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H. J. Groenewold letter to John Wheeler, 11-April-1957

Hilbrand Johannes Groenewold

Published May 19, 2011• 0 citations
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Abstract

In mid-March, 1957, as Hugh Everett III was preparing to defend his thesis and graduate, John Wheeler asked him to send preprints of the short thesis and Wheeler's companion article to Bohr and other prominent physicists. In April, H. J. Groenewold of Natuurkundig Laboratorium der Rijks-Universiteit te Groningen, Germany wrote to Everett and Wheeler with his criticism of the revised dissertation. He had previously read the long dissertation sent to Copenhagen. He thought that the preprint was a "much improved" abstract of a (rewritten) longer thesis, although he confessed to not being able to follow many of the arguments. Everett furiously annotated his copy of Groenewold's letter, answering his criticisms point by point and concluding that Groenewold, too, had not thoroughly studied his work.

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In mid-March, 1957, as Hugh Everett III was preparing to defend his thesis and graduate, John Wheeler asked him to send preprints of the short thesis and Wheeler's companion article to Bohr and other prominent physicists. In April, H. J. Groenewold of Natuurkundig Laboratorium der Rijks-Universiteit te Groningen, Germany wrote to Everett and Wheeler with his criticism of the revised dissertation. He had previously read the long dissertation sent to Copenhagen. He thought that the preprint was a "much improved" abstract of a (rewritten) longer thesis, although he confessed to not being able to follow many of the arguments. Everett furiously annotated his copy of Groenewold's letter, answering his criticisms point by point and concluding that Groenewold, too, had not thoroughly studied his work.
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.
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. Shortly after he left, Alexander Stern, an American physicist in residence in Copenhagen, held a seminar on Everett's thesis, and then forwarded his and others' ciriticisms in a long letter to Wheeler. Based on Stern's letter and on his own conversations with Bohr, Wheeler determined that Everett needed to make significant revisions to the framing and argumentation of his thesis.
By fall of 1956, John Wheeler was back in Princeton---but Hugh Everett was already in Virginia, where he was working for the Pentagon's Weapon Systems Evaluation Group, and so he and Wheeler continued to communicate by correspondence (to Wheeler's oft-repeated dismay). Here Wheeler confirms that he believes Everett's work is important, but insists that it needs to be made "javelin-proof" before Wheeler will sign off on it. Wheeler also passes along a letter from H. J. Groenewold, a German physicist at the University of Groningen who had read a draft of the long thesis. Later, Groenewold would respond at length to the revised, short version of Everett's thesis.
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 A. G. Shenstone, another Princeton physicist, asking whether the department would object if Wheeler attended a conference in September, shortly before the beginning of the Fall semester. He mentions Everett's thesis and its reception in Copenhagen. Here he indicates that the thesis will need significant revisions, and that he hopes it will be publishable by the Danish Royal Academy.
By March of 1957, Hugh Everett and John Wheeler had already completed the extensive revisions that cut the long thesis down to the final, short version that was ultimately accepted. It was now time to distribute the preprint to various prominent physicists for their feedback before publication. This document is the form letter to accompany the preprints, which Wheeler asked Everett to send in a letter a few days later. Also included here is the list of physicists, with addresses, that Wheeler recommended Everett send the thesis and accompanying article to.