Biography:Silvan S. Schweber: Difference between revisions
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{{Infobox scientist | {{Infobox scientist | ||
| name = Silvan Samuel Schweber | | name = Silvan Samuel Schweber | ||
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| caption = Silvan Samuel Schweber | |||
| image = PTO.v71.i1.63_2.f1.jpg | | image = PTO.v71.i1.63_2.f1.jpg | ||
| caption = Silvan Samuel Schweber | | caption = Silvan Samuel Schweber | ||
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'''Silvan Samuel Schweber''' (10 April 1928 – 14 May 2017) was a French-born American | '''Silvan Samuel Schweber''' (10 April 1928 – 14 May 2017) was a French-born American theoretical physicist and historian of science. He was known for his work on [[Physics:Quantum field theory|relativistic quantum field theory]] and its history, and he was the recipient of the 2011 Abraham Pais Prize for History of Physics. | ||
== Early life and education == | == Early life and education == | ||
Schweber was born 10 April 1928, in | Schweber was born 10 April 1928, in Strasbourg, France,<ref name="APS">{{cite web|url=http://www.aps.org/programs/honors/prizes/prizerecipient.cfm?last_nm=Schweber&first_nm=Silvan&year=2011|title=2011 Abraham Pais Prize for History of Physics Recipient|publisher=American Physical Society|access-date=20 May 2017}}</ref> to an orthodox Jewish family. During the Second World War the family fled first within France and then via Spain, Portugal and Cuba to the United States where they settled in New York in 1942.<ref name="isis" /> In 1944 Schweber began to study chemistry at the City College of New York and in 1947 moved to the University of Pennsylvania as a physics major, where he studied with Walter Elsasser and Herbert Jehle. | ||
After obtaining his master's degree in 1949, he went to | After obtaining his master's degree in 1949, he went to Princeton University, where he studied with [[Biography:David Bohm|David Bohm]] and [[Biography:Eugene Wigner|Eugene Wigner]].<ref name="caltech">{{cite web|url=http://authors.library.caltech.edu/5456/1/hrst.mit.edu/hrs/materials/public/Schweber_interview.htm|title=Silvan Sam Schweber interview|date=27 August 2001|website=[[Caltech]]|access-date=20 May 2017|last1=Hessenbruch|first1=Arne}}</ref> In 1952 he received his doctorate under Arthur Wightman.<ref name="ndsu">{{cite web|url=https://mathgenealogy.org/id.php?id=21576|title=Silvan Samuel Schweber|website=Mathematics Genealogy Project|access-date=2026-05-24}}</ref> After that, he was a postdoctoral fellow with [[Biography:Hans Bethe|Hans Bethe]] at Cornell University and in 1954 at the Carnegie Institute of Technology in Pittsburgh. | ||
== Career == | == Career == | ||
From 1955 he was a professor at the newly founded | From 1955 he was a professor at the newly founded Brandeis University.<ref name="caltech" /> | ||
He wrote a book on [[relativistic quantum field theory]] published in 1961,<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=v1owGsfiJcoC|access-date=12 Feb 2019|title=Relativistic quantum field theory, Schweber, 1961|isbn=9780486139609|last1=Schweber|first1=Silvan S.|date=2011-09-12|publisher=Courier Corporation }}</ref> available in reprint by | He wrote a book on [[Physics:Quantum field theory|relativistic quantum field theory]] published in 1961,<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=v1owGsfiJcoC|access-date=12 Feb 2019|title=Relativistic quantum field theory, Schweber, 1961|isbn=9780486139609|last1=Schweber|first1=Silvan S.|date=2011-09-12|publisher=Courier Corporation }}</ref> available in reprint by Dover Publications.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://store.doverpublications.com/0486442284.html|access-date=12 Feb 2019|title=Dover publications}}</ref> | ||
From 1981 Schweber was a Faculty Associate in the Department of the History of Science at | From 1981 Schweber was a Faculty Associate in the Department of the History of Science at Harvard University.<ref name="isis">{{cite journal |title=Silvan Samuel Schweber (1928–2017) |first=Skúli |last=Sigurdsson |journal=Isis |volume=19 |issue=2 |pages=370–373 |date=2019 |doi=10.1086/703789|hdl=21.11116/0000-0003-D441-4 |hdl-access=free }}</ref> He was also a fellow of the American Physical Society, the American Association for the Advancement of Science and of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://histsci.fas.harvard.edu/sylvan-schweber |title=Sylvan S. Schweber (1928-2017) |work=harvard.edu |access-date=2025-01-15}}</ref> In 2011 he was awarded the Abraham Pais Prize for History of Physics.<ref name="APS" /> | ||
== Death == | == Death == | ||
Schweber died on 14 May 2017 in | Schweber died on 14 May 2017 in Cambridge, Massachusetts.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.brezniakrodman.com/obituary-archive/silvan-schweber/|title=Silvan "Sam" Schweber|work=Brezniak Rodman Funeral Directors |publisher=Brezniak Rodman|access-date=20 May 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170807192435/https://www.brezniakrodman.com/obituary-archive/silvan-schweber/ |archive-date= 7 August 2017}}</ref><ref name="physicstoday">{{cite journal |first1=Peter |last1=Galison |first2=David |last2=Kaiser |title=Silvan Samuel Schweber |journal=Physics Today |volume=71 |issue=1 |pages=63–64 |date=2018 |doi=10.1063/PT.3.3827|bibcode=2018PhT....71a..63G }}</ref> | ||
