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Dear Professor Dyson: Twenty Years Of Correspondence Between Freeman Dyson And Undergraduate Students On Science, Technology, Society And Life

Dwight E Neuenschwander · 1 HN comments
HN Books has aggregated all Hacker News stories and comments that mention "Dear Professor Dyson: Twenty Years Of Correspondence Between Freeman Dyson And Undergraduate Students On Science, Technology, Society And Life" by Dwight E Neuenschwander.
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Amazon Summary
Freeman Dyson has designed nuclear reactors and bomb-powered spacecraft; he has studied the origins of life and the possibilities for the long-term future; he showed quantum mechanics to be consistent with electrodynamics and started cosmological eschatology; he has won international recognition for his work in science and for his work in reconciling science to religion; he has advised generals and congressional committees. An STS (Science, Technology, Society) curriculum or discussion group that engages topics such as nuclear policies, genetic technologies, environmental sustainability, the role of religion in a scientific society, and a hard look towards the future, would count itself privileged to include Professor Dyson as a class participant and mentor. In this book, STS topics are not discussed as objectified abstractions, but through personal stories.The reader is invited to observe Dyson's influence on a generation of young people as they wrestle with issues of science, technology, society, life in general and our place in the universe. The book is filled with personal anecdotes, student questions and responses, honest doubts and passions.
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Hacker News Stories and Comments

All the comments and stories posted to Hacker News that reference this book.
Oct 21, 2022 · Jun8 on Freeman Dyson and me
Recently I randomly came across the book Dear Prof Dyson (https://www.amazon.com/Dear-Professor-Dyson-Correspondence-U...) in Half Price Books. I had loved Dyson’s literary-scientific style from Disturbing the Universe so bought this one, too. His patience in answering letters from undergrads on topics ranging from physics to philosophy is amazing, what a learned man! It seems like having a literary bent was more common among scientists in older times compared to now.

On a different note, the bombing event at UCSB mentioned at the event was very interesting, never heard of it before, here’s more information in case you want to dig in: https://livinghistory.as.ucsb.edu/2019/12/04/faculty-club-bo...

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