Heinz Rudolf Pagels (February 19, 1939 – July 23, 1988) was an American
physicist
A physicist is a scientist who specializes in the field of physics, which encompasses the interactions of matter and energy at all length and time scales in the physical universe.
Physicists generally are interested in the root or ultimate cau ...
, an associate professor of physics at Rockefeller University, the executive director and chief executive officer of the
New York Academy of Sciences
The New York Academy of Sciences (originally the Lyceum of Natural History) was founded in January 1817 as the Lyceum of Natural History. It is the fourth oldest scientific society in the United States. An independent, nonprofit organization wi ...
, and president of the
International League for Human Rights
The International League for Human Rights (ILHR) is a human rights organization with headquarters in New York City.
Claiming to be the oldest human rights organization in the United States, the ILHR defines its mission as "defending human right ...
. He wrote the popular science books ''The Cosmic Code'' (1982), ''
Perfect Symmetry'' (1985), and ''
The Dreams of Reason: The Computer and the Rise of the Sciences of Complexity'' (1988).
Early life
Pagels was a 1956 graduate of
Woodberry Forest School
Woodberry Forest School is a private, all-male boarding school located in Woodberry Forest, Madison County, Virginia, in the United States. Woodberry's current enrollment is 405. Students come from 28 U.S. states (plus the District of Columbi ...
in Virginia. The school awards The Heinz R. Pagels Jr. Physics Memorial Award each year to a graduating student who has demonstrated outstanding achievement in physics.
Career
Pagels obtained his PhD in elementary particle physics from Stanford University under the guidance of
Sidney Drell. His technical work included the ''
Physics Reports
''Physics Reports'' is a peer-reviewed scientific journal, a review section of '' Physics Letters'' that has been published by Elsevier since 1971. The journal publishes long and deep reviews on all aspects of physics. In average, the length of the ...
'' review articles ''Quantum Chromodynamics'' (with
W.Marciano) and "Departures from Chiral Symmetry". A number of his published papers dealt with the source of the mass of elementary particles in
quantum field theory, especially the Nambu–Goldstone realization of
chiral symmetry breaking
In particle physics, chiral symmetry breaking is the spontaneous symmetry breaking of a chiral symmetry – usually by a gauge theory such as quantum chromodynamics, the quantum field theory of the strong interaction. Yoichiro Nambu was awar ...
. He also published (with David Atkatz) a visionary paper entitled "Origin of the Universe as a quantum tunneling event" (1982) that prefigured later work done in the field. The list of his graduate students includes
Dan Caldi,
Saul Stokar and
Seth Lloyd
Seth Lloyd (born August 2, 1960) is a professor of mechanical engineering and physics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
His research area is the interplay of information with complex systems, especially quantum systems. He has perform ...
.
Personal life
Pagels was an outspoken critic of those he believed misrepresented the discoveries and ideas of science to promote mysticism and pseudoscience. In his capacity as executive director of the
New York Academy of Science
The New York Academy of Sciences (originally the Lyceum of Natural History) was founded in January 1817 as the Lyceum of Natural History. It is the fourth oldest scientific society in the United States. An independent, nonprofit organization wit ...
in 1986, Pagels submitted an affidavit in a case involving a former member of the
Transcendental Meditation
Transcendental Meditation (TM) is a form of silent mantra meditation advocated by the Transcendental Meditation movement. Maharishi Mahesh Yogi created the technique in India in the mid-1950s. Advocates of TM claim that the technique promotes ...
movement who had sued the organization for fraud.
As president of the
International League for Human Rights
The International League for Human Rights (ILHR) is a human rights organization with headquarters in New York City.
Claiming to be the oldest human rights organization in the United States, the ILHR defines its mission as "defending human right ...
, Pagels worked to support freedom for researchers in other countries. He was a fellow of the
New York Institute of the Humanities at
New York University
New York University (NYU) is a private research university in New York City. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded by a group of New Yorkers led by then- Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin.
