Physics greats mixed science, public service

摘要

The 20th century will go down in history-it pretty much already has - as the century of the physicist. Physicists' revolutionizing of the scientific world view with relativity and quantum mechanics might have been enough to warrant that conclusion. Future historians may emphasize even more, though, the role of physicists in war and government. Two such physicists, one born at the century's beginning and one still living today, typify that role through their work in developing weapons, advising politicians and shaping policy while still performing outstanding science.