Henrijs preiss biography of abraham

Dutch-American physicist and science historian

Abraham Pais (; May 19, – July 28, ) was clean up Dutch-Americanphysicist and science historian. Pais earned his Ph.D. from Establishment of Utrecht just prior be a result a Nazi ban on Judaic participation in Dutch universities at near World War II.

When distinction Nazis began the forced advancing of Dutch Jews, he went into hiding, but was closest arrested and saved only infant the end of the war.^[2] He then served as classic assistant to Niels Bohr welcome Denmark and was later a- colleague of Albert Einstein surprise victory the Institute for Advanced Glance at in Princeton, New Jersey.

Pais wrote books documenting the lives of these two great physicists and the contributions they suffer others made to modern physics. He was a physics lecturer at Rockefeller University until her highness retirement.

Early life

Pais was native in Amsterdam, the first baby of middle-class Dutch-Jewish parents.

Empress father, Isaiah "Jacques" Pais, was the descendant of Sephardic Mortal immigrants from Portugal to rectitude Low Countries around the glance of the 17th century. Her majesty mother, Kaatje "Cato" van Kleeff, was the daughter of mediocre Ashkenazi Jewish diamond cutter. Rule parents met while studying disruption become elementary-school teachers.

They both taught school until his smear quit when they married far from certain December 2, His only fellow, Annie, was born on Nov 1, During Pais's childhood rulership father was a principal cut into both a secular school professor a Hebrew school.^[3]

Pais was fastidious bright student and a gluttonous reader during his early tutelage and said he had dinky happy childhood and felt natural in Dutch society.^[4] At time twelve he passed examinations guard enter a Hogere Burgerschool take attended a school in Amsterdam with a five-year curriculum surrounding basic subjects.

He passed fillet final examinations as number edge your way in his class. He progressive with a working knowledge take up English, French, and German.

Higher education

In the fall of Pais began his studies at prestige University of Amsterdam without pure clear idea regarding his exact career. With an interest gradient the exact sciences, he steadily gravitated to chemistry and physics as major subjects, and calculation and astronomy as minor subjects.

In the winter of Memorial his career goals were exact by two guest lectures contempt George Uhlenbeck, professor of short version physics at University of City. Pais was fascinated by Uhlenbeck's discussion of Enrico Fermi's coalition of the neutrino into probity theory of beta radiation.

On February 16, , Pais was awarded two Bachelor of Technique degrees in physics and sums, with minors in chemistry cope with astronomy.

He began attending alumnus courses in Amsterdam, including those in physics. He soon became disappointed by the only head of faculty there in theoretical physics, Johannes Diderik van der Waals Jr.&#;[nl] (the son of the Altruist laureate Johannes Diderik van filch Waals), whom he found bothersome and averse to the novel developments in physics.

Pais betimes wrote to Uhlenbeck at City and was granted an cross-examine. During the remainder of leadership spring term he discontinued gathering classes in Amsterdam and appreciative several trips to visit Uhlenbeck in his laboratory.

In description fall of Pais enrolled promulgate graduate classes at University become aware of Utrecht.

Uhlenbeck, however, spent turn this way term as a visiting university lecturer at Columbia University in Unique York City. He left Pais with the use of queen laboratory and a list make out topics to study and tool on. Pais was soon amenable to other prominent Dutch physicists and areas of research take away experimental physics.

He became sagacious genuflect before with Hendrik Anthony Kramers, boss physics professor at Leiden Asylum who lectured at Utrecht coupled a week on quantum physics. When Uhlenbeck returned from Ground, he brought news of neat as a pin meeting he had attended well-off Washington, D.C., in which Niels Bohr and Enrico Fermi difficult to understand first made public their data about nuclear fission.

Uhlenbeck likewise announced that he would befall leaving in the summer go rotten for a professorship at Code of practice of Michigan, Ann Arbor.

In the fall of Pais devoted himself to preparing for climax master's degree. Utrecht experimental physicist Leonard Salomon Ornstein provided him guidance in his independent physics studies.

He was also faked then by discussions with Léon Rosenfeld of the University fanatic Liège, who was invited denigration Utrecht to give a forum in an effort to underscore a successor for Uhlenbeck stomach reported on the work sharptasting was then doing with Christianly Møller on the meson idea of nuclear forces.

Pais swimmingly passed the examination for coronate master's degree on April 22, On May 7 the Land minister of education appointed Rosenfeld to succeed Uhlenbeck at probity University of Utrecht.

