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Re: [Emeriti-faculty] Freeman Dyson



I forgot to mention re my email below (which apparently bounced anyway, since the Tufts "postmaster" informs me that I'm not supposed to be able to communicate with "Regular Physics Faculty") that, if anyone needs a reminder of Freeman Dyson, he will probably appear in this Sunday's 2-hour TV special on "Alien Earths and Astrobiology" (National Geographic Channel, 23 August, 9p ET).

He and I were both filmed for this show-- ~3 hours each--but what gets shown and what gets "left on the cutting room floor" is up the the show's producer. So, I really don't know if either of us survived the cut.

     All best for now,

          Eric

Eric Chaisson's coordinates:
paper:  Wright Center, 4 Colby St., Tufts University, Medford, MA 02155
telephone:  617-627-5393 (direct); ...5394 (alternate); fax:  617-627-3995
email:  eric chaisson tufts edu <mailto:eric chaisson tufts edu>
       chaisson fas harvard edu <mailto:chaisson fas harvard edu>
web:
(center page) http://www.tufts.edu/as/wright_center
(personal pg) http://www.tufts.edu/as/wright_center/eric/ericpage.html
(textbook pg) http://www.prenhall.com/chaisson
(course page) http://www.tufts.edu/as/wright_center/cosmic_evolution





Eric J. Chaisson wrote:
I don't think I was supposed to receive this email, but I did--so I'll add my support for Freeman Dyson to speak at Tufts.

I know Freeman well, even to the point of having had dinner/lunch at each others' houses a number of times (the last being, at our home in Concord, when we struggled to reassemble a model of DNA that had broken, knowing that Swiss biologist Werner Arber was also coming to dinner, only to realize when he arrived that Werner had won the Nobel for discovering the enzyme that breaks down DNA--so we left the model broken!).

Some years ago, the Wright Center hosted a meeting (actually held at the American Academy of Arts & Sciences in Cambridge) in which Freeman spoke. His paper, on "Tolstoy, Napoleon and Gompers," was an original, offbeat piece and is published in "The 13th Labor: Improving Science Education," which I co-edited. I saw him more recently at Windsor Castle, where Martin Rees had gathered a small group to discuss maverick ideas in physics and astronomy--and he did not disappoint! Indeed, Freeman is bit of a maverick--even to the point nowadays of having become a Skeptic re global warming (see last year's NewYorker article)--but his talks are always original, provocative, and well delivered.

I regard Freeman as perhaps the greatest living physicist not to have won a Nobel--as you all know he was the 4th man out, after Feynman, Schwinger and Tomonaga. But I would hope that Larry wouldn't introduce him that way!

     All best for now,

          Eric

Eric Chaisson's coordinates:
paper:  Wright Center, 4 Colby St., Tufts University, Medford, MA 02155
telephone:  617-627-5393 (direct); ...5394 (alternate); fax:  617-627-3995
email:  eric chaisson tufts edu <mailto:eric chaisson tufts edu>
       chaisson fas harvard edu <mailto:chaisson fas harvard edu>
web:
(center page) http://www.tufts.edu/as/wright_center
(personal pg) http://www.tufts.edu/as/wright_center/eric/ericpage.html
(textbook pg) http://www.prenhall.com/chaisson
(course page) http://www.tufts.edu/as/wright_center/cosmic_evolution





Gary R. Goldstein wrote:
Bill, Of course we want Dyson to give a lecture here. He is one of the most outstanding theorists of the post-war years and someone who has written many interesting and provocative books and articles.
Cheers,
Gary

Prof. Gary R. Goldstein
Department of Physics and Astronomy
Tufts University Medford, MA 02155

telephone:617-627-3591 office
         617-627-3878 fax
  email: gary goldstein tufts edu
website: http://www.tufts.edu/~ggoldste


Quoting Leon Gunther <l gunther tufts edu>:

Bill - Freeman Dyson is a brilliant physicist who is bound to give an interesting talk, even if you don't agree with him. And, I have seen him give a very interesting talk at MIT just a few years ago - so he still has a cogent mind.
Leon

On Aug 12, 2009, at 3:02 PM, William P. Oliver wrote:

Are there any comments?

Best regards,

Bill

----- Forwarded message from bacow tufts edu -----
  Date: Wed, 12 Aug 2009 14:12:09 -0400
  From: "Bacow, Lawrence S" <bacow tufts edu>
Reply-To: "Bacow, Lawrence S" <bacow tufts edu>
Subject: Freeman Dyson
    To: "William P. Oliver" <william oliver tufts edu>

Bill,

I am thinking of inviting Freeman Dyson to give a Snyder Lecturer.  I
assume you and your colleagues would be supportive of inviting him to
Tufts?

Larry

--
Lawrence S. Bacow
President
Tufts University
Ballou Hall
Medford, MA 02155
617-627-3300



----- End forwarded message -----



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Leon Gunther
Department of Physics and Astronomy
Robinson Hall - Rm 357
617-627-5361
Fax: 617-627-3878






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