Scientific Contrarian Freeman Dyson
to Speak at UC San Diego

June 25, 2009

By Henry DeVries

Freeman Dyson

Freeman Dyson, British theoretical physicist and mathematician, renowned for his work in quantum field theory, solid-state physics, and nuclear engineering, will speak on "Nukes and Genomes"  at 7pm Tuesday, July 21 at the University of California San Diego Faculty Club. The event is free and open to the public with no tickets or reservations required.

According to Wired magazine, “Freeman Dyson is renowned in science circles not only for his rigor and insight, but for his science-fiction imaginativeness and populist ethics.”

Dyson recently raised eyebrows when he told The New York Times Magazine this year that a little extra carbon dioxide—and global warming—might turn out to be good for the planet.

He cheerfully admits his record as a prophet is mixed, but “it is better to be wrong than to be vague.” 

He has written a number of books about science for the general public. "Disturbing the Universe" (1974) is a portrait-gallery of people he has known during his career as a scientist. "Weapons of Hope" (1984) is a study of ethical problems of war and peace. "Infinite in all Directions" (1988) is a philosophical meditation based on Dyson's Gifford Lectures on natural theology given at the University of Aberdeen in Scotland. "Origins of Life" (1986, second edition 1999) is a study of one of the major unsolved problems of science. "The Sun, the Genome and the Internet" (1999) discusses the question of whether modern technology could be used to narrow the gap between rich and poor rather than widen it.

He is now retired, having been for most of his life a professor of physics at the Institute for Advanced Study at Princeton University. He was born in England and worked as a civilian scientist for the Royal Air Force in World War II. He graduated from Cambridge University in 1945 with a bachelor’s degree in mathematics. He went on to Cornell University as a graduate student in 1947 and worked with Hans Bethe and Richard Feynman. His most useful contribution to science was the unification of the three versions of quantum electrodynamics invented by Feynman, Schwinger and Tomonaga.

Cornell University made him a professor without bothering about his lack of a Ph.D. He subsequently worked on nuclear reactors, solid state physics, ferromagnetism, astrophysics and biology, looking for problems where elegant mathematics could be usefully applied. Dyson is a fellow of the American Physical Society, a member of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences, and a fellow of the Royal Society of London. In 2000 he was awarded the Templeton Prize for Progress in Religion.

The lecture is presented by the Helen Edison Lecture Series. In accordance with a major gift from a late philanthropist, the Helen Edison Lecture Series presents ongoing free public lectures on issues that advance humanitarian purposes and objectives. Attended annually by thousands, speakers include former Vice President Al Gore,  Nobel Peace Prize winner Muhammad Yunus, former secretary of defense Robert McNamara, Nobel Prize in Literature winner Toni Morrison and Hispanic dramatist Luis Valdez, just to name a few.

For additional information contact UC San Diego Extension’s Helen Edison Lecture Series at (858) 822-0510, email emunk@ucsd.edu  or visit http://helenedison.ucsd.edu.

Media Contact: Henry DeVries, 858-534-9955 or hdevries@ucsd.edu