1886 to examine the interactions of geneticists’ devastating scientific critique of environment and species variability. Pringle Lysenko’s claims, the government-controlled suggests that this may have inspired Vavilov press declared Lysenko the winner. Attacks to undertake similar expeditions to search for on Vavilov’s position increased and Lysenko crop varieties whose traits made them suit- collection of 250,000 seeds of cultivated plants consolidated his position. Senior scientists in able for particular environments, such as dry and their varieties was the most extensive in the the Soviet administration were among the vic- or cold regions. world. In 1930, he was appointed director of the tims of Stalin’s Great Purge, when perhaps as On Vavilov’s return to Russia and the Petro- Institute of Genetics of the USSR Academy of many as one million anti-revolutionaries and vska, he was sent to investigate why soldiers Sciences in recognition of his position as the enemies of the people were executed over two on the Persian front were falling ill after eating country’s leading plant geneticist and his inter- years, including Muralov, president of the Lenin bread. Vavilov used the assignment to collect national reputation. Just six years later, Vavilov Academy. Lysenko took his place to become varieties of plants growing in the harsh climate was in disgrace. Vavilov’s boss. In October 1939, the Central of the Pamir mountains, in the hope that these His nemesis Lysenko was born in 1898 into Committee of the Communist Party of the hardy plants might be cultivated in northern a peasant family. Unusually for the time, he Soviet Union held another genetics conference. Russia to provide more food for the Soviet peo- attended a school of agriculture and horticul- This again ended in triumph for Lysenko. ple. Vavilov endured great hardship in travel- ture; clever and ambitious, he aspired to make Why were the reins of Soviet agriculture held ling to such remote regions, trips that would great contributions to Soviet science.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Transformations of Lamarckism Vienna Series in Theoretical Biology Gerd B
    Transformations of Lamarckism Vienna Series in Theoretical Biology Gerd B. M ü ller, G ü nter P. Wagner, and Werner Callebaut, editors The Evolution of Cognition , edited by Cecilia Heyes and Ludwig Huber, 2000 Origination of Organismal Form: Beyond the Gene in Development and Evolutionary Biology , edited by Gerd B. M ü ller and Stuart A. Newman, 2003 Environment, Development, and Evolution: Toward a Synthesis , edited by Brian K. Hall, Roy D. Pearson, and Gerd B. M ü ller, 2004 Evolution of Communication Systems: A Comparative Approach , edited by D. Kimbrough Oller and Ulrike Griebel, 2004 Modularity: Understanding the Development and Evolution of Natural Complex Systems , edited by Werner Callebaut and Diego Rasskin-Gutman, 2005 Compositional Evolution: The Impact of Sex, Symbiosis, and Modularity on the Gradualist Framework of Evolution , by Richard A. Watson, 2006 Biological Emergences: Evolution by Natural Experiment , by Robert G. B. Reid, 2007 Modeling Biology: Structure, Behaviors, Evolution , edited by Manfred D. Laubichler and Gerd B. M ü ller, 2007 Evolution of Communicative Flexibility: Complexity, Creativity, and Adaptability in Human and Animal Communication , edited by Kimbrough D. Oller and Ulrike Griebel, 2008 Functions in Biological and Artifi cial Worlds: Comparative Philosophical Perspectives , edited by Ulrich Krohs and Peter Kroes, 2009 Cognitive Biology: Evolutionary and Developmental Perspectives on Mind, Brain, and Behavior , edited by Luca Tommasi, Mary A. Peterson, and Lynn Nadel, 2009 Innovation in Cultural Systems: Contributions from Evolutionary Anthropology , edited by Michael J. O ’ Brien and Stephen J. Shennan, 2010 The Major Transitions in Evolution Revisited , edited by Brett Calcott and Kim Sterelny, 2011 Transformations of Lamarckism: From Subtle Fluids to Molecular Biology , edited by Snait B.
