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There's a lot more in that interview. Oppenheimer would not listen to Dyson's QED seminar until Bethe intervened. Dyson's Feynman stories are also very interest

There's a lot more in that interview. Oppenheimer would not listen to Dyson's QED seminar until Bethe intervened. Dyson's Feynman stories are also very interesting. Gell-Mann settled scores with Feynman and several others on his own Web of Stories session.

dralley 3y ago
The problem is that a lot of these guys, frankly, had quite large egos, and it's not terribly surprising that there would be some butting of heads and factionalism / cliques. I'm not saying he's wrong - but within 30 seconds of the start of your clip Dyson also criticizes Niels Bohr, Max Born, Schrodinger, and Heisenburg in the same breath as Oppenheimer. Parsing out exactly how much to take seriously, and how much is just the outcome of rivalry between a bunch of brilliant people with very strong beliefs, strong personalities, strong egos and the "eccentricity" that often comes with brilliance, being forced to live with each other for years - is a bit difficult. I've seen Gell-Mann's interview too, and I don't find what he said about Feynman very surprising, but at the same time I wouldn't be surprised if others had similar but different complaints about him.
- OldGuyInTheClub 3y ago
  If this cat may look at that king, I have ambivalent feelings about Dyson. But, taken as a whole, I think he is aware of what his own hubris and what it cost him to think the way he did at the time. He is wistful about not talking with Weyl, Einstein, or other Institute Faculty - "A great opportunity lost." Dyson does speak very fondly of many. Feynman, Bethe, Peierls, Besicovich, Morette, Margulis, Max, Singer, and a raft of others. Gell-Mann just seemed angry from start to finish all but accusing Schwinger of improper behavior and ripping Feynman for "collecting anecdotes about himself". Web of Stories talked to (among others) Dyson, Bethe, Knuth, Wheeler, and Gell-Mann and the latter is an outlier in his manner.
  - dralley 3y ago
    In any case Dyson seems to like Bethe quite a bit, and Bethe seems to have rated Oppenheimer highly as a leader at Los Alamos and suggested that was the general opinion https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DIlNSgAHv5c https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DIlNSgAHv5c
  - OldGuyInTheClub 3y ago
    @dralley - Can't reply to your post re: Dyson and Bethe but that is a masterpiece of understatement! From what I can tell, Bethe was esteemed without being envied. A truly rare accomplishment.
    - nerpderp82 3y ago
      You have to click on the text that says "_ minutes ago" and you can reply.
      - OldGuyInTheClub 3y ago
        Thank you! I appreciate the tip.
- uwagar 3y ago
  john lilly - floating tank inventor didnt think highly of feynman either.

dralley 3y ago

The problem is that a lot of these guys, frankly, had quite large egos, and it's not terribly surprising that there would be some butting of heads and factionalism / cliques. I'm not saying he's wrong - but within 30 seconds of the start of your clip Dyson also criticizes Niels Bohr, Max Born, Schrodinger, and Heisenburg in the same breath as Oppenheimer. Parsing out exactly how much to take seriously, and how much is just the outcome of rivalry between a bunch of brilliant people with very strong beliefs, strong personalities, strong egos and the "eccentricity" that often comes with brilliance, being forced to live with each other for years - is a bit difficult. I've seen Gell-Mann's interview too, and I don't find what he said about Feynman very surprising, but at the same time I wouldn't be surprised if others had similar but different complaints about him.

OldGuyInTheClub 3y ago
If this cat may look at that king, I have ambivalent feelings about Dyson. But, taken as a whole, I think he is aware of what his own hubris and what it cost him to think the way he did at the time. He is wistful about not talking with Weyl, Einstein, or other Institute Faculty - "A great opportunity lost." Dyson does speak very fondly of many. Feynman, Bethe, Peierls, Besicovich, Morette, Margulis, Max, Singer, and a raft of others. Gell-Mann just seemed angry from start to finish all but accusing Schwinger of improper behavior and ripping Feynman for "collecting anecdotes about himself". Web of Stories talked to (among others) Dyson, Bethe, Knuth, Wheeler, and Gell-Mann and the latter is an outlier in his manner.
- dralley 3y ago
  In any case Dyson seems to like Bethe quite a bit, and Bethe seems to have rated Oppenheimer highly as a leader at Los Alamos and suggested that was the general opinion https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DIlNSgAHv5c https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DIlNSgAHv5c
- OldGuyInTheClub 3y ago
  @dralley - Can't reply to your post re: Dyson and Bethe but that is a masterpiece of understatement! From what I can tell, Bethe was esteemed without being envied. A truly rare accomplishment.
  - nerpderp82 3y ago
    You have to click on the text that says "_ minutes ago" and you can reply.
    - OldGuyInTheClub 3y ago
      Thank you! I appreciate the tip.
uwagar 3y ago
john lilly - floating tank inventor didnt think highly of feynman either.