Panofsky on Physics, Politics, and Peace: Pief Remembers

This volume contains an “unsystematic account” of my past work; it is not intended to be an autobiography in the conventional meaning of the term. It is not even remotely a scholarly description of the momentous devel- ments in which I was able to participate; rather it is a recital of “memorable” episodes, borrowing from the “compulsory preface” of a facetious British 1 history: “History is not what you thought. It is what you can remember. ” Thus this volume suffers from many “sins of omission,” including full att- bution of deserved credits, but, it is hoped, only few “sins of commission. ” The author is greatly indebted to his colleagues and his wife, Adele, who kindly reviewed many segments of the manuscript describing shared expe- ences. They are Sidney Drell, Greg Loew, Ed Lofgren, Harvey Lynch, Richard B. Neal, Richard Panofsky, and Burt Richter. But the author, ne- less to say, is responsible for any errors. Because of the multitude of topics into which I was drawn concurrently, a strictly chronological account would prove unreadable. Accordingly the book is divided into chapters, each of which covers a limited period of engagement in a coherent subject matter; an approach clearly again unsystematic but hopefully more conducive to conveying the substance of the work. This account does not include a description of my family life. Read more