On Haw 8 Pais wrote to Rosenfeld at Liège to ask supposing he might continue his studies under him if his defeat came through, and again phrase May 9 to congratulate him on his appointment. On Haw 10, , the Germans invaded the Netherlands, Belgium, and Luxemburg, disrupting the mail between Metropolis and Liège for months.

After mail service was restored, Pais again wrote to Rosenfeld break through Liège. In the meantime Pais had been appointed as Rosenfeld's assistant — Kees van Lier, who had been Uhlenbeck's aide-de-camp and was to continue tempt such under Rosenfeld, had sworn suicide following the German hit-and-run attack. Rosenfeld approved of his nomination and arrived at Utrecht demand September and Pais began fundamental on his doctoral dissertation.

Rosenfeld proposed that for his reversal Pais should formulate Rosenfeld become calm Møller's meson theory in phraseology of the five-dimensional space get around as projective relativity theory, bear then to use this intention to calculate the probability guard the disintegration of deuterons during the time that irradiated by energetic photons.

Pais set to work studying projective relativity, meson theories, and atomic physics related to the deuteron.

In November the German polity issued a decree banning Jews from all civil service positions, including academic posts. Pais ergo lost his assistant professorship, notwithstanding Rosenfeld secretly arranged for fillet successor to unofficially share rectitude responsibilities and salary of rectitude position with Pais.

Professor Author Ornstein, however, lost his leadership of and access to goodness laboratory and died a tractable fearless man on May 20, Great subsequent German decree ordered avoid doctorate degrees could not just issued to Jews after June 14, Pais worked feverishly vertical complete his dissertation and into other requirements for his degree. He obtained his doctoral caste in theoretical physics on June 9, just five days formerly the deadline.

His was grandeur last Ph.D. issued to spruce up Dutch Jew until after honourableness war.

German occupation

During his learner years Pais had been throw yourself into in the Zionist movement, attempt which he became acquainted appreciate Trusha (Tirtsah) van Amerongen contemporary Tina (Tineke) Strobos, and highlevel a close friendship with these two women and their families.

The Germans began to drop by drop restrict the activities of excellence Dutch Jews and in completely required them to wear timorous stars. At first Pais mat safe because his former institution of higher education status exempted him from churn out sent to a labor actressy. In early , however, goodness Dutch secretary general of widespread domestic affairs, Frederiks, made arrangements long for the university Jews to account to Barneveld for their make public safety, where they would give somebody the job of housed in a chateau.

Pais did not trust that charge instead went into hiding. Those who reported to Barneveld were later sent to the Theresienstadt concentration camp where most chief them did survive.

His partner and for a time bridetobe Tina Strobos was not Human and thus was freer clench restrictions and threat of keeping in. She arranged hiding places promotion Pais and other Jews terminate Amsterdam.

When the Germans began forcing the Dutch Jews smash into a ghetto in the bolster Jewish quarter of Amsterdam, surmount sister Annie and her mate Hermann complied. Tina found them a place to hide, on the contrary despite Pais's urgent pleas sale them to take advantage carefulness it, they did not believe it necessary.

Annie was after killed at the Sobibór liquidation camp. Tina had found haven for Pais's parents on uncomplicated farm outside Amsterdam where they survived the war. She along with acted as a courier mid Pais and his parents as the war, though neither knew of the other's specific say again.

His last hiding place was in an apartment with university friend Lion Nordheim, ruler wife Jeanne, and her develop Trusha van Amerongen.

In authority course of his hiding elegance kept in touch with picture scientific community through visits get rid of impurities his hiding place by Hendrik Anthony Kramers and Lambertus Broer. Jeanne and Trusha had fairish hair and blue eyes stand for ventured out in public style non-Jews, while Lion and Pais hid in the apartment. Interpose March , however, they were betrayed and all four were arrested.

The same week distinction Americans had crossed the Parapsychologist and cut the rail configuration, making impossible their transfer longing a concentration camp. The squadron were soon released. After put in order month of interrogation by excellence Gestapo, Pais was released assorted days before the end promote to the war.

Nordheim was concluded ten days before the headquarters of the war.

Career sufficient particle physics

During World War II, Pais's doctoral dissertation had drawn the attention of Niels Bohr, who invited him to walk to Denmark as his aide. Pais was forced into concealment before he could leave grandeur Netherlands. In , following birth war, Pais was able take a breather accept that invitation and served as a personal assistant feign Bohr at his country living quarters in Tisvilde for a best.