    [Show full text]
  • Cumulated Bibliography of Biographies of Ocean Scientists Deborah Day, Scripps Institution of Oceanography Archives Revised December 3, 2001
    Cumulated Bibliography of Biographies of Ocean Scientists Deborah Day, Scripps Institution of Oceanography Archives Revised December 3, 2001. Preface This bibliography attempts to list all substantial autobiographies, biographies, festschrifts and obituaries of prominent oceanographers, marine biologists, fisheries scientists, and other scientists who worked in the marine environment published in journals and books after 1922, the publication date of Herdman’s Founders of Oceanography. The bibliography does not include newspaper obituaries, government documents, or citations to brief entries in general biographical sources. Items are listed alphabetically by author, and then chronologically by date of publication under a legend that includes the full name of the individual, his/her date of birth in European style(day, month in roman numeral, year), followed by his/her place of birth, then his date of death and place of death. Entries are in author-editor style following the Chicago Manual of Style (Chicago and London: University of Chicago Press, 14th ed., 1993). Citations are annotated to list the language if it is not obvious from the text. Annotations will also indicate if the citation includes a list of the scientist’s papers, if there is a relationship between the author of the citation and the scientist, or if the citation is written for a particular audience. This bibliography of biographies of scientists of the sea is based on Jacqueline Carpine-Lancre’s bibliography of biographies first published annually beginning with issue 4 of the History of Oceanography Newsletter (September 1992). It was supplemented by a bibliography maintained by Eric L. Mills and citations in the biographical files of the Archives of the Scripps Institution of Oceanography, UCSD.
    [Show full text]
  • Phenotypic Variation and Heritability of Heading Date in Hexaploid Oat
    G Mazurkievicz et al. ARTICLE Crop Breeding and Applied Biotechnology Phenotypic variation and heritability of heading 19(4), 436-443, 2019 Brazilian Society of Plant Breeding. date in hexaploid oat Printed in Brazil 1 1 http://dx.doi.org/10.1590/1984- Gustavo Mazurkievicz , Itacir de Pierri Ubert , Felipe Augusto 70332019v19n4a61 Krause1 and Itamar Cristiano Nava1* Abstract: The onset of flowering is decisive to the reproductive success of plants. The objectives of this study were to characterize the phenotypic variation in heading date and estimate its heritability in segregating populations of oat (Avena sativa L.). 2F and F3 generations of two large populations, derived from crosses ‘URS Taura × Leggett’ and ‘FL0206B-S-B-S1 × UFRGS 078030-1’, were evaluated. A wide phenotypic variation in the number of days to heading was observed in both populations. Heritability coefficients of 0.68 and 0.46 were estimated for the ‘URS Taura × Leggett’ and ‘FL0206B-S-B-S1 × UFRGS 078030- 1’ populations. Our results demonstrate that genetic differences derived from parents in response to photoperiod and temperature explain most of the phe- notypic variation in heading date of oat populations. Understanding genetic and environmental effects on flowering expression is essential to increase the response to selection for well-adapted and high-yielding oat cultivars. Keywords: Avena sativa L., photoperiod, temperature, vernalization, adaptation. INTRODUCTION Cultivated oat (Avena sativa L.) is grown in an area of over 10 million hectares, and roughly 26 million tons of grains are harvested annually around the world (FAOSTAT 2019). The cultivation of oat in many countries is intended to provide grains for human consumption and animal feed.
