Prize honors physicist with conscience.Physicist Freeman J. Dyson will receive an award next month of greater monetary value than the Nobel prize Nobel Prize, award given for outstanding achievement in physics, chemistry, physiology or medicine, peace, or literature. The awards were established by the will of Alfred Nobel, who left a fund to provide annual prizes in the five areas listed above. . Yet the $948,000 Templeton prize The Templeton Prize for Progress Toward Research or Discoveries about Spiritual Realities is a prize given out annually by the Templeton Foundation. Established in 1972, it is awarded to a living person who, in the estimation of the judges, best exemplifies "trying various ways for , to be presented in a public ceremony May 16 in Washington, D.C., will not recognize Dyson, 76, for his physics research. The annual honor goes to individuals for originality in advancing religious understanding. Dyson has been a physics professor at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, N.J., since 1953. Early in his career, he unified several quantum theories of electromagnetism electromagnetism Branch of physics that deals with the relationship between electricity and magnetism. Their merger into one concept is tied to three historical events. Hans C. . He's worked on nuclear energy and propulsion, atomic physics atomic physics Scientific study of the structure of the atom, its energy states, and its interaction with other particles and fields. The modern understanding of the atom is that it consists of a heavy nucleus of positive charge surrounded by a cloud of light, negatively (SN: 10/14/95, p. 252), and cosmology cosmology, area of science that aims at a comprehensive theory of the structure and evolution of the entire physical universe. Modern Cosmological Theories (SN: 4/5/97, p. 208). In the late 1970s, Dyson began writing books for a general audience. In his books and lectures, he argues that science and religion both deserve respect as ways of perceiving the universe. Dyson also urges that ethics should more strongly guide technology development, moving innovation beyond what he calls "toys for the rich," such as cell phones. It's better to develop technologies that help improve life for the world's poor, he says. "Science and religion should work together to abolish the gross inequalities that prevail in the modern world," Dyson said after the award was announced. About a half-dozen scientists have won the prize since investor John M. Templeton inaugurated it in 1973. |
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