Eise Posted May 26, 2019 Posted May 26, 2019 (edited) One of the founders of the standard model, one of the greatest particle-physicists of the 60s and 70s, has died. I remember him from a book I read when I still was at school: The scientist, from the Time-Life series. The discovery of the Omega-minus was given as an example of how scientists get to their discoveries. Gell-Mann, together with Yuval Ne'eman, predicted its existence. Gell-Mann gave his theory the name 'eightfold path'. I don't know if quarks were already implicit in his theory, or that he later got the idea that the existence of quarks would explain the symmetries he found. Edited May 26, 2019 by Eise
Prometheus Posted May 26, 2019 Posted May 26, 2019 23 minutes ago, Eise said: Gell-Mann gave his theory the name 'eightfold path'. Any relation to the noble eight-fold path?
beecee Posted May 26, 2019 Posted May 26, 2019 (edited) 8 hours ago, Eise said: One of the founders of the standard model, one of the greatest particle-physicists of the 60s and 70s, has died. R.I.P Murray Gell-Mann. I read his book "The Quark and the Jaguar" "Adventures in the Simple and the Complex" many years ago, and although at least to me at that stage of my learning, quite a complicated read, did spark me into reading and asking more questions re particle physics and associated sciences. Edited May 26, 2019 by beecee
Eise Posted May 27, 2019 Author Posted May 27, 2019 17 hours ago, Prometheus said: Any relation to the noble eight-fold path? Gell-Mann had a lot of interests. Just to give an example: do you know anybody who really read Finnegan's Wake? Well obviously he did, and it was the book from which he got the idea for naming these funny subatomic particles 'quarks'. So I assume he knew the Buddhist Eightfold path. (Oh, btw Gell-Mann name it the 'Eightfold way', missed that one.) Quote Gell-Mann's interests outside of physics included archaeology, birdwatching and linguistics. Along with S. A. Starostin, he established the Evolution of Human Languages project at the Santa Fe Institute. As a humanist and an agnostic, Gell-Mann was a Humanist Laureate in the International Academy of Humanism. Together with author Michael Crichton, he was responsible for defining the theoretical psychological phenomenon called the Gell-Mann amnesia effect. He endorsed Barack Obama for the United States presidency in October 2008. Wikipedia.
Curious layman Posted June 18, 2019 Posted June 18, 2019 On 5/26/2019 at 1:39 PM, Eise said: One of the founders of the standard model, one of the greatest particle-physicists of the 60s and 70s, has died. I remember him from a book I read when I still was at school: The scientist, from the Time-Life series. The discovery of the Omega-minus was given as an example of how scientists get to their discoveries. Gell-Mann, together with Yuval Ne'eman, predicted its existence. Gell-Mann gave his theory the name 'eightfold path'. I don't know if quarks were already implicit in his theory, or that he later got the idea that the existence of quarks would explain the symmetries he found. I'm the first to admit I'm a complete donut when it comes to science. But there's something about listening to people who really know their stuff I find compelling, like the Ted talks for example. Murray Gell Mann, was for me, even better to listen to than Feynman. I have know idea about the math and details he was talking about, but listening to Gell Mann talk about the history of the quark and the eight fold way on life stories on you tube taught me more about science than any book could. It gave me a real appreciation of what's actually involved and how these things happen. Surprised by the they few responses or mentions in the media, I know he only changed we the way we understand the world and wasn't even famous but...
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