Talk:Eugene Wigner

Old talk

This is indeed a good article (it was added to brilliant prose). I always get suspicious when an anonymous person posts a good, polished article :-) --but it passes the Google test (meaning it probably wasn't online in exactly these words until now). --LMS

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I'm interested in Prof. Wigner's connection to the Unification Movement of Sun Myung Moon. I know he participated in the science conference sponsored by Rev. Moons International Cultural Foundation. But what was his role?

I hate to rely on memory. Was he a conference chairman, or what?

Here's a quote I picked up on an Altavista search.

Eugene Wigner, a theoretical physicist, is (or was) on the board of directors of the Committee on the Present Danger. (25) He is a member of the advisory board of Accuracy in Media and was a member of the advisory board of Western Goals Foundation. (36) Accuracy in Media also received some of the $400,000 raised through Charles Wick's efforts at the White House (see Govt Connections). (53) Wigner received a $200,000 "founder's award" from the Rev. Sun Myung Moon--head of the Unification Church--at the 1982 Intl Conference on the Unity of the Sciences (ICUS). ICUS is an offshoot of the Moon-funded Intl Cultural Foundation. (49)

(source)

User:Ed Poor

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This article omits important aspects of his influence on cosmology and the philosophy of mathematics, in particular his most-cited article "The Unreasonable Effectiveness of Mathematics in the Physical Sciences," 1960.

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Can someone fix the template - Laureate 97 is too far off to the right. Ludvikus 07:40, 5 September 2006 (UTC)

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The infobox says his religion is "Jewish", I believe the correct term is Judaism, even though he was by ethnicity Jewish. The article also says the family converted to Lutheranism. And then there's the question whether he was a practicing Jew or simply Jewish. I propose removal or perhaps alteration to "Ethnicity: Jewish" if there are no sources for his religious affiliations. Naphra 19:27, 17 April 2007 (UTC)

There is a source saying he was Jewish. He was clearly born Jewish. At best it might be said "Jewish: converted to Lutheranism"; anything else violates WP:NOR.--Runcorn 21:04, 18 April 2007 (UTC)

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in the introduction to the article it says he had SEVEN MILLION THEOREMS! is that true? if so, why isn't it sited? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Qmark42 (talk • contribs) 14:55, 22 July 2008 (UTC)

Involvement in self-sustaining fission reaction?

See Talk:Chicago Pile-1#Wigner missing? --129.49.7.125 (talk) 16:35, 23 April 2009 (UTC)

Quotes about Wigner?

Does a quote by an unreliable source that is about Rev. Moon (not Wigner) does not have place in a section of Quotes about Wigner. --Shagie (talk) 02:21, 4 May 2009 (UTC)

Failing to see anyone argue the opposite over the past while, I'm going to remove the section as it looks out of place and isn't about Wigner. --Shagie (talk) 06:03, 14 May 2009 (UTC)

And the content that was removed from the article:

• In a 1987 appreciation of Professor Wigner, Alvin M. Weinberg stated: "...this trait of Wigner's [giving credit to his young collaborators] explains why so much, not only of reactor theory but of theoretical physics from 1930 to 1965 — though it may not bear Wigner's name — actually has origin in a suggestion made or question asked by Professor Wigner."

• "I greatly appreciate Rev. Moon's deep concern for the present predicament of mankind. He believes that intellectuals have a particular responsibility to use their knowledge and creative imagination in the urgent talk of rebuilding society with values as the supreme guide." (quoted in Peace King, page 101)

--Shagie (talk) 06:05, 14 May 2009 (UTC)

can be added

since 2005 a building of the technical university in Berlin is named after him, see http://www.an-morgen-denken.de/tui/05nov/physik.htm Plehn (talk) 05:45, 29 December 2010 (UTC)

Questions and Suggestions

1. "Wigner was present at a converted squash courts ..." This is incorrect US English usage -- is it correct in British English?

2. "When his duties there did not work out especially well, Wigner returned to Princeton University" This is not a very substantive comment. Either more detail should be added or a citation given for this assertion.

3. "However, by his personal beliefs, Wigner was at heart a pacifist" This is a weak statement about one of the prime movers behind the creation of the Atomic Bomb, and, again, no reference is given. The interesting thing about Wigner is that his fear of the possibility of the Nazis attaining the Bomb was much stronger than any inherent or philosophical pacifism. This, of course, was also true of Albert Einstein, Leo Szilard, Robert Oppenheimer, and others, but Wigner is a particularly good and important example of this phenomenon, which is more interesting than simple "pacifism".

--Chordatum (talk) 17:09, 20 March 2011 (UTC)

— Preceding unsigned comment added by Chordatum (talk • contribs) 16:47, 20 March 2011 (UTC)

Hungarian?

The lead says he was Hungarian, but when I knew him at LSU he always described himself as Austrian. A hatnote in the article says his "native" name was Wigner Jeno, but of course his native language was German, so I doubt that was his native name. Rwflammang (talk) 20:17, 31 January 2012 (UTC)