Transcript The People Behind the Discoveries

By: Dani Hoover
ESE 251, Professor Rodin
11/10/2009
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Stanislaw Ulam
Edward Teller
Maria Goeppert-Mayer
Julia Robinson
Elinor Ostrom
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Worked in number theory, set theory,
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algebraic topology, mathematical physics,
and other areas.
Polish Mathematician
Worked on the Hydrogen
bomb at Los Alamos with
Edward Teller
Devised the Monte-Carlo
Method
Proposed the Orion plan
for nuclear propulsion of
space vehicles with JC
Everett
Teller-Ulam Configuration
which led to
thermonuclear weapons
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Received his PhD in mathematics in 1933,
under his mentor, Stefan Banach
Friendship with John von Neumann
Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton
 Harvard University (commuted from Poland to U.S.)
 Manhattan Project at Los Alamos
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Encephalitis in 1946
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Some believe the disease changed his personality
Turned from pure mathematics to speculative and
imaginative work
His wife disagrees
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“Ulam ... is almost exculsively a talking man, a
verbal person. When not thinking ... what he enjoys
most is to talk, to discuss, to argue, to converse,
with friends and colleagues. Relying on his
phenomenal memory, he carries everything in his
head. ...”
“The physical act of taking pen to paper has always
been painful for him. His mind and his eyes are the
obstacles. His mind, because it works much faster
than his fingers…”
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Nuclear and molecular physics,
spectroscopy, (the Jahn-Teller
and Renner-Teller effects), and
surface physics
Hungarian-American
theoretical physicist
“Father of the Hydrogen
Bomb”
Manhattan Project
Strong advocate for
nuclear weapons
Established the Lawrence
Livermore Laboratory for
thermonuclear research
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He was taught German and Hungarian at the
same time, but did not speak until he was 3
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“I'm sure I must have been awfully confused in what
all these people talked about, using different sounds
for the same objects. I did not catch on. The one thing
with which I felt familiar were numbers. There, at
least, was something that hung together.”
In Munich, in 1928, Teller lost his right foot in a
car accident
Studied and worked with Werner Heisenberg at
the University of Gottingen, Niels Bohr, Enrico
Fermi, and in Berkeley with J. Robert
Oppenheimer
Teller was ostracized by much of the scientific
community after a controversial testimony about
Robert Oppenheimer in 1954
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Worked mostly in Quantum Mechanics,
magic numbers and the shell model
German-born American
theoretical physicist
Nobel Prize in Physics
in 1963 for the nuclear
shell model of the
atomic nucleus (2nd
female to win after
Marie Curie)
Two-Photon absorption
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Unit is named the
Geoppert-Mayer (GM)
unit
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Originally wanted to be a mathematician, but
quantum mechanics was new and exciting
She was the 7th generation of university
professors on her father’s side
Worked with and studied under many notable
names including: Max Born, James Franck, Adolf Otto
Reinhold Windaus, Eugene Wigner, Hans Jensen, and Edward
Teller
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Had difficulty finding jobs because of sexism
and nepotism – the University of Chicago was
the first place to welcome her with open arms
"Winning the prize wasn't half as exciting as
doing the work.“ (referring to the Nobel Prize)
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Also worked in game theory and
with recursive functions
Mathematician born
in St. Louis, MO
Hilbert’s Tenth
Problem and
Diophantine
Equations
Decision Problems
1975-1st woman
elected to the National
Academy of Sciences
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Had to be quarantined when suffering from scarlet
fever and rheumatic fever
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After her recovery, she completed 5th-8th grade in one
year working 3 mornings a week
In 1933 at San Diego High School, she was the only
female in her math and physics classes
Went to San Diego State College with the aim of
becoming a math teacher
“What I really am is a mathematician. Rather than
being remembered as the first woman this or that, I
would prefer to be remembered, as a mathematician
should, simply for the theorems I have proved and the
problems I have solved.”
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One of the leading scholars in common
pool resources and how humans interact
with ecosystems.
American Political
Scientist
2009 Nobel Laureate
in Economics (1st
woman to win the
prize in this category)
Member of the United
States National
Academy of Sciences
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Ostrom received a Bachelor’s Degree from
UCLA and also went to UCLA for graduate
school
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“My courses were so fascinating that I decided to quit my fulltime job and go back…at a time when women didn't go to
graduate school.”
Police Project at Indiana University
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Used theoretical models and innovative research to
discover that a large centralized police station is not
the most efficient for a city
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Ostrom’s High School put her on the debate
team to help overcome her stuttering
Indiana University did not have any nepotism
rules so Ostrom was able to work there with
her husband
Her Nobel Prize work involved showing how
common pool resources can be managed
successfully by the people who use them rather
than the government or a private company
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http://www-history.mcs.standrews.ac.uk/Biographies/Robinson_Julia.html
http://www.gap-system.org/~history/Biographies/Ulam.html
http://www.achievement.org/autodoc/page/tel0pro-1
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maria_Goeppert-Mayer
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1748208/