Dirac A Scientific Biography

The first full length biography of Dirac, one of the most brilliant physicists of the twentieth century.

Paul Adrien Maurice Dirac was undoubtedly one of the most brilliant and influential physicists of the twentieth century. Between 1925 and 1934, this Nobel Laureate revolutionized physics with his contributions to quantum theory. This book, the first full length biography of Dirac, offers a comprehensive account of his life and presents his physics in its historical context, including known areas such as cosmology and classical electron theory. The author examines Dirac's successes and failures, and pays particular attention to Dirac's opposition to modern quantum electrodynamics - an opposition based on aesthetic objections. This book, which draws extensively from unpublished sources, including Dirac's correspondence with Bohr, Heisenberg, Pauli, Schrödinger, Gamow, and other physicists, is a history of modern physics as seen through one scientist's career.

Preface; 1. Early years; 2. Discovery of quantum mechanics; 3. Relativity and spinning electrons; 4. Travels and thinking; 5. The dream of philosophers; 6. Quanta and fields; 7. Fifty years of a physicist's life; 8. 'The so-called quantum electrodynamics'; 9. Electrons and ether; 10. Just a disappointment; 11. Adventures in cosmology; 12. The purest soul; 13. Philosophy in physics; 14. The principle of mathematical beauty; Appendices; Bibliography of P. A. M. Dirac; Notes and references; General bibliography; Index of names; Index of subjects.

Paul Dirac was one of the most brilliant physicists of the twentieth century. Between 1925 and 1934 this Nobel Laureate revolutionized physics with his contributions to quantum theory. This biography offers an account of his life and presents his physics in a historical context, including known areas such as cosmology and classical electron theory.