Gerald Feinberg (27 May 1933 – 21 April 1992) was a
Columbia University physicist,
futurist and populist author. He spent a year as a Member of the
Institute for Advanced Study, and two years at the
Brookhaven Laboratories. Feinberg went to
Bronx High School of Science with
Steven Weinberg and
Sheldon Glashow and obtained his bachelor's and graduate degrees from
Columbia University. His father was Yiddish poet and journalist
Leon Feinberg.
Among his students were
Scott Dodelson
Scott Dodelson is an American physicist. He is a professor of physics at Carnegie Mellon University and chair of its physics department.
Biography
Dodelson received his B.A., B.S., and Ph.D. from Columbia University. His thesis supervisor was G ...
, physicist at
Carnegie Mellon University
Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) is a private research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. One of its predecessors was established in 1900 by Andrew Carnegie as the Carnegie Technical Schools; it became the Carnegie Institute of Technology ...
.
Research
He coined the term
tachyon for hypothetical
faster-than-light particles and analysed their
quantum field properties, predicted the existence of the
muon neutrino and advocated
cryonics as a public service. He was a member of the
Foresight Institute's advisory panel.
Parapsychology
Feinberg wrote a foreword to
Edgar Mitchell
Edgar Dean Mitchell (September 17, 1930 – February 4, 2016) was a United States Navy officer and aviator, test pilot, aeronautical engineer, ufologist, and NASA astronaut. As the Lunar Module Pilot of Apollo 14 in 1971 he spent nine hour ...
's book ''Psychic Explorations'' (1974) in which he endorsed
psychic phenomena. His concept of a tachyon, a theoretical particle that travels faster than the speed of light has been advocated by some parapsychologists who claim that it could explain
precognition or
psychokinesis. However, there is no scientific evidence tachyon particles exist and such paranormal claims have been described as pseudoscientific.
Carroll, Robert Todd
Robert Todd Carroll (May 18, 1945 – August 25, 2016) was an American author, philosopher and academic, best known for The Skeptic's Dictionary. He described himself as a naturalist, an atheist, a materialist, a metaphysical libertarian, and a ...
. (2003). '' The Skeptic's Dictionary: A Collection of Strange Beliefs, Amusing Deceptions, and Dangerous Delusions''. Wiley. pp. 370-371.
Publications
Books
*''Cosmological Constants'' (with co-editor
Jeremy Bernstein, 1986).
*''Solid Clues: Quantum Physics, Molecular Biology, and the Future of Science'', Simon & Schuster, 1985.
*''Life Beyond Earth: The Intelligent Earthling's Guide to Extraterrestrial Life'' (with
Robert Shapiro), Morrow, 1980.
*''What is the world made of? : Atoms, leptons, quarks, and other tantalizing particles'', Anchor Press/Doubleday, 1977. &
*''Consequences of Growth: The Prospects for a Limitless Future'', Seabury Press, New York, 1977.
Review*''The Prometheus Project, Mankind's Search for Long-Range Goals'', Anchor Books, 1969.
Papers
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References
External links
{{DEFAULTSORT:Feinberg, Gerald
1933 births
1992 deaths
20th-century American physicists
Parapsychologists
Columbia University faculty
Columbia College (New York) alumni
Columbia Graduate School of Arts and Sciences alumni