Freeman Dyson

Freeman John Dyson (born December 15, 1923) is an English-born American physicist and mathematician, famous for his work in quantum mechanics, nuclear weapons design and policy, and for his futurism viewpoints and science fiction concepts.

Career

Dyson worked as an analyst for the British Bomber Command during World War II; after the war, he moved to Princeton, New Jersey. In 1957, he became a naturalized citizen of the United States.

Related Topics:
British Bomber Command - World War II - Princeton, New Jersey - 1957 - Naturalized citizen - United States

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In the years following the war, Dyson was responsible for demonstrating the equivalence of the two formulations of quantum electrodynamics which existed at the time - Richard Feynman's path integral formulation and the variational methods developed by Julian Schwinger and Sin-Itiro Tomonaga (Dyson operator).

Related Topics:
Quantum electrodynamics - Richard Feynman - Path integral formulation - Variational methods - Julian Schwinger - Sin-Itiro Tomonaga - Dyson operator

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From 1957 to 1961 he worked on the Orion Project, which proposed the possibility of space-flight using nuclear propulsion: a prototype was demonstrated using conventional explosives, but a treaty banning the use of nuclear weapons in space caused the project to be abandoned.

Related Topics:
1957 - 1961 - Orion Project - Nuclear propulsion - Explosives - Treaty

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In 1977, Dyson supervised Princeton undergraduate John Aristotle Phillips in a term paper outlining a credible design for a nuclear weapon, earning Phillips the nickname The A-Bomb Kid.

Related Topics:
1977 - John Aristotle Phillips

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Dyson has published a number of collections of speculations and observations about technology, science, and the future:

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• The Sun, The Genome and The Internet
• Imagined Worlds
• From Eros to Gaia
• Disturbing the Universe

Freeman John Dyson was awarded the Max Planck medal in 1969. In the 1984–85 academic year he gave the Gifford lectures at Aberdeen which resulted in the book, Infinite In All Directions.

Related Topics:
Max Planck medal - 1969 - Gifford lectures - Aberdeen - Infinite In All Directions

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In 1998, Dyson joined the board of the Solar Electric Light Fund. In 2000, Dyson was awarded the Templeton Prize for Progress in Religion.

Related Topics:
1998 - Solar Electric Light Fund - 2000 - Templeton Prize

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As of 2003, Dyson is the president of the Space Studies Institute, the space research organization founded by Gerard K. O'Neill.

Related Topics:
As of 2003 - Space Studies Institute - Gerard K. O'Neill

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Concepts

Dyson sphere

In one of his scientific papers, Dyson theorized that a technologically advanced society could completely surround its native star in order to maximize the capture of the star's available energy. Eventually, the civilization would completely enclose the star, intercepting electromagnetic radiation with wavelengths from visible light downwards and radiating waste heat outwards as infrared radiation. Therefore, one method of searching for extraterrestrial civilisations would be to look for large objects radiating in the infrared range of the electromagnetic spectrum. Dyson conceived that such structures would be clouds of asteroid-sized space habitats, though science fiction writers have preferred a solid structure: either way, such an artifact is often referred to as a Dyson sphere. The most famous example was illustrated in an episode of ', in which retired Engineer Scotty (from the original ') was discovered to have crash-landed on an abandoned Dyson Sphere. Larry Niven's celebrated novel Ringworld was a scientifically detailed attempt to visualize the awesome realities of the first stepping-stone towards a full sphere: a 'simple' ring.

Related Topics:
Society - Electromagnetic radiation - Infrared - Searching for extraterrestrial civilisations - Electromagnetic spectrum - Asteroid - Space habitat - Science fiction - Dyson sphere - Scotty - Ringworld

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Dyson tree

Dyson has also proposed the creation of a Dyson tree, a genetically-engineered plant capable of growing on a comet. He suggested that comets could be engineered to contain hollow spaces filled with a breathable atmosphere, thus providing self-sustaining habitats for humanity in the outer solar system.

Related Topics:
Dyson tree - Genetically-engineered - Comet - Solar system

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