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John Wheeler letter to Douglas Scalapino, 12-July-1979

JOHN ARCHIBALD WHEELER

Published May 19, 2011• 0 citations
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Abstract

Douglas Scalapino was professor of physics at University of California, Santa Barbara and co-founder of the Institute for Theoretical Physics (now the Kavli Institute for Theoretical Physics). He seems to have written to Wheeler for comments on the Institute's direction. Wheeler approves of whatever he sent, but also recommends that the Institute promote research on the measurement problem. It is notable that he also suggests that Everett might be a good person for the Institute to hire, and even indicates that Everett might be willing to go, at least temporarily.

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John Wheeler letter to Paul Benioff, 07-July-1977

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Paul Benioff was a physicist and mathematician working as a research scientist at the Argonne National Laboratory. He published two papers on Everett interpretation shortly after this letter: Benioff (1977) ["Finite and infinite measurement in quantum mechanics and randomness: The Everett interpretation," Journal of Mathematical Physics 18(12), 2289] and Benioff (1978) ["A Note on the Everett Interpretation of Quantum Mechanics," Foundations of Physics 8(9/10), 709]. In both cases, Benioff was interested in the role of infinite sequences of measurements in the Everett interpretation. In this letter, Wheeler seems to approve of Benioff's central point in the first paper (which appears to be the one he originally sent), but encourages Benioff to pass the preprint on to Everett. He also suggests that Benioff should call his topic of study the "Everett interpretation" and not the "Everett-Wheeler interpretation"—in part because Wheeler no longer subscribes to the view. The letter also includes a handwritten comment by Everett that Wheeler only accepts his interpretation on alternating Tuesdays.

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John Wheeler letter to Niels Bohr, 24-May-1956

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In spring of 1956, John Wheeler was in residence at the Lorentz Institute in Leiden, Netherlands. In April, 1956 a copy of the long version of Hugh Everett's thesis was sent to Niels Bohr's Institute; the next month, Wheeler traveled to Copenhagen to discuss the thesis with Bohr and others. This document is a letter Wheeler sent to Bohr shortly after leaving, following up on the discussions on Everett at Copenhagen.

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John Wheeler letter to Alexander Stern 25-May-1956

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Alexander Stern letter to John A. Wheeler, 20-May-1956

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Alexander Stern was an American physicist and engineer who spent many years during the 1950s and 1960s in residence at Bohr's Institute for Theoretical Physics in Copenhagen. In April, 1956 a copy of the long version of Hugh Everett's thesis was sent to the Institute; the next month, John A. Wheeler traveled to Copenhagen to discuss the thesis with Bohr and others. Soon after he left, Stern held a seminar on Everett's work, during which he recorded some of the reactions of members of the Institute to Everett's ideas. After the seminar, Stern wrote a long letter to Wheeler describing his own (and reporting on his colleagues') dissatisfaction with Everett's theory.

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Max Dresden letters to John Wheeler, 23 October 1957 and reply 30 October 1957, with note to Hugh Everett

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•May 19, 2011•0 citations

John Wheeler letter to Hugh Everett, 26-May-1956

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In spring of 1956, John Wheeler was in residence at the Lorentz Institute in Leiden, Netherlands. In April, 1956 a copy of the long version of Hugh Everett's thesis was sent to the Institute; the next month, Wheeler traveled to Copenhagen to discuss the thesis with Bohr and others. This is a letter he wrote to Everett after he returned to Leiden, following up on his letter from the day before (in which he forwarded Alexander Stern's criticisms to Everett). Here he includes his notes from a conversation with Niels Bohr — dated 4 May 1956 — on Everett's thesis, and urges Everett to come to Copenhagen immediately to discuss his work with Bohr. He includes an offer to pay for Everett's travel from his own research funds. Although Everett would ultimately travel to Copenhagen in 1959, he did not accept the invitation Wheeler extends here.