    [Show full text]
  • Lysenkoism: the Danger of Political Correctness Emily G. Badger
    Badger !0 Lysenkoism: The Danger of Political Correctness Emily G. Badger Senior Division Historical Paper Paper Length: 2,334 words Badger !1 What is truth? A simple definition of truth would be anything that can be tested and proven in a universal process, for example, the scientific method. What happens in an environment where truth is not allowed to be tested? What would the consequences be? Unfortunately, there was a time in history when this was true, and it was strikingly recent. In the late 1920’s Mendelian genetics were replaced by Lysenkoism in Soviet Russia, just before the start of World War II. Though the conflict started as a dispute of truth within scientific circles, it quickly became evident that Lysenko’s underlying motive was not to make scientific discoveries, but to gain political power. The tragic result of politically correct truth replacing scientific truth was mass starvation and ultimately the crippling of a world superpower. To understand how such a catastrophic event could occur, it is necessary to understand the political climate of the Soviet Union at the time. First, it is important to note that Russia was a communist state, which meant there was an intense hatred of anyone who was considered bourgeois, a member of the middle class who upheld the interests of capitalism rather than communism (Collins English Dictionary). Bourgeois members of Russian society were hated because they were property owners; they were not considered to be working for a living and thus were the enemy of Communism. Being called bourgeois in Russia at this time was essentially a death sentence, as those who disagreed with Communist values were “removed” by the government.
    [Show full text]
  • Vernalization
    Vernalization Promoting flowering with cold • Vernalization is the process whereby flowering is promoted by a cold treatment given to a fully hydrated seed or to a growing plant. • Dry seeds do not respond to the cold treatment. • Due to vernalization the vegetative period of the plant is cut short resulting in an early flowering. • Also called as yarovization. • Without the cold treatment, plants that require vernalization show delayed flowering or remain vegetative. • In many cases these plants grow as rosettes with no elongation of the stem. History • Klippart,1857- first noticed the low temperature requirement for flowering while working with winter wheat and spring wheat. • Lysenko,1938-used the term vernalization for a low temperature promotion of flowering in plants. • Chourad ,1960- defined vernaliation as “acquisition or acceleration of the ability to flower by a chilling treatment”. Vernalization • For vernalization the seeds are allowed to germinate for some time and then are given cold treatment 0 ̊C to 5 ̊C. • The period of cold treatment varies from few days to many weeks. • After the cold treatment the seedlings are allowed to dry for sometime and then sown. • Vernalization prepares the plant for flowering. • The cold stimulus usually perceived by the apical meistems.but in some species all dividing cells of roots and leaves may be the potential sites of vernalization eg.Leennario biennis. • Vernaliztion induces the plant to produce a hormone called vernalin.It was discovered by Melcher(1936). • The vernalization stimulus can be transmitted from one plant to another through graphting. • The age of the plant is an important factor in determining the responsiveness of the plant to the cold stimulus and it differs in different species.
    [Show full text]
  • Spacetime Geometry from Graviton Condensation: a New Perspective on Black Holes
    Spacetime Geometry from Graviton Condensation: A new Perspective on Black Holes Sophia Zielinski née Müller München 2015 Spacetime Geometry from Graviton Condensation: A new Perspective on Black Holes Sophia Zielinski née Müller Dissertation an der Fakultät für Physik der Ludwig–Maximilians–Universität München vorgelegt von Sophia Zielinski geb. Müller aus Stuttgart München, den 18. Dezember 2015 Erstgutachter: Prof. Dr. Stefan Hofmann Zweitgutachter: Prof. Dr. Georgi Dvali Tag der mündlichen Prüfung: 13. April 2016 Contents Zusammenfassung ix Abstract xi Introduction 1 Naturalness problems . .1 The hierarchy problem . .1 The strong CP problem . .2 The cosmological constant problem . .3 Problems of gravity ... .3 ... in the UV . .4 ... in the IR and in general . .5 Outline . .7 I The classical description of spacetime geometry 9 1 The problem of singularities 11 1.1 Singularities in GR vs. other gauge theories . 11 1.2 Defining spacetime singularities . 12 1.3 On the singularity theorems . 13 1.3.1 Energy conditions and the Raychaudhuri equation . 13 1.3.2 Causality conditions . 15 1.3.3 Initial and boundary conditions . 16 1.3.4 Outlining the proof of the Hawking-Penrose theorem . 16 1.3.5 Discussion on the Hawking-Penrose theorem . 17 1.4 Limitations of singularity forecasts . 17 2 Towards a quantum theoretical probing of classical black holes 19 2.1 Defining quantum mechanical singularities . 19 2.1.1 Checking for quantum mechanical singularities in an example spacetime . 21 2.2 Extending the singularity analysis to quantum field theory . 22 2.2.1 Schrödinger representation of quantum field theory . 23 2.2.2 Quantum field probes of black hole singularities .
