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Mailing list for Hugh Everett's preprint thesis, 10-March-1957

JOHN ARCHIBALD WHEELER

Published May 19, 2011• 0 citations
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Abstract

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.

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

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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.

•May 19, 2011•0 citations

John Wheeler letter to A.G. Shenstone 28-May-1956

JOHN ARCHIBALD WHEELER

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.

•May 19, 2011•0 citations

John Wheeler letter to Hugh Everett, 16-May-1957

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Hugh Everett's thesis was ultimately published in September 1957 in a special issue of Reviews of Modern Physics, guest edited by Bryce DeWitt. In mid-May, 1957, Everett's thesis was already finished and he had passed the oral examination. The paper was already scheduled for publication, but John Wheeler apparently had some last minute changes to recommend.

•May 16, 1957•0 citations

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

JOHN ARCHIBALD WHEELER

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

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

Max Dresden

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.

•May 19, 2011•0 citations

John Wheeler letter to Hugh Everett, 17-September-1956

JOHN ARCHIBALD WHEELER

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.

•Sep 17, 1956•0 citations
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.
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 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.
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.
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.
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.