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Steven Weinberg

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Steven Weinberg
Steven Weinberg at Harvard University
Born3 May 1933
New York, USA
Nationality American
Alma materCornell University
Princeton University
Known forUnification of Electromagnetism and the Weak Force
AwardsNobel Prize in Physics (1979)
Scientific career
InstitutionsMIT, Harvard University
University of Texas at Austin
Doctoral advisorSam Treiman
Doctoral studentsJohn Preskill

Steven Weinberg (born May 3, 1933) is an American physicist. He was awarded the 1979 Nobel Prize in Physics (with colleagues Abdus Salam and Sheldon Glashow) for combining electromagnetism and the weak force into the electroweak force.

Life and career

Weinberg graduated from Bronx High School of Science in 1950, and received his Bachelor's degree from Cornell University in 1954, living at the Cornell branch of Telluride Association, and his Ph.D. in Physics from Princeton University in 1957, studying under Sam Treiman. He is currently a professor of physics and astronomy at the University of Texas at Austin, where he also holds the distinction of being that University's highest paid professor [1]. In 2002 Weinberg received an honorary D.Sc. from Bates College.

Besides his scientific research, Steven Weinberg has been a prominent public spokesman for science, testifying before Congress in support of the Superconducting Super Collider, writing articles for the New York Review of Books, and giving various lectures on the larger meaning of science. His books on science written for the public combine the typical scientific popularization with what is traditionally considered history and philosophy of science and atheism.

Weinberg is also known for his support of Israel. While this is not extraordinary in itself, he does support Israel from a liberal point of view. He wrote an essay titled "Zionism and Its Cultural Adversaries" which explains his views on the issue.

His views on religion were expressed in a speech from 1999 in Washington, D.C.:
"Religion is an insult to human dignity. With or without it you would have good people doing good things and evil people doing evil things. But for good people to do evil things, that takes religion. "

A Designer Universe? critically discussing the possibility of the intelligent design of the universe. Based on a talk given in April 1999 at the Conference on Cosmic Design of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in Washington, D.C.

Bibliography

  • Gravitation and Cosmology: Principles and Applications of the General Theory of Relativity (1972)
  • The First Three Minutes: A Modern View of the Origin of the Universe (1977, updated with new afterword in 1993, ISBN 0-465-02437-8)
  • The Discovery of Subatomic Particles (1983)
  • Elementary Particles and the Laws of Physics: The 1986 Dirac Memorial Lectures (1987; with Richard Feynman)
  • Dreams of a Final Theory: The Scientist's Search for the Ultimate Laws of Nature (1993)
  • Quantum Theory of Fields (three volumes: 1995, 1996, 2003)
  • Facing Up: Science and its Cultural Adversaries (2001)
  • Glory and Terror: The Coming Nuclear Danger (2004, NYRB)
  • Facing Up: Science and Its Cultural Adversaries (2003, HUP)


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