Dirac Lecture 2011 - Beauty and truth:their intersection in mathematics and science

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Lord Robert M. May Zoology Department, Oxford University, supported by the Royal Society of NSW & Australian Institute of Physics.
"In the mists of prehistory, it seems clear that our ancestors sought to make sense of their world through myth and magic, memorably associated with evocative cave paintings, stone circles, and the like. The Greeks attempt to understand the motions of heavenly bodies were constrained by essentially aesthetic ideas about the perfection of circles. Did the advent of the experimental method overturn this conjunction of truth with beauty? Dirac's equation speaks eloquently and amazingly to a contrary view. My talk will cover this general ground in an opinionated way."

[@silentplummet]

Lecture starts around 12:30, just skip there unless you want to hear about what a great guy the speaker is

[@annefranklin4282]

You are my favourite person (・∀・)

[@robertschlesinger1342]

Paul A. M. Dirac was a great genius and a rather unusual man, which is not uncommon with such geniuses. A couple of credible anecdotes regarding Dirac follow: A French physicist came to Dirac's home to discuss some cutting edge physics. The physicist was escorted into Dirac's study and he preceded for some time, trying with great difficulty to explain his work in English to Dirac. The physicist was clearly having considerable frustration with his limited spoken English. After quite some time, Dirac's sister, Betty, entered the study with some tea and biscuits, speaking fluent French, and wherein Dirac responded in fluent French. The French physicist who had spent considerable time frustrated in trying to express himself in English inquired of Dirac: Why didn't you tell me you spoke French. Dirac replied: You didn't ask. Another anecdote is from his days at Florida State University. The Physics Department held seminars which Dirac would often attend, sitting near the front row. He appeared to be dozing off throughout the presentations, but during the question & answer period, he would make brilliant comments and ask appropriate questions. He seemed asleep, but was all the while quite lucid.

[@giuliotiozzo8828]

Note: the Mandelbrot set is *not* a particular case of a Julia set! In fact, the Mandelbrot set is the set of *parameters* c for which the Julia set of f(z) = z^2 + c is connected. Basically, the Mandelbrot set is an atlas of *all* quadratic Julia sets at once, and that's part of the reason why its structure is so rich.

[@TheDavidlloydjones]

The "somebody or other" with the bright idea for the computer at around 18:00 was Herb Simon of Carnegie Mellon, later winner of a Nobel in Economics. Herb also had the bright idea that everybody should, like him, learn a new language per decade. Prudently, he put in one of his decades on Swedish. Starting, no doubt, with "Your Majesty, it gives me great pleasure..."

[@ddorman365]

Although I 'am not there with you in body, I very much am with you in Sprit, Thank You Univ. of New South Wales U.K., my colleagues and friends, you have deeply hugged my heart and I hope to be working with you soon to solve all that can be solved, peace and love, Doug.

[@dickmedvick1125]

Dick Medvick -- Paul Dirac can be seen in the film on the Internet of the 1927 Solvay Conference

[@viveliott5593]

I was looking for the next night's speech, or the one they said he was doing next, about banking, "the problems of tomorrow will come from not understanding human nature today" - or something like that. Couldn't find it! But it looks like he reproduced these lectures or something similar in 2012 at the Santa Fe Institute. FYI - This looks like it's similar to the next lecture that's referred to above. "Lecture II - What Is Stability in Today's Complex Financial Systems?" Just KZbin it.

[@sandnerdaniel]

What an amazing lecture!

[@DarkMoonDroid]

Thank you!!

[@sinhtrinh1244]

Interesting talk, except for two minor errors. Michelson-Morley experiment was carried out at Case Western Reserve University. The speed of light in VACUUM is a constant. It is a function of the medium in which it moves. Changing the speed of light from air to water causes commonly observed optical diffraction.

[@sanjursan]

Actually, Michelson did his research at Case Institute of Technology in Cleveland. Case merged with Western Reserve in 1967 to become Case Western Reserve University.

[@billbrant3084]

Two errors: (nit picks) 1) It was Indiana, not Wisconsin in the pi story; the bill made it out of committee but not passed. 2) MM experiment was at Case Western, not Caltech.

[@PetraKann]

The SPEED of light is an absolute constant in special relativity. Velocity is a vector not a scalar, so you cannot state that the velocity of light is an absolute constant if its direction varies. The magnitude of the velocity is a constant

[@jimiraywinter]

a perhaps more egregious error is the incorrect interpretation of e=mc^2 and the implication that mass is converted to energy in "some other form" during fissile nuclear processes.

[@greensombrero3641]

Bravo! Very well done.

[@PetraKann]

Euclid collated what previous greek mathematicians discovered. Basically Euclidean elements are a record. An encyclopedia. He is an editor

[@billbrant3084]

Another oops: Nobel prize for Einstein 1921 well before Dirac, and not for relativity BTW but Photoelectric effect.

[@lewisjones2825]

On the T'ai Chi symbol, Pi =2

[@PetraKann]

One CAN ask if the earth orbits the sun or if its the other way around. Of course the motions are relative but how can you give equal validity to both relative motion. You can't.

[@lsbrother]

In fact both the Earth and the Sun rotate around their common center of gravity - a point situated well inside the Sun!

[@georgiosvergakis5666]

Galileo proved this a long time ago, using the inertial properties of a giant pendulum, the earth was moving. today much more sensitive gyrocopes are used to detect acceleration of any kind, even gravity waves

[@realimage3656]

good!