    [Show full text]
  • The Anthropic Principle and Multiple Universe Hypotheses Oren Kreps
    The Anthropic Principle and Multiple Universe Hypotheses Oren Kreps Contents Abstract ........................................................................................................................................... 1 Introduction ..................................................................................................................................... 1 Section 1: The Fine-Tuning Argument and the Anthropic Principle .............................................. 3 The Improbability of a Life-Sustaining Universe ....................................................................... 3 Does God Explain Fine-Tuning? ................................................................................................ 4 The Anthropic Principle .............................................................................................................. 7 The Multiverse Premise ............................................................................................................ 10 Three Classes of Coincidence ................................................................................................... 13 Can The Existence of Sapient Life Justify the Multiverse? ...................................................... 16 How unlikely is fine-tuning? .................................................................................................... 17 Section 2: Multiverse Theories ..................................................................................................... 18 Many universes or all possible
    [Show full text]
  • The Multiverse: Conjecture, Proof, and Science
    The multiverse: conjecture, proof, and science George Ellis Talk at Nicolai Fest Golm 2012 Does the Multiverse Really Exist ? Scientific American: July 2011 1 The idea The idea of a multiverse -- an ensemble of universes or of universe domains – has received increasing attention in cosmology - separate places [Vilenkin, Linde, Guth] - separate times [Smolin, cyclic universes] - the Everett quantum multi-universe: other branches of the wavefunction [Deutsch] - the cosmic landscape of string theory, imbedded in a chaotic cosmology [Susskind] - totally disjoint [Sciama, Tegmark] 2 Our Cosmic Habitat Martin Rees Rees explores the notion that our universe is just a part of a vast ''multiverse,'' or ensemble of universes, in which most of the other universes are lifeless. What we call the laws of nature would then be no more than local bylaws, imposed in the aftermath of our own Big Bang. In this scenario, our cosmic habitat would be a special, possibly unique universe where the prevailing laws of physics allowed life to emerge. 3 Scientific American May 2003 issue COSMOLOGY “Parallel Universes: Not just a staple of science fiction, other universes are a direct implication of cosmological observations” By Max Tegmark 4 Brian Greene: The Hidden Reality Parallel Universes and The Deep Laws of the Cosmos 5 Varieties of Multiverse Brian Greene (The Hidden Reality) advocates nine different types of multiverse: 1. Invisible parts of our universe 2. Chaotic inflation 3. Brane worlds 4. Cyclic universes 5. Landscape of string theory 6. Branches of the Quantum mechanics wave function 7. Holographic projections 8. Computer simulations 9. All that can exist must exist – “grandest of all multiverses” They can’t all be true! – they conflict with each other.
