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Physicist John A. Wheeler Dies
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findingDulcinea Staff
John A. Wheeler, the physicist who invented the term “black hole,” died on April 13, 2008, at the age of 96.
30-Second Summary
John Archibald Wheeler, the physicist who invented the term “black hole,” and who, along with several others, helped develop the atom bomb, died of pneumonia on Sunday, April 13, 2008, in Hightstown, New Jersey.
The son of two librarians born in Jacksonville, Fla., the 21-year-old Wheeler earned a Ph.D. in physics from Johns Hopkins University, and a year later, went to Copenhagen to study with Niels Bohr. Once the United States entered World War II, Wheeler joined the Manhattan Project. He accepted new government projects after the war, while also teaching and performing research at Princeton University and the University of Texas.
Wheeler had a tremendous influence over his colleagues and students. Max Tegmark, a cosmologist at MIT, called Wheeler “[T]he last Titan, the only physics superhero still standing.” Quantum theorist Wojciech Zurek said, “I was transformed as a scientist by him—not just by listening to him in the classroom, or by his physics idea: I think even more important was his confidence in me.”
Hugh Everett developed his Nobel Prize-winning Ph.D. thesis, the many-worlds interpretation of quantum mechanics, while studying under Wheeler.
After a heart attack, the 90-year-old Wheeler launched himself on his final adventure of the mind: understanding existence. He believed the physical universe is created in part by our own observations of it.
The son of two librarians born in Jacksonville, Fla., the 21-year-old Wheeler earned a Ph.D. in physics from Johns Hopkins University, and a year later, went to Copenhagen to study with Niels Bohr. Once the United States entered World War II, Wheeler joined the Manhattan Project. He accepted new government projects after the war, while also teaching and performing research at Princeton University and the University of Texas.
Wheeler had a tremendous influence over his colleagues and students. Max Tegmark, a cosmologist at MIT, called Wheeler “[T]he last Titan, the only physics superhero still standing.” Quantum theorist Wojciech Zurek said, “I was transformed as a scientist by him—not just by listening to him in the classroom, or by his physics idea: I think even more important was his confidence in me.”
Hugh Everett developed his Nobel Prize-winning Ph.D. thesis, the many-worlds interpretation of quantum mechanics, while studying under Wheeler.
After a heart attack, the 90-year-old Wheeler launched himself on his final adventure of the mind: understanding existence. He believed the physical universe is created in part by our own observations of it.
Headline Links: Remembering John A. Wheeler
The New York Times reviews the life and prestigious career of physicist John A. Wheeler, who invented the term “black hole” to refer to a particular type of collapsed star, developed the theory of nuclear fission with Niels Bohr, conferred with Albert Einstein, worked on the Manhattan Project, and taught Richard Feynman and Hugh Everett.
Source: The New York Times
Physicist and blogger Daniel Holz describes working with Wheeler from 1990–1992, when Holz was a Princeton undergraduate. He praises Wheeler’s endearing charm, the energy that sent him swinging up the stairs at 79, and the thrill of research that Wheeler inspired in him.
Source: Cosmic Variance blog
Background: Wheeler’s life, career and theories
A 2002 Discover magazine interview shares insights about Wheeler’s character and outlines his ideas about how our observations of the universe influence its reality in the present—and in the past.
Source: Discover magazine
An extensive oral history archive documents both Wheeler’s personal and professional life. Section III describes his work with mentor Gregory Breit and his courtship of his wife, Janette Hegler, who predeceased him. He met her when Hegler’s younger sister Isabelle invited him to a party at the Hegler home. “She [Janette] quickly discovered I was so poor at dancing that she suggested we sit somewhere and simply talk.”
Source: Niels Bohr Library and Archives
Reference: Black holes, many-worlds theory, the Manhattan Project
NASA explains the concept of a black hole and explodes the myths perpetuated by movies and science fiction novels. Contrary to popular belief, “[a] black hole is not a cosmic vacuum cleaner.”
Source: NASA’s Goddard Space Center
Physicist Hugh Everett developed the many-worlds theory as a Ph.D. student studying with Wheeler, work which would later earn Everett a Nobel Prize. The many-worlds theory basically boils down to this statement: “Everything that can happen, does, somewhere.” “The Many-Worlds Interpretation of Quantum Mechanics” page offers a thumbnail sketch of the theory, plus links to other sites which discuss this complex and controversial concept.
Source: The Many-Worlds Interpretation of Quantum Mechanics
James. R. Fromm’s Web site explores the history of the atomic bomb, the key players involved and the implications their research had on the rest of the world.
Source: Harnessing of Nuclear Fission: The Story Of The Atomic Bomb 1934–1945
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