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Max Jammer Wins 2007 Pais Prize by Michael Nauenberg, Chair, Pais Prize Selection Committee

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Max Jammer Wins 2007 Pais Prize by Michael Nauenberg, Chair, Pais Prize Selection Committee HistoryN E W S L E T T E R of Physics A F O R U M O F T H E A M E R I C A N P H Y S I C A L S O C I E T Y • V O L U M E X N O . 1 • FALL 2 0 0 6 Max Jammer Wins 2007 Pais Prize By Michael Nauenberg, Chair, Pais Prize Selection Committee n early October, the American Physical Society and (Harvard, 1964), and Concepts of Mass in Contemporary Phys- American Institute of Physics announced that Max ics and Philosophy (Princeton University Press, 2001). IJammer has been named to receive the 2007 Pais Prize Jammer’s other books include his pioneering and com- in History of Physics “for his groundbreaking historical prehensive study, The Conceptual Development of Quantum studies of fundamental concepts in physics, including his Mechanics (McGraw-Hill, 1966), which was republished comprehensive account of the devel- in a revised edition in 1989 by the opment of quantum mechanics.” He American Institute of Physics. He joins Martin Klein and John Heilbron, knew many of the main protagonists who received this Forum-sponsored in his story personally, including Al- Prize in 2005 and 2006. He is the first bert Einstein, Paul Dirac and Werner winner of the Pais Prize — which was Heisenberg, who read substantial specifically intended to be awarded parts of his book and discussed them internationally — who is not a US with him in detail. Jammer also inter- citizen. viewed many other founders of quan- Jammer was born in Berlin, Germa- tum mechanics, including Louis de ny, in 1915. He studied physics and its Broglie, Pascual Jordan and Eugene history first at the University of Vienna Wigner. He subsequently published and then at the Hebrew University of his companion study, The Philosophy Jerusalem, where he received his Ph.D. of Quantum Mechanics (John Wiley, degree in 1942. After active service in 1974), a historically oriented book that the British Army during World War II, has also become a standard work in he lectured on the history and philoso- the field. His recent book Einstein and phy of science at the Hebrew Univer- Religion (Harvard, 1999) has also been sity. In the early 1950s, while lecturing well received. at Harvard, he wrote the first of his Max Jammer penetrating studies in the history of physics, Concepts of Space (Harvard University Press, 1954), continued on page 2 which has a foreword by Albert Einstein. While serving as professor at the University of Oklahoma, he was invited to teach at Bar-Ilan University in Tel-Aviv, where he later served as Rector and President. He also participated in the INSIDE THIS ISSUE founding of the Department of History and Philosophy of Science at Tel-Aviv University and served as president of the Israeli Association for the Advancement of Science. He Report from the Chair 2 is a member of the Académie Internationale d’Histoire des Sciences and has served on the editorial boards of several Forum Affairs 3 scientific journals. For his publications he has received many Reports from the 2006 APS Meetings 4 awards, among them the Israel Prize and the Monograph Prize of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. The Seven Pines Symposium 10 Jammer’s main field of research is the history and phi- losophy of fundamental concepts in physics. In addition New Books of Note 11 to Concepts of Space, which appeared in a revised and up- dated edition and has been translated into several foreign Officers and Committees 12 languages, he has written Concepts of Force (Harvard, 1957), Concepts of Mass in Classical Mechanics and Modern Physics Letter from the Chair: An FHP To-Do List By Virginia Trimble, Forum Chair Come to Our Meetings: 5-9 March March and 12 January 2007 for April. all requests, and there is some money 2007 in Denver, Colorado, and 14-17 An FHP talk can be given in addi- available to cover speaker travel to April 2007 in Jacksonville, Florida. The tion to one you give in your area of truly impoverished institutions. To usual web sites for registration, physics research (though payment of request a speaker, go to: http://www.aps.org/meet/MAR07 registration fee is then required). You http://www.phys.utb.edu/ http://www.aps.org/meet/APR07 will need to know your member num- WYPspeakers/REQUESTS/howto. are open from mid-August and mid- ber, which is included on your Physics html October respectively. At least portions Today mailing label. Incidentally, the This site can also be accessed from the of the invited session programs are monetary subvention we receive from LCO site, http://www.lcogt.net/, which advertised elsewhere