[@GBuckne]

I love how this guy identified some of the higher up cooperates as being crooks. I always thought it amazing how these people can be so arrogant when you see them in public places, restaurants etc. and are nothing more than crooks. They don't even care what you call them or what they actually are as long as they can fill their wallets. Being high on the food chain should be reserved for animals not human beings.

[@leonardmalinowski6076]

Scalativity - "The New Scientific Paradigm" Episode 1 - Fractal Big Bang Theory

[@davidwilkie9551]

Temporal Singularity positioning existence, made of Mathematical making ,Fluxion->Intergral Calculus, in/of QM-TIME Eternity-now Interval=> pure motion proportioning probability Perspective relative to 1-0 Superposition-point Condensation at .dt zero-infinity instantaneous transverse trancendental Number, ONE-INFINITY. Convincing liars perfect the art of abstraction by which distraction occurs by default.

[@bibinmjose]

Dirac shared the Nobel Prize in Physics for 1933 with Erwin Schrödinger but Einstein received the 1921 Nobel Prize in Physics unlike the author said

[@dickmedvick1125]

Dick Medvick -- Dear Lord Robert M. May, Thank you very much for an important talk - Following are my thoughts: Mathematically Beautiful Music -- I will forward your speech to my friend, who is a Professor in the Music Dept. at Princeton University. Composers tend to use base 12, while creating beautiful music, while we engineers tend to use base two, while creating electrical circuits. There should be mathematical base-12 patterns for evaluating resonance and dissonance; and for creating beautiful music. Testing -- Testing is valuable, when this is possible. I like the idea of testing musical ideas to evaluate how beautiful they are; before spending long hours in development. As an engineer, I also like testing prototypes before entering mass production on millions of units. However, the infamous Chinese Professor of Civil Engineering at the University of Michigan (Go Blue!) says, “No…o second guesses - you “F**k” up; bridge fall down!” Decision To Forge Ahead - We almost never have 100% certainty, before entering the melee. Therefore, when there is time, assess the probability of achieving a quantified potential gain and compare that to the probability of incurring a quantified potential loss; before jumping in with both guns blazing. Michelson-Morely Experiment -- In the 1880’s, while corresponding with Hendrik Antoon Lorentz, who was in Leiden, Holland; Physics Professor Albert Michelson at the Case School of Applied Science and Chemistry Professor Edward Morley at Western Reserve University created and operated a measurement device in the basement of Adelbert Hall of Western Reserve University. Their accurate and precise measurements of the velocities of light in perpendicular directions, inspired the Lorentz Transformations and Albert Einstein’s subsequent Special Theory of Relativity. Both Case and Western Reserve are now part of Case Western Reserve University, in Cleveland, Ohio. Who is Buried in Grant’s Tomb? - We Bloody Yanks here in the Colonies used to have a quiz show on TV (The Telly). The question for the consolation prize was “Who is buried in Grant’s Tomb?” Every American knows that Ulysses S. Grant is buried in Grant’s tomb. Lord May, you frequently cited the Lorentz Transformations. Please do your homework -- Einstein did not discover nor document the Lorentz Transformations, which were published before Einstein published his Special Theory of Relativity. General Theory of Relativity - The Special Theory of Relativity has only linear relationships, with no accelerations. Therefore, in addition to integrating Lorentz’ Transformations with Newton’s F = GMm/d^2, Einstein also integrated Lorentz’ work with Newton’s F=ma. Einstein’s Being a Comic Book Super Hero - Albert Einstein was a true genius, with an incredible mind. He performed as an outstanding member of a great team of scientists, whom Earnest Solvay assembled for the Solvay conferences, which started in 1911. Einstein was a great thinker, who made significant contributions to what may be the greatest group of physicists, who ever were; or ever will be assembled. Google “Solvay Conferences,” and watch the KZbin video of Einstein, et al, leaving the 1927 Solvay Conference in Brussels. This is where Einstein said, “God does not play dice!” Hendrik Antoon Loretz chaired all of the Solvay conferences, before Lorentz died. Time Magazine’s View of Paul Dirac -- In the Time Magazine book on Great Scientists, Michael Lemonick writes, “Dirac’s colleagues found him exceedingly odd. He may have had autism. Albert Einstein once said, ‘I have trouble with Dirac. This balancing on the dizzying path between genius and madness is awful.’ Niels Bohr called him, ‘the strangest man who ever visited my institute.’” Lord May, do you concur with Michael Lemonick? Thanks again, Dick Medvick MS - Engineering Management - Case Institute of Technology - Cleveland, Ohio, USA BS -Mechanical Engineeing - General Motors Institute - Flint, Michigan, USA

[@radandyfantoo]

Wow, there are some problems here. First, he takes us though the same cycle of math/physics highlights that we all hear about nowadays. Then, he proceeds make negative comments about Einstein's fame. However, his theme, which is to question how the theory of math stacks up to reality goes against his very argument against Einstein. The discovery of positrons, to my knowledge, has not lead to any additional non-research based tools, while Einstein's E=MC^2 has seen many physical applications.

[@DarkMoonDroid]

Humans are animals. However, we are more than mere animals. I agree. Unfortunately, I don't agree with his ideas about the economic situation (which is typical). He seems willing to accept complicated-sounding band-aids instead of being more ruthless and simple about it. Since he is working for bankers he is already unreliable as a theorist and a problem solver. The solutions are simple. They are even beautiful. But they are ruthless. And he is unable to put them on the table.

[@SeanMauer]

WTF, what's with the put down of the Tea Party? What kind of snob is this guy?

[@SimonSozzi7258]

Is he a Socialist? ✌