David Albert

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
David Z. Albert
The Rockefeller University
Scientific career
FieldsPhilosophy of physics
InstitutionsColumbia University
ThesisDetermination of the critical exponents of the n-vector model by Borel resummation (1981)
Doctoral advisorNicola Khuri

David Z. Albert (born 1954) is Frederick E. Woodbridge Professor of Philosophy and Director of the MA Program in The Philosophical Foundations of Physics at Columbia University in New York.

Education and career

He received his bachelor's degree in physics from

American Academy of Arts & Sciences
.

Philosophical work

Albert has published four books—Quantum Mechanics and Experience (1992),[2] Time and Chance (2000),[3] After Physics (2015),[4] and A Guess at the Riddle (2023)[5]—as well as numerous articles on quantum mechanics. His books have been both praised and criticized for their informal, conversational style.

Public philosophy

Appearance in What the Bleep Do We Know!?

Albert appeared in the controversial movie What the Bleep Do We Know!? (2004). According to an article published in Popular Science, he was "outraged at the final product."[6] The article states that Albert granted the filmmakers a near-four hour interview about quantum mechanics being unrelated to consciousness or spirituality. His interview was then edited and incorporated into the film in a way that misrepresented his views. In the article, Albert also expresses his feelings of gullibility after having been "taken" by the filmmakers. Although Albert is listed as a scientist taking part in the sequel to What the Bleep, called "Down the Rabbit Hole",[7] this sequel is a "director's cut", composed of extra footage from the filming of the first movie.

Feud with Lawrence Krauss

In March 2012, Albert published an extremely negative review of

Origin of Species, on the grounds that it upends the “last trump card of the theologian.” In his review, Albert lamented the way in which books like Krauss' forward critiques of religion that are "pale, small, silly, nerdy”, and expresses how "the whole business of approaching the struggle with religion as if it were a card game, or a horse race, or some kind of battle of wits, just feels all wrong".[8]
Disagreeing with the central thesis of Krauss' book, Albert wrote:

The particular, eternally persisting, elementary physical stuff of the world, according to the standard presentations of

relativistic quantum field theories
, consists (unsurprisingly) of relativistic quantum fields... they have nothing whatsoever to say on the subject of where those fields came from, or of why the world should have consisted of the particular kinds of fields it does, or of why it should have consisted of fields at all, or of why there should have been a world in the first place. Period. Case closed. End of story.

Krauss reacted vehemently and responded in an interview published in The Atlantic, calling Albert “moronic” and dismissing the philosophy of science as worthless.[9] In March 2013, The New York Times reported that Albert, who had previously been invited to speak at the Isaac Asimov Memorial Debate at the American Museum of Natural History, at which Krauss was also an invited speaker, was later disinvited.[10] Albert claimed "It sparked a suspicion that Krauss must have demanded that I not be invited. But of course I’ve got no proof."

See also

References

  1. ISSN 0163-1829
    .
  2. ^ "Quantum Mechanics and Experience".
  3. ^ "Time and Chance".
  4. ^ "After Physics".
  5. ^ "A Guess at the Riddle: Essays on the Physical Underpinnings of Quantum Mechanics".
  6. ^ Cult Science - Dressing up mysticism as quantum physics, Popular Science, Oct. 19, 2004
  7. ^ WHAT THE BLEEP!? - DOWN THE RABBIT HOLE Archived 2006-08-21 at the Wayback Machine
  8. ^ a b Albert, David (23 March 2012). "On the Origin of Everything". The New York Times.
  9. ^ Andersen, Ross; Krauss, Lawrence (23 April 2012). "Has Physics Made Philosophy and Religion Obsolete?". The Atlantic.
  10. ^ Schuessler, Jennifer (13 March 2013). "Worlds in Collision: After Tangle Over Physicist's Book, Philosopher's Invitation to a Debate Is Withdrawn". The New York Times, ArtsBeat.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to David Albert.
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