“The Goddamn Particle” was the title Leon Lederman had chosen for his book about the development of quantum mechanics. Lederman, the “Mel Brooks of Physics,” had invented the moniker as a joke. The goddamn particle in question was a bit of mass later to be recognized as the Higgs boson, the final puzzle piece in the array of 17 elementary particles that make up the Standard … [Read more...]
Nobel Notable of Laureate Park: Harold Pinter, Prickly Playwright
Drawing of Harold Pinter If you’ve ever viewed a play by Harold Pinter and found his characters to be creepy and weird, consider this: Pinter himself looked upon them as strangers. So, you say to yourself, if Pinter had such a dim appreciation of his own characters, then how am I supposed to understand them? Let alone identify with them? Let’s be blunt. Pinter’s … [Read more...]
Nobel Notable of Laureate Park: Bertha von Suttner, the Dogged Pacifist
One way to win a Nobel Peace Prize is to make Alfred Nobel fall in love with you. Then convince him to fund provisions for such a prize in his will. Just kidding … but not entirely. There is no real evidence that Alfred Nobel harbored truly romantic feelings for the lovely Austrian countess Bertha Kinsky, whom he first met when she spent a week in Paris in 1876 employed as … [Read more...]
Nobel Notable of Laureate Park: Peter Doherty, A Veterinarian From the Land of Oz
Photo Courtesy of The Peter Doherty Institute for Infection and Immunity This is the 24th in a series of articles that celebrate the lives of the Nobel Prize laureates whose names grace the 130+ streets of Laureate Park. These laureates are extraordinary individuals who through their lifetime achievements have made our daily lives immeasurably richer, often in ways not … [Read more...]