David Mermin
| David Mermin | |
|---|---|
|
N. David Mermin | |
| Born |
30 March 1935 New Haven, Connecticut, U.S. |
| Residence | USA |
| Fields | Physicist |
| Institutions |
Cornell University University of California, San Diego University of Birmingham |
| Alma mater | Harvard University |
| Known for |
Mermin–Wagner theorem Mermin–Ho relation Lindhard–Mermin dielectric function Coining the term 'boojum' Mermin–Peres magic square |
| Notable awards |
Lilienfeld Prize (1989) National Academy of Sciences (1991) Klopsteg Memorial Award (1994) Majorana Prize (2010) American Philosophical Society(2015) |
Nathaniel David Mermin (/ˈmɜːrmɪn/; born 1935) is a solid-state physicist at Cornell University best known for the eponymous Mermin–Wagner theorem, his application of the term "Boojum" to superfluidity, and for the quote "shut up and calculate!" (in the context of the interpretation of quantum mechanics).[1]
Together with Neil Ashcroft, Mermin has written an esteemed textbook, Solid State Physics.[2] Mermin is a proponent of Quantum Bayesianism. [3]
Mermin has published about 130 technical scientific articles, 20 pedagogical articles for scientists, 25 articles for the general reader, 35 book reviews, and 30 opinion pieces in Physics Today.
Mermin’s foot
Mermin has contributed to special relativity with two books and several articles. In It's About Time (2005) he suggests that the English foot (0.3048 meters) be slightly modified:
- Henceforth, by 1 foot we shall mean the distance light travels in a nanosecond. A foot, if you will, is a light nanosecond (and a nanosecond, even more nicely, can be viewed as a light foot). …If it offends you to redefine the foot … then you may define 0.299792458 meters to be 1 phoot, and think "phoot" (conveniently evocative of the Greek φωτος, "light") whenever you read "foot".[4]
This adaptation of a physical unit is one of several ploys that Mermin uses to draw students into space-time geometry.
Notes
- ↑ N. David Mermin. "Could Feynman Have Said This?". Physics Today 57 (5). Bibcode:2004PhT....57e..10M. doi:10.1063/1.1768652.
- ↑ Ashcroft, Mermin 1976.
- ↑ http://www.nature.com/news/physics-qbism-puts-the-scientist-back-into-science-1.14912
- ↑ It's About Time, page 22
References
- Mermin, N. David (1968). Space and Time in Special Relativity. McGraw Hill. ISBN 0-88133-420-0.
- Ashcroft, Neil W.; Mermin, N. David (1976). Solid State Physics. Holt, Rinehart and Winston. ISBN 0-03-083993-9.
- Mermin, N. David (1990). Boojums All the Way Through. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-38880-5.
- Mermin, N. David (2005). It's About Time: Understanding Einstein's Relativity. Princeton University Press. ISBN 978-0-691-12201-4.
- Mermin, N. David (2007). Quantum Computer Science. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-87658-2.
- Mermin, N. David (2016). Why Quark Rhymes with Pork, and Other Scientific Diversions. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-1-107-02430-4.
External links
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