Description
Book SynopsisA Mind Over Matter is a biography of the Nobel-prize winner Philip W. Anderson, a person widely regarded as one of the most accomplished and influential physicists of the second half of the twentieth century. Anderson (1923-2020) was a theoretician who specialized in the physics of matter, including window glass and metals, magnets and semiconductors, liquid crystals and superconductors. More than any other single person, Anderson transformed the patchwork subject of solid-state physics into the deep, subtle, and coherent discipline known today as condensed matter physics. Among his many world-class research achievements, Anderson discovered an aspect of wave physics that had been missed by all previous scientists going back to Isaac Newton. He became a public figure when he testified before Congress to oppose its funding of an expensive project intended exclusively for particle physics research. Over the years, he published many articles designed to influence a broad audience about issues where science impacted public policy and culture. Anderson grew up in the American mid-west, was educated at Harvard, and rose to the pinnacle of his profession during the first decade of his thirty-five career as a theoretical physicist at Bell Telephone Laboratories. Almost uniquely, he spent many years working half-time as a professor at the University of Cambridge and at Princeton University. The outspoken Anderson enjoyed broad influence outside of physics when he helped develop and champion the concepts of emergence and complexity as organizing principles to help attack very difficult problems in technically challenging disciplines.
Trade ReviewA Mind Over Matter is an important book of interest not only to physicists but also to many historians and philosophers of science. Apart from providing a comprehensive review of Anderson's life and science. * Helge Kragh, Metascience *
A lucid biography of one of the great twentieth-century scientists, and also a skeleton-key for readers interested in the physics of complex systems. * David Kordahl, 3 Quarks Daily *
Zangwill's well-written and engaging A Mind Over Matter is an important book of interest not only to physicists but also to many historians and philosophers of science. * Helge Kragh, Metascience *
Zangwill has done an admirable job in capturing the character of Anderson, accurately depicting his flaws as well as his enormous strengths. Moreover, the book is very well written [...]. It should clearly be of great interest to anyone who has done research in the area of condensed matter physics, or has seriously studied that subject. But it should also be of interest to many others, including people with a broad interest in the history of science and the evolution of physics in the second half of the twentieth century. * Bertrand Halperin, Harvard University *
The book is great, extremely interesting and well written. It should appeal to thinking scientists and academics quite widely, and it captures the spirit of a leading figure in theoretical physics. In particular I like the discussion of Anderson's 'style' of doing theoretical physics in line with his whole ethos and what he thinks science is about. * Volker Heine, Cambridge University *
Well-researched, nicely balanced and refreshingly non-hagiographic. * Anthony Leggett, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign *
Table of ContentsPrologue 1: Introduction 2: Son of the Heartland 3: Making Waves 4: First Fruits 5: A Solid Beginning 6: Breaking Symmetry 7: Disorderly Conduct 8: Law in Disorder 9: The Love of His Life 10: The Cantabrigian 11: Hidden Moments 12: From Emergence to Complexity 13: The Pope of Condensed Matter 14: The Problem of a Lifetime 15: Four Facts about Science 16: Conclusion Acknowledgments