in this newsletter APS depends on the number of con- might interest you in its own right. in remarks from our program chair, Bill tributed paper sessions we hold. This Or, if you are willing to serve as a Evenson (p. 3). was zero in March 2006 and only one speaker, please contact the FHP Chair You don’t like paying the registra- in April 2006. What to talk about? Well, at [email protected]. Some tion fee? There are two possible alter- unless you are much younger than the of you have already given talks, for natives. If you are retired, you can pay chair (who is thinking of an April talk which many thanks! the emeritus fee — and perhaps donate on pre-discoveries of the cosmic mi- Volunteer to Run for Office, or the difference to APS (a fine idea pio- crowave background), some of what help out with a committee. Committee neered in 2006 by Horst Meyer). Or, if you learned as current events is now volunteers please contact Bill Evenson you definitely plan to attend only the history. Or you could pick a brand new by email at [email protected]. Forum sessions, you should pre-reg- topic to explore. Volunteers for FHP elections please ister but need not pay the fee at all. Encourage a Student: We can pro- contact Virginia Trimble at the email Please tell the chair in advance if you vide partial travel support, at $600 address above. plan to exercise this option. each, for two John Bardeen students at Encourage Your Colleagues to Give a Talk: Abstracts can be en- the March meeting (a donation from Join the Forum: It is absolutely free tered at http://abstracts.aps.org, with his family) and two Rolfe Glover stu- for APS members who don’t already deadlines of 20 November 2006 for dents at the April meeting (a donation belong to two (or more) other Forums from Richard Prange). Students can and only $7 a year for those who do. join APS for free for a year (but must For a current APS member, joining do so before the abstract deadline). is as simple as sending an email to What might they talk about? It’s easy [email protected] and saying “I HistorN E W S L E T T E R y of Physics if you know students working in his- want to join FHP!” The Forum on History of Physics of tory of physics. But Ph.D. theses in the American Physical Society pub- many areas of physics often begin lishes this Newsletter semiannually. Max Jammer Wins 2007 with a chapter of historical introduc- Nonmembers who wish to receive the Pais Prize Newsletter should make a donation to tion to the problem, and some of these would make good presentations. the Forum of $5 per year (+ $3 addi- Continued from page 1 tional for airmail). Each 3-year volume Please ask the student to send the ab- consists of six issues. stract to the FHP Program Chair (Bill. [email protected]) at the same time Editor Among his many scholarly articles, Michael Riordan it goes into the APS system, so that Jammer’s recent essay, “The Strange Institute of Particle Physics we know the person is a Bardeen or Story of the Concept which Inaugu- University of California Glover candidate. rated Modern Theoretical Physics” Santa Cruz, CA 95064 Host a History- or Einstein/Relativity- (Foundations of Physics, November [email protected] Oriented Talk at Your Institution: 2004), deserves special attention. The (831) 459 5687 Last year, FHP co-sponsored a World enthusiastic reception it received en- Associate Editor Year of Physics Speakers’ Bureau with couraged him to write his latest book, Robert H. Romer the Topical Group on General Relativ- Concepts of Simultaneity: From Antiquity Physics Department ity. It is now called the Las Cumbres to Einstein and Beyond, was published Amherst College Observatory Speakers’ Bureau, thanks by The Johns Hopkins University Press Amherst, MA 01002 to a donation from LCO director in 2006. [email protected] Wayne Rosing. Preference goes to four-year colleges, but we try to fill 2 Volume X, No. 1 • Fall 2006 • History of Physics Newsletter Forum Sessions at the 2007 sessions can be up to 24 minutes long instead of the usual 12 minutes. Editors’ Corner APS Meetings Your suggestions for FHP sessions for future years are always welcome. By Bill Evenson, Chair, Please send them to me at my email This issue begins Volume 10 of His- Forum Program Committee address, [email protected]. tory of Physics, the newsletter of the APS Forum on History of Physics. I will serve as Editor of the next six is- The FHP Program Committee is sues, bringing my experience to the planning several interesting sessions at Call for Fellowship job as former Editor and Contributing next year’s APS March (Denver, CO, 5– Nominations Editor of Beam Line, a quarterly journal 9 March 2007) and April (Jacksonville, of particle physics and cosmology pub- FL, 14–17 April 2007) meetings.
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