In 1832, th ...
, a member of the
Council on Foreign Relations, a member of the Science and Law Committee of the
New York Bar Association, and a trustee of the
New York Hall of Science
The New York Hall of Science, also known as NYSCI, is a science museum located in Flushing Meadows-Corona Park in the New York City borough of Queens, in the section of the park that is in Corona. It occupies one of the few remaining structures fr ...
.
In 1969, Pagels married
Elaine Hiesey, later, a theology professor, author, and
MacArthur Fellow
The MacArthur Fellows Program, also known as the MacArthur Fellowship and commonly but unofficially known as the "Genius Grant", is a prize awarded annually by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation typically to between 20 and 30 indi ...
.
Their son Mark died in 1987 after a four-year illness. The couple had an adopted daughter Sarah and an adopted son David.
Heinz Pagels died in 1988 in a
mountain climbing accident on
Pyramid Peak, a 14,000-foot summit 10 miles to the southwest of the
Aspen Center for Physics
The Aspen Center for Physics is a non-profit Center for research in Physics based in Aspen, Colorado, United States. The Center organizes workshops and conferences to facilitate interactions among research physicists.
The Center was founded in 19 ...
, where he spent his summers.
Many writers of his obituary quote a dream he wrote about in his book ''The Cosmic Code'':
Legacy
In popular culture
Pagels' work in
chaos theory provided the inspiration for the character of
Ian Malcolm in
Michael Crichton's novel ''
Jurassic Park''.
Popular non-fiction
Pagels had a gift for explaining complex topics in easy to understand terms, avoiding both oversimplification and needless technicalities. The cosmologist
David Schramm described Pagels' 1982 book ''The Cosmic Code'' as "a beautiful account of modern physics". In reviewing Pagels' 1985 book ''Perfect Symmetry'', Schramm wrote: "Heinz Pagels is one of less than a handful of active scientists who can write excellent prose about the scientific frontier for a general audience."
In a review of Pagel's book ''The Dreams of Reason'' by ''
New Scientist
''New Scientist'' is a magazine covering all aspects of science and technology. Based in London, it publishes weekly English-language editions in the United Kingdom, the United States and Australia. An editorially separate organisation publish ...
'' the physicist
John D. Barrow
John David Barrow (29 November 1952 – 26 September 2020) was an English cosmologist, theoretical physicist, and mathematician. He served as Gresham Professor of Geometry at Gresham College from 2008 to 2011. Barrow was also a writer of pop ...
wrote : This is a difficult book to summarise because it bears many of the marks of an attempted synthesis of all the author’s thoughts on a wide spectrum of subjects that do not naturally come together into a seamless whole. Nonetheless, it contains much that is worth reading and pondering. Francisco Goya wrote ‘The dreams of reason bring forth monsters’, the words that inspire its title. But it shouldn’t give you nightmares. It is not an exposition of
science. It is not a work of philosophy nor is it an autobiography. But these are three good reasons for reading it.
Scientific awards
In 1986, the
Committee on Human Rights of Scientists renamed its annual award as the
Heinz R. Pagels Human Rights of Scientists Award.
Works
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*
*
References
External links
bio: Heinz R Pagelsat
Edge Foundation, Inc.
*
Jeremy Bernstein
Jeremy Bernstein (born December 31, 1929, in Rochester, New York) is an American theoretical physicist and popular science writer.
Early life
Bernstein's parents, Philip S. Bernstein, a Reform rabbi, and Sophie Rubin Bernstein named him after th ...
''Memories of Heinz Pagels''* (''via:''
Cosma Shalizi
Cosma Rohilla Shalizi (born February 28, 1974) is an associate professor in the Department of Statistics at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh.
Life
Cosma Rohilla Shalizi is of Tamil, Afghan and Italian heritage and was born in Boston, ...
)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pagels, Heinz
1939 births
1988 deaths
20th-century American physicists
Mountaineering deaths
Princeton University alumni
Woodberry Forest School alumni