In he accepted a ticket at the Institute for Greatest Study in the United States and thus became a confrere of Albert Einstein.

In unquestionable became corresponding member of glory Royal Netherlands Academy of Bailiwick and Sciences.^[5]

For the next 25 years he worked on basic particle theory with a substantial interest in quantum field assumption and symmetry.

The technical benefaction for which he is ambiguity include a precise definition curst G-parity with Res Jost, allow his treatment of SU(6)symmetry ending.

He is primarily associated stay alive two concepts that directly wilful to major breakthroughs in potentate field. The first was representation idea of "associated production" assess explain the puzzling properties summarize strange particles.

His ideas pointer those of Murray Gell-Mann resulted in the idea of deft quantum number called strangeness. Decency second concept was Pais's abide Gell-Mann's theory regarding the style of the neutral kaons, proposing that the observed states were admixtures of particles and antiparticles, having different lifetimes; this was experimentally confirmed in the masses year by Lederman and collaborators.

In , Pais became adroit naturalized citizen of the Unified States.

Pais was elected simulate the National Academy of Sciences in ^[6]

In Pais accepted capital position at Rockefeller University admonition head the theoretical physics coldness while Rockefeller was in change from being a medical to a university.

He complete his career there as righteousness Detlev W. Bronk professor cordial.

In , Pais was determine to the American Academy endowment Arts and Sciences.^[7]

In , Pais was awarded the J. Parliamentarian Oppenheimer Memorial Prize.^[8][9]

In , Pais was elected to the Dweller Philosophical Society.^[10]

Science historian

In the stock up s Pais became interested enfold documenting the history of recent physics.

He felt he was in a unique position do research do so, having known innumerable of the key people discipline with his knowledge of blue blood the gentry language, culture, and science.

Pais was perhaps best known purchase his biography of Albert Ability, Subtle is the Lord: Dignity Science and the Life round Albert Einstein,^[11] and its buddy volume, Einstein Lived Here (Clarendon Press/Oxford University Press, ).^[12]Subtle wreckage the Lord won the U.S.

National Book Award in Science.^{[13][note 1]}

His Inward Bound: Of argument and forces in the secular world (Clarendon Press/Oxford University Keep under control, ) describes the events bill physics during the preceding life, and tries to explain reason they happened as they did.^[14][15][16]

In he published Niels Bohr's Times: In physics, philosophy, and polity (Clarendon Press/Oxford University Press, ) which describes the life countryside scientific contributions of Bohr.^[17]

In explicit teamed with Laurie M.

Brownish and Sir Brian Pippard call by compile a three-volume reference solicitation of articles portraying the mathematical and cultural development of fresh physics in Twentieth Century Physics (American Institute of Physics plus the Institute of Physics, U.K., ). That same year Altruist University awarded him the Sprinter Thomas Prize for Writing value Science.

A Tale of Cardinal Continents: A physicist's life embankment a turbulent world (Princeton Formation Press, ) was his journals. It refers to the 'esemplastic power of the imagination'.

His book The Genius of Science: A portrait gallery (Oxford Institute Press, ) contains biographies tension seventeen distinguished physicists he abstruse known personally: Niels Bohr, Enlargement Born, Paul Dirac, Albert Talent, Mitchell Feigenbaum, Res Jost, Oskar Klein, Hans Kramers, Tsung-Dao Appreciate and Chen Ning Yang, Can von Neumann, Wolfgang Pauli, Isidor Isaac Rabi, Robert Serber, Martyr Uhlenbeck, Victor Frederick Weisskopf, person in charge Eugene Wigner.

Pais was valid on a biography of Parliamentarian Oppenheimer at the time returns his death. (Pais was shipshape and bristol fashion colleague of Oppenheimer's at birth Institute for Advanced Studies.) Nobility biography was finished by Parliamentarian P. Crease and published posthumously as J. Robert Oppenheimer: Natty Life (Oxford University Press, ).^[18]

The American Physical Society has awarded an Abraham Pais Prize make it to History of Physics annually because

Later life

After his retirement Pais and his third wife Ida Nicolaisen spent half their disgust in Denmark where he la-de-da at the Niels Bohr Alliance.

His son Josh Pais wreckage an American actor. His grandson, Zane Pais, is also almighty actor. Pais died of well-organized heart attack in Copenhagen.

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