==Selected publications== | ==Selected publications== | ||
* [[Quantum | * [[Physics:Quantum electrodynamics|QED]] and the Men Who Made It: [[Biography:Freeman Dyson|Dyson]], [[Biography:Richard Feynman|Feynman]], [[Biography:Julian Schwinger|Schwinger]], and [[Biography:Sin-Itiro Tomonaga|Tomonaga]] (Princeton University Press, 1994) | ||
* In the Shadow of the Bomb: [[J. Robert Oppenheimer|Oppenheimer]], [[Hans Bethe|Bethe]], and the Moral Responsibility of the Scientist (Princeton University Press, 2007) | * In the Shadow of the Bomb: [[Biography:J. Robert Oppenheimer|Oppenheimer]], [[Hans Bethe|Bethe]], and the Moral Responsibility of the Scientist (Princeton University Press, 2007) | ||
* [[Albert Einstein|Einstein]] and [[J. Robert Oppenheimer|Oppenheimer]]: The Meaning of Genius (2009) | * [[Biography:Albert Einstein|Einstein]] and [[Biography:J. Robert Oppenheimer|Oppenheimer]]: The Meaning of Genius (2009) | ||
* Nuclear Forces: The Making of the Physicist [[Hans Bethe]] (2012) | * Nuclear Forces: The Making of the Physicist [[Biography:Hans Bethe|Hans Bethe]] (2012) | ||
==External links== | ==External links== | ||
* [https://www.brandeis.edu/physics/people/profiles/schweber-silvan.html Faculty website] | * [https://www.brandeis.edu/physics/people/profiles/schweber-silvan.html Faculty website] | ||
Revision as of 12:01, 24 May 2026
| Silvan Samuel Schweber | |
|---|---|
| |
| Silvan Samuel Schweber | |
| Born | 10 April 1928 |
| Died | 14 May 2017
|
| Known for | History of quantum electrodynamics |
Silvan Samuel Schweber (10 April 1928 – 14 May 2017) was a French-born American theoretical physicist and historian of science. He was known for his work on relativistic quantum field theory and its history, and he was the recipient of the 2011 Abraham Pais Prize for History of Physics.
Early life and education
Schweber was born 10 April 1928, in Strasbourg, France,[1] to an orthodox Jewish family. During the Second World War the family fled first within France and then via Spain, Portugal and Cuba to the United States where they settled in New York in 1942.[2] In 1944 Schweber began to study chemistry at the City College of New York and in 1947 moved to the University of Pennsylvania as a physics major, where he studied with Walter Elsasser and Herbert Jehle.
After obtaining his master's degree in 1949, he went to Princeton University, where he studied with David Bohm and Eugene Wigner.[3] In 1952 he received his doctorate under Arthur Wightman.[4] After that, he was a postdoctoral fellow with Hans Bethe at Cornell University and in 1954 at the Carnegie Institute of Technology in Pittsburgh.
Career
From 1955 he was a professor at the newly founded Brandeis University.[3]
He wrote a book on relativistic quantum field theory published in 1961,[5] available in reprint by Dover Publications.[6]
From 1981 Schweber was a Faculty Associate in the Department of the History of Science at Harvard University.[2] He was also a fellow of the American Physical Society, the American Association for the Advancement of Science and of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.[7] In 2011 he was awarded the Abraham Pais Prize for History of Physics.[1]
Death
Schweber died on 14 May 2017 in Cambridge, Massachusetts.[8][9]
Selected publications
- QED and the Men Who Made It: Dyson, Feynman, Schwinger, and Tomonaga (Princeton University Press, 1994)
- In the Shadow of the Bomb: Oppenheimer, Bethe, and the Moral Responsibility of the Scientist (Princeton University Press, 2007)
- Einstein and Oppenheimer: The Meaning of Genius (2009)
- Nuclear Forces: The Making of the Physicist Hans Bethe (2012)
External links
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 "2011 Abraham Pais Prize for History of Physics Recipient". American Physical Society. http://www.aps.org/programs/honors/prizes/prizerecipient.cfm?last_nm=Schweber&first_nm=Silvan&year=2011.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Sigurdsson, Skúli (2019). "Silvan Samuel Schweber (1928–2017)". Isis 19 (2): 370–373. doi:10.1086/703789.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Hessenbruch, Arne (27 August 2001). "Silvan Sam Schweber interview". http://authors.library.caltech.edu/5456/1/hrst.mit.edu/hrs/materials/public/Schweber_interview.htm.
- ↑ "Silvan Samuel Schweber". https://mathgenealogy.org/id.php?id=21576.
- ↑ Schweber, Silvan S. (2011-09-12). Relativistic quantum field theory, Schweber, 1961. Courier Corporation. ISBN 9780486139609. https://books.google.com/books?id=v1owGsfiJcoC. Retrieved 12 Feb 2019.
- ↑ "Dover publications". http://store.doverpublications.com/0486442284.html.
- ↑ "Sylvan S. Schweber (1928-2017)". harvard.edu. https://histsci.fas.harvard.edu/sylvan-schweber.
- ↑ "Silvan "Sam" Schweber". Brezniak Rodman Funeral Directors. Brezniak Rodman. https://www.brezniakrodman.com/obituary-archive/silvan-schweber/.
- ↑ Galison, Peter; Kaiser, David (2018). "Silvan Samuel Schweber". Physics Today 71 (1): 63–64. doi:10.1063/PT.3.3827. Bibcode: 2018PhT....71a..63G.
Author: Harold Foppele