•May 19, 2011•0 citations
Douglas Scalapino was professor of physics at University of California, Santa Barbara and co-founder of the Institute for Theoretical Physics (now the Kavli Institute for Theoretical Physics). He seems to have written to Wheeler for comments on the Institute's direction. Wheeler approves of whatever he sent, but also recommends that the Institute promote research on the measurement problem. It is notable that he also suggests that Everett might be a good person for the Institute to hire, and even indicates that Everett might be willing to go, at least temporarily.
Paul Benioff was a physicist and mathematician working as a research scientist at the Argonne National Laboratory. He published two papers on Everett interpretation shortly after this letter: Benioff (1977) ["Finite and infinite measurement in quantum mechanics and randomness: The Everett interpretation," Journal of Mathematical Physics 18(12), 2289] and Benioff (1978) ["A Note on the Everett Interpretation of Quantum Mechanics," Foundations of Physics 8(9/10), 709]. In both cases, Benioff was interested in the role of infinite sequences of measurements in the Everett interpretation. In this letter, Wheeler seems to approve of Benioff's central point in the first paper (which appears to be the one he originally sent), but encourages Benioff to pass the preprint on to Everett. He also suggests that Benioff should call his topic of study the "Everett interpretation" and not the "Everett-Wheeler interpretation"—in part because Wheeler no longer subscribes to the view. The letter also includes a handwritten comment by Everett that Wheeler only accepts his interpretation on alternating Tuesdays.
Alexander Stern was an American physicist and engineer who spent many years during the 1950s and 1960s is residence at Bohr's Institute for Theoretical Physics in Copenhagen. In April, 1956 a copy of the long version of Everett's thesis was sent to the Institute; the next month, Wheeler traveled to Copenhagen to discuss the thesis with Bohr and others. Soon after he left, Stern held a seminar on Everett's work, during which he recorded some of the reactions of members of the Institute to Everett's ideas. After the seminar, Stern wrote a long letter to Wheeler describing his own (and reporting on his colleagues') dissatisfaction with Everett's theory. Here Wheeler replies to Stern. This letter shows both sides of Wheeler delicate position on his student's work: on the one hand, he defends Everett, while simultaneously insisting that Everett's theory is not in conflict with Bohr's. One copy of the letter went to Everett; this copy remained with Wheeler. Wheeler makes several additional marginal notes on the letter, as it seems, did Everett's fellow graduate student Charles Misner. Misner defends Everett against Stern's attacks.
Alexander Stern was an American physicist and engineer who spent many years during the 1950s and 1960s in residence at Bohr's Institute for Theoretical Physics in Copenhagen. In April, 1956 a copy of the long version of Hugh Everett's thesis was sent to the Institute; the next month, John A. Wheeler traveled to Copenhagen to discuss the thesis with Bohr and others. Soon after he left, Stern held a seminar on Everett's work, during which he recorded some of the reactions of members of the Institute to Everett's ideas. After the seminar, Stern wrote a long letter to Wheeler describing his own (and reporting on his colleagues') dissatisfaction with Everett's theory.
After the publication of Hugh Everett's thesis and John Wheeler's commentary in the September 1957 issue of Reviews of Modern Physics, several physicists wrote to Everett and Wheeler to discuss the papers. This one, from a physicist at Johns Hopkins named Max Dresden, seems to approve of Everett's contributions, and suggests that it might be related to a project he and a student worked on shortly before. Wheeler, at least at this point, seems interested in continuing to work on topics related to Everett's thesis, and also appears to believe that future publications on related topics are forthcoming. This letter is particularly interesting because it suggests that not only did Wheeler believe Everett could get an academic job at a top university, but that Robert Sachs, a prominent theoretical physicist at University of Wisconsin Madison, was actively attempting to recruit Everett. Everett, however, refused to follow any of these leads.
In spring of 1956, John Wheeler was in residence at the Lorentz Institute in Leiden, Netherlands. In April, 1956 a copy of the long version of Hugh Everett's thesis was sent to the Institute; the next month, Wheeler traveled to Copenhagen to discuss the thesis with Bohr and others. This is a letter he wrote to Everett after he returned to Leiden, following up on his letter from the day before (in which he forwarded Alexander Stern's criticisms to Everett). Here he includes his notes from a conversation with Niels Bohr — dated 4 May 1956 — on Everett's thesis, and urges Everett to come to Copenhagen immediately to discuss his work with Bohr. He includes an offer to pay for Everett's travel from his own research funds. Although Everett would ultimately travel to Copenhagen in 1959, he did not accept the invitation Wheeler extends here.