In Remembrance: Herman Feshbach 1917–2000
Herman Feshbach, Institute Professor Emeritus at MIT and president
of the Academy from 1982 to 1986, died in Cambridge on December 22, 2000. A
distinguished theoretical physicist, he worked throughout his career to advance
scientific freedom and East-West exchange—concerns that he brought to the
international programs of the Academy.
After receiving his BS at the City College of New York, Feshbach came to MIT,
where he completed his graduate studies and for more than fifty years served on
the faculty of the department of physics. He also helped to create the MIT
Center for theoretical physics, which he later directed from 1967 to 1973.
Feshbach's scientific work centered on the theories underlying the structure
and behavior of the nuclei of atoms. He discovered the analytical tool known as
the Feshbach resonance: the phenomenon that occurs when atoms collide and one
lends just the right quantum of energy to the other so that they bind together
long enough to be seen and used, almost like reacting chemicals. He coauthored
two seminal textbooks: Methods of Theoretical Physics (with Philip M.
Morse) and Theoretical Nuclear Physics (with Amos DeShalit). Although
his findings were extremely important for the development of nuclear weapons,
he was a strong opponent of the military application of nuclear physics,
helping to found the Union of Concerned Scientists and serving as its first
chairman. He also championed the cause of refuseniks, particularly Soviet
dissident physicist Andrei Sakharov.
When Feshbach assumed the presidency of the Academy, the nuclear arms debate
was at a critical point. During his first year in office, the
Committee on International Security Studies was established to conduct
a series of studies on nuclear deterrence and defense policy and expand the
Academy's effort to advance productive nongovernmental exchange with the Soviet
Union and Eastern Europe. The Academy also became the US national member
organization of the International Institute of
Applied Systems Analysis and undertook its first joint project with the
Chinese Academy of Sciences. Feshbach took particular pleasure in organizing a
major international symposium commemorating the 100th anniversary of the birth
of Niels Bohr; the conference focused on the history and status of quantum
mechanics, with a final session devoted to Bohr’s interest in the threat posed
by nuclear weapons and the opportunities implicit in improved East-West
relations.
The Academy honors Herman Feshbach for his passion for scientific truth and
intellectual freedom and mourns his passing.
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