Re: Historical material
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Hello everyone,
Carl has inspired some thoughts about how I learned the small
amount of science history that I have learned:
I would like to mention biographers of scientists,
especially Muriel R., where R stands for a last name that looks like
Rukeyser to me; but, in any case, looks like the last name of that person who
talks about how to get as much money as you possibly can and interviews others
similarly afflicted -- usually *before* they commit suicide. (After they take
their obsessions with money to the conclusion (suicide) predicted by Dirkheim,
their interviews are a little too "stiff".) She wrote good
biographies of Gibbs, Hilbert, and maybe some others whose lives are inspiring
to read about, provided one does not forget to lead one's *own* life.
Biography is history with a unifying hero, which I like better than
history even if it be not so accurate.
And, what about the two autobiographies by R. Feynman who
probably was not so promiscuous as he would like us to believe.
I would have played drums with him if he were not on a professional
trip. ("That damn prize.") One learns a lot of the
recent history of science from Feynman.
Regards / T.