Tuesday, March 31, 2009
Amazing Article on Freeman Dyson
A few people sent this NYT article on physicist and jack-of-all-trades Freeman Dyson, but it was the enigmatic von Pepe's email that pushed me over the top.
It is really amazing. This is one interesting guy.
The article focuses on the climate change stuff, but I find it more interesting that the government (?) would fund the Institute for Advanced Study so well. I mean check out the big guns that hung out there. So isn't it amazing that the government got this one thing right? Isn't it odd that you and the government agree on talent, in this one area but in no others?
A clue might come from the role of "Jason":
But now the followup: What kind of a guy says with a straight face, "My important job is to make sure government projects aren't stupid"?!?! That's like saying, "Mainly we kill low-brow beer commercials."
It is really amazing. This is one interesting guy.
The article focuses on the climate change stuff, but I find it more interesting that the government (?) would fund the Institute for Advanced Study so well. I mean check out the big guns that hung out there. So isn't it amazing that the government got this one thing right? Isn't it odd that you and the government agree on talent, in this one area but in no others?
A clue might come from the role of "Jason":
In the 1970s, Dyson participated in other climate studies conducted by Jason, a small government-financed group of the country’s finest scientists, whose members gather each summer near San Diego to work on (often) classified (usually) scientific dilemmas of (frequently) military interest to the government. Dyson has, as he admits, a restless nature, and by the time many scientists were thinking about climate, Dyson was on to other problems. Often on his mind were proposals submitted by the government to Jason. “Mainly we kill stupid projects,” he says.
But now the followup: What kind of a guy says with a straight face, "My important job is to make sure government projects aren't stupid"?!?! That's like saying, "Mainly we kill low-brow beer commercials."
Comments:
Bob, the secret to the "amazing" successes of IAS and Jason lies in the fact that, in the olden days before our government figured out that it could lower taxes and simply borrow from the Chinese and Japanese, the government had limited ability to fund various projects. As a result, people like Dyson were needed to review issues and proposals to make sure the the problems were real and the proposals provided the most bang for the buck.
The "big guns" at IAS were also funded because their prestige (like Einstein's) helped to sell big government defense projects - Dyson's protests that he hated big projects notwithstanding. He compromised himself by remaining on the government payroll.
The "big guns" at IAS were also funded because their prestige (like Einstein's) helped to sell big government defense projects - Dyson's protests that he hated big projects notwithstanding. He compromised himself by remaining on the government payroll.
Freeman Dyson has been one of my scientific heroes for some time. Right up there with the arch heretic himself, Sir Fred Hoyle.
Dyson has written about the need for heretics in the science establishment (see here), but Bob may be interested in his religious beliefs. He was a prominent scientist (he is the guy who got Einstein's office) and he has them.. religious beliefs, I mean.
There is a long interview with Dyson on his religious views, conducted by Robert Wright, online here.
Dyson has written about the need for heretics in the science establishment (see here), but Bob may be interested in his religious beliefs. He was a prominent scientist (he is the guy who got Einstein's office) and he has them.. religious beliefs, I mean.
There is a long interview with Dyson on his religious views, conducted by Robert Wright, online here.
For a more specific attack on Big Science, see nobel prizewinner Kary Mullis's book "Dancing Naked in the Mind Field", in particular Chapter 11, entitled "Whatever happened to the scientific method?".
Mullis I believe won his Nobel the same year that James Buchanan won his. In Mullis's book he explicitly refers to public choice factors as what he sees as the driver of modern 'big science'.
Mullis I believe won his Nobel the same year that James Buchanan won his. In Mullis's book he explicitly refers to public choice factors as what he sees as the driver of modern 'big science'.
TT wrote:
As a result, people like Dyson were needed to review issues and proposals to make sure the the problems were real and the proposals provided the most bang for the buck.
OK, but are you saying that the US federal government got a lot of bang for its bucks during the period 1946-1979?
As a result, people like Dyson were needed to review issues and proposals to make sure the the problems were real and the proposals provided the most bang for the buck.
OK, but are you saying that the US federal government got a lot of bang for its bucks during the period 1946-1979?
are you saying that the US federal government got a lot of bang for its bucks during the period 1946-1979?
No, just that budgetary constraints were tighter then, when we weren't counting on foreigners to finance us (foreigners whom we are preparing to fleece via inflation).
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No, just that budgetary constraints were tighter then, when we weren't counting on foreigners to finance us (foreigners whom we are preparing to fleece via inflation).
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