Panofsky on Physics, Politics, and Peace

1. Front Matter

   Pages i-vii

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2. School Time in Germany

   Pages 1-4

3. Transition to the United States and Undergraduate Life at Princeton University

   Pages 5-9

4. Graduate Study and War Work at Caltech

   Pages 10-20

5. Work at the University of California Radiation Laboratory

   Pages 21-38

6. Military Work at Berkeley and the Loyalty Oath

   Pages 39-44

7. Beginnings at Stanford

   Pages 45-51

8. Research and Teaching Before SLAC

   Pages 52-59

9. Science Advising and Arms Control: The Beginnings

   Pages 60-72

10. Establishing SLAC

    Pages 73-83

11. Building a Laboratory

    Pages 84-99

12. Physics and the Cold War

    Pages 100-106

13. Student Unrest at Stanford

    Pages 107-109

14. Fixed Target Research at SLAC

    Pages 110-118

15. New Facilities—Colliding Beams

    Pages 119-127

16. International High Energy Physics

    Pages 128-136

17. Advances in Accelerator-Based High-Energy Physics

    Pages 137-151

18. Science and Politics After Retirement

    Pages 152-164

19. Back Matter

    Pages 165-191

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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.

• Hansen Laboratories
• High-Energy Physics
• SLAC
• arms control
• career in physics
• history of physics
• physics and politics
• physics autobiography

From the reviews:

"Panofsky on Physics, Politics and Peace is an autobiographical essay by a remarkable man. In it Wolfgang ‘Pief’ Panofsky relates highlights of his professional life: his accomplishments as a scientist, as a teacher, as the director of the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center (SLAC, the great high-energy laboratory he built), and as an adviser to those making science, technology and weapons policy at both the national and the international level." (Silvan S. Schweber, American Scientist, June, 2008)

"The worlds of high-energy physics and international security have been intimately intertwined since WW II, focusing mainly on production, control, and plans for the use of nuclear weapons. Understanding these connections is vital for anyone wishing to understand and participate in the national political scene. Much of that understanding can be obtained from this record of the life of a man … . Valuable for scientists, politicians, citizens, and security analysts. Summing Up: Recommended. General readers; lower- and upper-division undergraduates through professionals." (A. M. Saperstein, CHOICE, Vol. 45 (9), 2008)

• Stanford Linear Accelerator Center, Menlo

  Wolfgang K. H. Panofsky, Jean Marie Deken

Wolfgang K.H. "Pief" Panofsky, a German-American physicist received his bachelor's degree from Princeton University in 1938 and obtained his PhD from Caltech in 1942. In the years 1945-1951, Panofsky held an assistant professorship at Berkeley, before permanently establishing himself as a Professor of Physics at Stanford. Between 1961 and 1984, he was the director of the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center.

Policies and ethics