Spencer R. Weart

Spencer R. Weart, 2006

Spencer R. Weart (* 1942 in Detroit ) is an American historian of science . Until 2009 he was director of the Center for History of Physics at the American Institute of Physics (AIP).

Life

Weart studied physics from Cornell University ( BA , 1963) and received his Ph.D. Physics and Astrophysics from the University of Colorado, Boulder (1968). He then worked for three years at the California Institute of Technology , where he taught physics and carried out research on the Sun's atmosphere and telescopes .

In 1971 he changed direction and studied history at the University of California, Berkeley . From 1974 until his retirement in 2009 he was director of the Center for History of Physics.

Private life

In 1971 Weart married Carole Ege; he has two children with her. His hobbies include Victorian novels and science fiction , backpacking and photography .

job

Weart's specialty is the history of physics and the history of geophysics . After initially publishing scientific articles in journals as a physicist, he later wrote several books on various topics. His activities also include two children's books , a film about the sun's atmosphere, and a photo exhibition on Albert Einstein . He contributed much of the Center for History of Physics' online offering. He has also served as Associate Editor for Harvard University Press and has taught history of science courses at Johns Hopkins University , New School and Princeton University . There are also public lectures as well as radio and television appearances. For 2015 he was awarded the Abraham Pais Prize .

His book The Discovery of Global Warming , which deals with the history of research on climate change , has been translated into five languages.

Fonts (selection)

• Scientists in Power . Harvard University Press, 1979. ISBN 0-674-79515-6 .
• Nuclear Fear: A History of Images . Harvard University Press, 1988. ISBN 978-0-674-62835-9 .
• Never at War: Why Democracies Will Not Fight One Another . Yale University Press, 1998. ISBN 0-300-07017-9 .
• The Discovery of Global Warming . Harvard University Press, 2003. ISBN 0-674-01157-0 . (Revised edition 2008, ISBN 0-674-03189-X .)
• with Lillian Hoddeson , Jürgen Teichmann , Ernest Brown: Out of the crystal maze: chapters in the history of solid state physics , Oxford University Press 1992
• with Paul Forman , John Heilbron : Physics circa 1900: Personnel, Funding, and Productivity of the Academic Establishments. Historical Studies in the physical sciences, Volume 5, 1975, pp. 1-185

Web links

• Weart at the AIP