David Louis Goodstein (born April 5, 1939) is 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 ...

and educator. From 1988 to 2007 he served as Vice- provost of the California Institute of Technology (Caltech), where he is also a

professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an academic rank at universities and other post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin as a "person who professes". Professo ...

of physics and

applied physics Applied physics is the application of physics to solve scientific or engineering problems. It is usually considered to be a bridge or a connection between physics and engineering. "Applied" is distinguished from "pure" by a subtle combination ...

, as well as (since 1995) the Frank J. Gilloon Distinguished Teaching and Service Professor.

Life and work

Goodstein was educated at Brooklyn College ( BS, 1960) and at the

University of Washington The University of Washington (UW, simply Washington, or informally U-Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington. Founded in 1861, Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast; it was established in Seatt ...

( Ph.D., 1965). He has written several books, including ''States of Matter'' (1975) (reprinted in a Dover paperback edition) and '' Feynman’s Lost Lecture'' (1996). In the 1980s he was the director and host of ''

The Mechanical Universe ''The Mechanical Universe...And Beyond'' is a 52-part telecourse, filmed at the California Institute of Technology, that introduces university level physics, covering topics from Copernicus to quantum mechanics. The 1985-86 series was produced by ...

'', an educational television series on physics that has been adapted for high school use and translated into many other languages. The series has been broadcast on hundreds of public broadcasting stations and has garnered more than a dozen prestigious awards, including the 1987 Japan Prize for television. In recent times, while continuing to teach and conduct research in experimental condensed matter physics, he has turned his attention to issues related to science and society. In articles and speeches, he has addressed conduct and misconduct in science, and issues related to fossil fuels and the

climate Climate is the long-term weather pattern in an area, typically averaged over 30 years. More rigorously, it is the mean and variability of meteorological variables over a time spanning from months to millions of years. Some of the meteorologi ...

of Planet Earth. In 2004 he published a best-selling book '' Out of Gas: The End of the Age of Oil''. In 1999, Goodstein was awarded the Oersted Medal of the

American Association of Physics Teachers The American Association of Physics Teachers (AAPT) was founded in 1930 for the purpose of "dissemination of knowledge of physics, particularly by way of teaching." There are more than 10,000 members in over 30 countries. AAPT publications includ ...

, and in 2000, the John P. McGovern Medal of the Sigma Xi Society. He has served on and chaired numerous scientific and academic panels, including the National Advisory Committee to the Mathematical and Physical Sciences Directorate of the

National Science Foundation The National Science Foundation (NSF) is an independent agency of the United States government that supports fundamental research and education in all the non-medical fields of science and engineering. Its medical counterpart is the National ...

. He is a founding member of the Board of Directors of the

California Council on Science and Technology The California Council on Science and Technology (CCST) is an independent, not-for-profit 501(c)(3) organization designed to offer expert advice to the California state government and to recommend solutions to science and technology-related poli ...

. In 2015 he published ''Thermal Physics: Energy and Entropy''.The Mystery of Thermal Physics
(by David Goodstein, cambridgeblog.org)

Publications

Books

* 1975 ''States of matter''. Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice-Hall (reissued by Dover Publications, 1985

* 1985 ''The mechanical universe: introduction to mechanics and heat'' (Richard P. Olenick, Tom M. Apostol, David L. Goodstein). New York: Cambridge University Press (1st pbk. ed. 2007). * 198

(Richard P. Olenick, Tom M. Apostol, David L. Goodstein). New York: Cambridge University Press (1st pbk. ed. 2007). * 1986 ''The Mechanical Universe, Mechanics and Heat'', Advanced Edition, textbook (Steven C. Frautschi, Richard P. Olenick, Tom M. Apostol, David L. Goodstein). New York: Cambridge University Press (1st pbk. ed. 2008). * 1996 ''Feynman's lost lecture: the motion of planets around the sun'' (David L. Goodstein and Judith R. Goodstein). New York: Norton. * 200

New York: Norton. * 201
''On fact and fraud: cautionary tales from the front lines of science''
Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press. * 2011 ''Adventures in Cosmology'' (David Goodstein, editor). Singapore: World Scientific Publishing
2012 reprint
* 2012 ''Climate Change and the Energy Problem: Physical Science and Economics Perspective'' (David Goodstein & Michael Intriligator). Singapore: World Scientific Publishing (2nd Edition, 2017). * 2012 (by Paolo Saraceno). ''Beyond the stars: our origins and the search for life in the universe'' (David Goodstein, translator). Singapore; Hackensack, N.J.: World Scientific Publishing. * 201
''Thermal physics: energy and entropy''
Cambridge, UK; New York, NY: Cambridge University Press. * 201
''Science of the Earth, Climate, and Energy''
(Milton W. Cole, Angela D. Lueking, David L. Goodstein). New Jersey: World Scientific Publishing.

Articles, Book chapters, Reviews

* 1989 "Richard P. Feynman, Teacher". ''Physics Today'', 42(2):70–75. . * 2000 (with Judith Goodstein). "Richard Feynman and the History of Superconductivity". ''Physics in Perspective'', 2(1):30–47. . * 2011 "Quantum Man: Richard Feynman’s Life in Science" (Lawrence M. Krauss). Reviewed by David L. Goodstein. ''Physics Today'', 64(3):55. . * 2011 "How Science Works", in: ''Reference Manual on Scientific Evidence'' (National Research Council). Washington, DC: The National Academies Press (3nd Edition), pp. 37–54
preprint

References

External links

- article adapted from a talk by Caltech vice provost and professor of physics David Goodstein.
The Mechanical Universe
- A series of video lectures on physics, with David Goodstein as the lecturer.
Dr. David Goodstein's Homepage
- Includes a biography on him and some of his recent publications. {{DEFAULTSORT:Goodstein, David American non-fiction environmental writers 21st-century American physicists Jewish American scientists Jewish American writers California Institute of Technology faculty University of Washington alumni 1939 births Living people Activists from California Brooklyn College alumni 21st-century American Jews