Two Cultures

The extraordinary range of cultural interests of renowned physicist David Speiser - including the sciences, art, architecture, music, and history of science - has inspired generations of later scientists to look beyond the boundaries of their own disciplines. This book pays tribute to his multifaceted career. David Speiser is Professor Emeritus at the Catholic University of Louvain, where he taught mathematics and physics from 1963 to 1990. His work in history of science included various publications, some of which are related to art history. Nephew of mathematician Andreas Speiser, David Speiser's own wide-ranging interests have brought him into contact with a panorama of disciplines. Editor Kim Williams has assembled a group of notes where scholars contribute essays inspired by their contact with Prof. Speiser in honour of his eightieth birthday. Topics range from history of sciences to history of art, from architecture theory to music theory, from particle physics to the proliferation of nuclear weapons, to an essay on the very nature of interdisciplinary studies. Contributors: Alessio Ageno, Jean-Pierre Antoine, Sandro Caparrini, Frans A. Cerulus, Sidney D. Drell, David Ritz Finkelstein, Laszlo Grenacs, Donal Hurley, Giuseppe LaRocca, Siegmund Levarie, Bernd Lindemann, Giulio Maltese, Wolfgang K.H. Panofsky, Orietta Pedemonte, Patricia Radelet-de Grave, Luigi A. Radicati di Brozolo, Michael Vandyck, Piero Villaggio, Kim Williams The extraordinary range of cultural interests of renowned physicist David Speiser--including the sciences, art, architecture, music, and history of science--has inspired generations of later scientists to look beyond the boundaries of their own disciplines. In this book, seventeen scholars from various fields pay tribute to his multifaceted career, addressing topics as varied as music theory and the nuclear arms race.