Murray Gell-Mann (1929–2019)
Author of The Quark and the Jaguar: Adventures in the Simple and the Complex
About the Author
Murray Gell-Mann was born on September 15, 1929 in Manhattan, New York. He received a bachelor's degree in physics from Yale University in 1948 and a Ph.D. from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1951. His discovery of quarks, a concept in particle physics, earned him a Nobel Prize in show more Physics in 1969. He wrote several books including The Quark and the Jaguar: Adventures in the Simple and the Complex. He has received several awards including the Dannie Heineman Prize, the Ernest O. Lawrence Memorial Award, the Franklin Medal, the Research Corporation Award, the John J. Carty Medal, and the Helmholtz Medal. He died on May 24, 2019 at the age of 89. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
Image credit: Murray Gell-Mann in 2003.
Works by Murray Gell-Mann
Associated Works
The Rise of the Standard Model: Particle Physics in the 1960s and 1970s (1997) — Contributor — 9 copies
Tagged
Common Knowledge
- Canonical name
- Gell-Mann, Murray
- Birthdate
- 1929-09-15
- Date of death
- 2019-05-24
- Gender
- male
- Education
- Yale University (BS|Physics|1948)
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (Ph.D.|Physics|1951) - Occupations
- physicist
professor - Organizations
- California Institute of Technology
Encyclopædia Britannica
Santa Fe Institute - Awards and honors
- Nobel Prize (Physics ∙ 1969)
Humanist of the Year (2005)
Dannie Heineman Prize ( [1959])
Erice Prize (1990)
Ernest O. Lawrence Award (1966)
Franklin Medal (1967) (show all 11)
John J. Carty Award (1968)
Albert Einstein Medal (2005)
Honorary Doctorate (x12)
Telluride Tech Festival Award of Technology (2002)
Global 500 Roll of Honour (1988) - Relationships
- Zwiebach, Barton (doctoral student)
Melosh, H. J. (doctoral student)
Hartle, James B. (doctoral student)
Coleman, Sidney (doctoral student) - Nationality
- USA
- Birthplace
- Manhattan, New York, USA
- Place of death
- Santa Fe, New Mexico, USA
- Associated Place (for map)
- USA
Members
Reviews
Thought provoking.
The title says it all in a cryptic kind of way. This book is about the QM world and the macro world we live in and the relationship between the two.
Whilst avoiding much math he does still manage to convey part of his own feeling of wonder at the subject and a notion of what the world really does seem to be like at the subatomic level. I was also pleased to see him railing against many of the more common misuses and usurpations of some "quantum" concepts in an attempt to show more justify some very unscientific claims of woo woo.
This book refuses to stick to one subject and branches out to cover complexity, the standard model of quantum physics, selection and evolution, diversity and the environment. All in well judged levels of details and in a very easy to read style.
A whistle stop tour of the issues of the day (although this was the mid nineties) and so some of his warnings about extremism and talk of cultural diversity just ring an odd note now and again.
Well worth a read. show less
The title says it all in a cryptic kind of way. This book is about the QM world and the macro world we live in and the relationship between the two.
Whilst avoiding much math he does still manage to convey part of his own feeling of wonder at the subject and a notion of what the world really does seem to be like at the subatomic level. I was also pleased to see him railing against many of the more common misuses and usurpations of some "quantum" concepts in an attempt to show more justify some very unscientific claims of woo woo.
This book refuses to stick to one subject and branches out to cover complexity, the standard model of quantum physics, selection and evolution, diversity and the environment. All in well judged levels of details and in a very easy to read style.
A whistle stop tour of the issues of the day (although this was the mid nineties) and so some of his warnings about extremism and talk of cultural diversity just ring an odd note now and again.
Well worth a read. show less
Decepción. Yo creía que el libro iba a tratar sobre los quarks y su descubrimiento (por algo el autor fue quien tuvo la mayor parte del mérito) y resulta que el libro es un conjunto de visiones personales sobre complejidad y simplicidad de sistemas. EN algunos momentos se hace realmente ininteligible (al hablar de decoherencia en historias no detalladas con detalles integrados, sin ir más lejos). Hay partes buenas e interesantes; otras son imposibles. El libro no está mal pero no me ha show more llamado la atención. show less
Whilst the author is clearly a very bright spark, he can't hold my attention in this book. Horgan in 'The End of Science' tells us that his agent, Brockman claims that G-M "has five brains, each one smarter than yours". Such a shame that none of these five is a genuine author's brain! I doubt I'll ever get around to finishing it.
Substance: Ruminations over a large number of scientific topics, with biographical notes.
Style: Interesting and accessible.
NOTES:
(use for research in writing projects)
p. 182 on propagating misunderstandings
p. 211: multi-verse bubbles.
p. 264: on creativity
p. 270: Contains the true story of the greatest physics exam question ever: how do you measure the height of a building with a barometer? (Although Gell-Mann's book was not published until 1994, I first heard the story in a college physics show more class in 1970.)
p. 283: explaining irrational beliefs
p. 296: how maladaptive schema survive
p. 322: on irrational behavior and assumptions
p. 324: blinders in economic theory
Unfortunately, this book does not seem to contain the story of "the Gell-Mann Amnesia Effect", which is referenced in Michael Crichton's essay, "Why Speculate?"; however, I know I have read the original story in some book in my library. show less
Style: Interesting and accessible.
NOTES:
(use for research in writing projects)
p. 182 on propagating misunderstandings
p. 211: multi-verse bubbles.
p. 264: on creativity
p. 270: Contains the true story of the greatest physics exam question ever: how do you measure the height of a building with a barometer? (Although Gell-Mann's book was not published until 1994, I first heard the story in a college physics show more class in 1970.)
p. 283: explaining irrational beliefs
p. 296: how maladaptive schema survive
p. 322: on irrational behavior and assumptions
p. 324: blinders in economic theory
Unfortunately, this book does not seem to contain the story of "the Gell-Mann Amnesia Effect", which is referenced in Michael Crichton's essay, "Why Speculate?"; however, I know I have read the original story in some book in my library. show less
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Statistics
- Works
- 5
- Also by
- 2
- Members
- 1,265
- Popularity
- #20,290
- Rating
- 3.5
- Reviews
- 8
- ISBNs
- 35
- Languages
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- Favorited
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