Iowa State University


Inside Iowa State
Sept. 20, 1996

Visiting scholar Dyson is award-winning scientist, poet

by Skip Derra
Freeman Dyson, an award-winning scientist who has influenced thought in a number of fields ranging from particle physics to nuclear weapons to space colonization, will visit Iowa State Oct. 1-3.

Dyson is a professor emeritus of physics at the Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton, N.J. A member of the National Academy of Sciences, Dyson has contributed to scientific knowledge in theoretical physics as well as public understanding of science.

Dyson will meet with faculty and students throughout his stay.

He will speak on "Tolstoy's War and Peace as a Guide to Recent History," at 8 p.m. Oct. 1 in the Memorial Union Sun Room.

He also will discuss "Weapons and Hope: Continuing to Live with Nuclear Weapons," at noon Oct. 2 in the Memorial Union Sun Room; and "The End of Science?" at noon Oct. 3 in the Memorial Union Gallery. All events are free and open to the public.

"The Institute for Physical Research and Technology is very pleased to have Freeman Dyson as our Distinguished Visiting Scholar," said Joel Snow, IPRT director. "Anyone interested in the issues of our day will find his discussions to be quite stimulating."

Dyson's books include Disturbing the Universe, Weapons and Hope, Origins of Life, Infinite in All Directions and From Eros to Gaia. He also has published reviews and essays in Scientific American and The New Yorker.

As a mathematician and physicist, Dyson addresses basic theories about the interactions of light and matter, properties of many-particle systems, superconductivity and nuclear and magnetic systems. He is the recipient of numerous international awards for both his scientific and literary contributions.

He was awarded the Lewis Thomas Prize last May, which honors the scientist as a poet.

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