Oral history interview with Chen Ning Yang conducted by Andrew Pickering for his book, Constructing quarks, 1978 April 26.

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Oral history interview with Chen Ning Yang conducted by Andrew Pickering for his book, Constructing quarks, 1978 April 26.

http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/77698902

One of 36 interviews with particle physicists conducted as background material for Pickering's book, CONSTRUCTING QUARKS: A SOCIOLOGICAL HISTORY OF PARTICLE PHYSICS (1984). This interview is one of several that emphasizes the scientific careers of individuals, from the time they entered physics to the current period. The emphasis was on technical research practice, tracing continuities over time, and exploring breaks. A principal concern was in situating an individual's historically important contributions within the overall context of his career. This interview touches on Yang's early career (chemistry major) in China, and University of Chicago; Ph.D in beta-decay, 1949. Continues work on beta-decay at Princeton University, 1949-1966; interest in statistical mechanics. Extensive discussion of the Yang-Mills gauge field theory, 1946-1978. Brookhaven National Laboratory collaborating with Bob Mills on original Yang-Mills paper, 1954; exchange with Wolfgang Pauli over mass of gauge vectors. Developments in the 1960s. Remarks on philosophy of science.

Preliminary transcript (29 pp.)

American Institute of Physics, Niels Bohr Library

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SNAC Resource ID: 8201087

Related Entities

There are 3 Entities related to this resource.

Pauli, Wolfgang, 1900-1958

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w60v8f9w (person)

Pysicists (theoretical, atomic, and nuclear physics). On the physics faculty at Kobenhavns Universitet (1922-1923); Universität Hamburg (1923-1928); and Eidgenössische Ttechnische Hochschule Zürich (1928-1958); and visiting professor, Institute for Advanced Study (1935-1936, and from 1940). From the description of Letters. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 83030815 Physicist (theoretical, atomic, and nuclear physics). On the physics faculty at Kobenhavns Universitet, 1922-19...

Yang, Chen Ning, 1922-....

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6gj00cm (person)

Physicist. From the description of Reminiscences of Chen Ning Yang : oral history, 1964. (Columbia University In the City of New York). WorldCat record id: 122608433 ...

Pickering, Andrew, 1948-....

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w67d2zvp (person)

Sociologist. Researcher in physics at the Niels Bohr Institute, Copenhagen, and the Daresbury Laboratory, United Kingdom, 1973-1975; and in sociology of science at the Science Studies Unit of the University of Edinburgh from 1976. From the description of Interviews conducted for book, Constructing quarks, 1978-1982. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 81866290 ...