    [Show full text]
  • City of Graham Refuse Collection Zone
    6 7 2 B 3 0 0 0 9 9 9 A 9 7 1 9 8 0 R 9 9 9 9 0 0 6 0 5 9 9 9 H 9 0 2 Z D 9 9 9 9 9 9 0 T 9 9 9 A 0 B C D E F G H I J N 9 0 9 0 T 9 1 1312 0 2199 2099 I 0 9 L 9 I 1 6 M 2 9 2 2 0 9 0 T 7 9 S 0 B 0 6 9 2 0 7 2 7 8 F E 7 A 3 7 9 L O L D L 1 1 D P 0 V 9 2 3 0 D 5 4 S UE S 2 A 7 7 9 T 2 O C 2 2 K 0 0 1 R 9 T H L A S G 3 1 7 E S N L L H 7 A N 0 A E S O D O T 6 R T 0 F E T 9 V E O 9 8 O I A 1 L P R E 4 M E S C L G S T 1 0 O R M 9 9 O O T A R C S O 9 0 6 IL G A P 9 0 A 0 9 F 7 S 2 M TT 2 IN W 0 L S R I V L U 0 0 H S 0 4 G D V 9 1 H T S 0 A A 9 W 9 N R 4 T 0 9 Y 9 1 L T I S 9 G W N S R S J O A V V 0 M N A 8 9 I A 9 R 9 5 V L L Y V V 0 T 9 ST M A S IEW R A N A E D T T 9 N 1 3 N I 0 1 N 9 E N 7 3 R E A H 6 D A 0 R 0 1 A O 9 9 S O R H 7 1 L 2 1 T 8 3 F 0 T L 2 9 H A U A M X M N R R 4 S R 9 G 5 I 0 1 3 O 0 A 1 S E 1 1 L L V D T S N N Y R I M 0 A T 1 D 4 I 0 O 0 I 7 E A 0 1 X W V 7 T P N 0 0 1 R PA E 9 M 8 R R K O G 0 9 E D 0 C 9 T E X R M 1 T W S Y 1 1 6 9 8 A T L I L S 7 H ST L 9 E ING O W L T T 9 K L 2 1 9 M 9 D 8 E R 9 8 9 A E H P 3 S E S A H 7 2 T 0 1 0 I 9 9 2 0 0 9 O 9 Y E W 5 9 N S C N T 1 L 3 L D R 0 0 U 1 H N A E E N R I 9 T R B 9 9 0 R NCY C M O T 6 OD L I S R H C W V 2 E R U A A O A L A D V Q T D W 1 A T 0 1 4 6 E 9 I 0 0 DR RY R I A N Y R 0 U O 1 D 0 D 2 0 0 E P E A 0 D T U 1 M B U S S A 2 6 S L 1 L T O 1 0 0 2 C 2 0 H B 1 H G S S D A 1 A 6 9 8 L L E 4 0 D 9 6 2 V C L 0 0 T 1 M E 2 12 C 6 1 9 I 2 0 7 3 1 E O S 6 E V 0 9 5 7 L S 30 8 0 A I 1 L 5 7 9 P 9 9 0 S 9 0 S N R N V 0 S D 3 T 5 L 9 E 0 T R 9 H O 0 0 E T T 1 C 9 D 1 1 13 O BIR NE
    [Show full text]
  • SUPERSYMMETRIC UNIFICATION Savas Dimopoulos+
    CERN-TH.7531/94 ) SUPERSYMMETRIC UNIFICATION +) Savas Dimop oulos Theoretical Physics Division, CERN CH - 1211 Geneva23 ABSTRACT The measured value of the weak mixing angle is, at present, the only precise exp erimental indication for physics b eyond the Standard Mo del. It p oints in the direction of Uni ed Theo- ries with Sup ersymmetric particles at accessible energies. We recall the ideas that led to the construction of these theories in 1981. Talk presented at the International Conference on the History of Original Ideas and Basic Discoveries in Particle Physics held at Ettore Ma jorana Centre for Scienti c Culture, Erice, Sicily, July 29-Aug.4 1994. CERN-TH.7531/94 Decemb er 1994 1 Why Sup ersymmetric Uni cation? It is a pleasure to recall the ideas that led to the rst Sup ersymmetric Uni ed Theory and its low energy manifestation, the Sup ersymmetric SU (3) SU (2) U (1) mo del. This theory synthesizes two marvelous ideas, Uni cation [1] and Sup ersymmetry [2, 3 ]. The synthesis is catalyzed by the hierarchy problem [4] which suggests that Sup ersymmetry o ccurs at accessible energies [5]. Since time is short and we are explicitly asked to talk ab out our own contributions I will not cover these imp ortant topics. A lo ok at the the program of this Conference reveals that most other topics covered are textb o ok sub jects, such as Renormalization of the Standard Mo del [6] and Asymptotic Free- dom [7], that are at the foundation of our eld. So it is natural to ask why Sup ersymmetric Uni cation is included in such a distinguished companyofwell-established sub jects? I am not certain.
    [Show full text]
  • Appendix I Lunar and Martian Nomenclature
    APPENDIX I LUNAR AND MARTIAN NOMENCLATURE LUNAR AND MARTIAN NOMENCLATURE A large number of names of craters and other features on the Moon and Mars, were accepted by the IAU General Assemblies X (Moscow, 1958), XI (Berkeley, 1961), XII (Hamburg, 1964), XIV (Brighton, 1970), and XV (Sydney, 1973). The names were suggested by the appropriate IAU Commissions (16 and 17). In particular the Lunar names accepted at the XIVth and XVth General Assemblies were recommended by the 'Working Group on Lunar Nomenclature' under the Chairmanship of Dr D. H. Menzel. The Martian names were suggested by the 'Working Group on Martian Nomenclature' under the Chairmanship of Dr G. de Vaucouleurs. At the XVth General Assembly a new 'Working Group on Planetary System Nomenclature' was formed (Chairman: Dr P. M. Millman) comprising various Task Groups, one for each particular subject. For further references see: [AU Trans. X, 259-263, 1960; XIB, 236-238, 1962; Xlffi, 203-204, 1966; xnffi, 99-105, 1968; XIVB, 63, 129, 139, 1971; Space Sci. Rev. 12, 136-186, 1971. Because at the recent General Assemblies some small changes, or corrections, were made, the complete list of Lunar and Martian Topographic Features is published here. Table 1 Lunar Craters Abbe 58S,174E Balboa 19N,83W Abbot 6N,55E Baldet 54S, 151W Abel 34S,85E Balmer 20S,70E Abul Wafa 2N,ll7E Banachiewicz 5N,80E Adams 32S,69E Banting 26N,16E Aitken 17S,173E Barbier 248, 158E AI-Biruni 18N,93E Barnard 30S,86E Alden 24S, lllE Barringer 29S,151W Aldrin I.4N,22.1E Bartels 24N,90W Alekhin 68S,131W Becquerei
    [Show full text]
  • PDF Download the Black Hole War : My Battle with Stephen Hawking To
    THE BLACK HOLE WAR : MY BATTLE WITH STEPHEN HAWKING TO MAKE THE WORLD SAFE FOR QUANTUM MECHANICS PDF, EPUB, EBOOK Leonard Susskind | 480 pages | 05 Nov 2009 | Little, Brown & Company | 9780316016414 | English | New York, United States The Black Hole War : My Battle with Stephen Hawking to Make the World Safe for Quantum Mechanics PDF Book Black Holes and Quantum Physics. Softcover edition. Most scientists didn't recognize the import of Hawking's claims, but Leonard Susskind and Gerard t'Hooft realized the threat, and responded with a counterattack that changed the course of physics. Please follow the detailed Help center instructions to transfer the files to supported eReaders. The Black Hole War is the thrilling story of their united effort to reconcile Hawking's theories of black holes with their own sense of reality, an effort that would eventually result in Hawking admitting he was wrong and Susskind and 't Hooft realizing that our world is a hologram projected from the outer boundaries of space. This is the inside account of the battle over the true nature of black holes—with nothing less than our understanding of the entire universe at stake. From the bestselling author of The White Donkey, a heartbreaking and visceral graphic novel set against the stark beauty of Afghanistan's mountain villages that examines prejudice and the military remnants of colonialism. Most scientists didn't recognize the import of Hawking's claims, but Leonard Susskind and Gerard t'Hooft realized the threat, and responded with a counterattack that changed the course of physics. But really, unlike it sounds, this means that information, or characteristics of an object, must always be preserved according to classical physics theory.
    [Show full text]