From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

John Michael Ziman (May 16, 1925 – January 2, 2005) was a physicist and a humanist who worked in the area of condensed matter physics. He was an outstanding spokesman for science, and an accomplished teacher and author.

John Ziman was born in England but moved to New Zealand with his family in childhood and obtained his early education at Hamilton and Wellington. He obtained his PhD from Balliol College, Oxford and did his early research on the theory of electrons in liquid metals at Cambridge.

In 1964 he was appointed professor of theoretical physics at Bristol University, and his interests shifted towards the philosophy of science. He argued ardently about the social dimension of science, and the social responsibility of scientists in numerous essays and books.

Selected writings

• Ziman, John (1960). Electrons and phonons: The theory of transport phenomena in solids. Clarendon.  
• Ziman, John (1963). Electrons in metals: A short guide to the Fermi surface. Taylor & Francis.  
• Ziman, John (1968). Public Knowledge: Essay Concerning the Social Dimension of Science. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-06894-0.  
• Ziman, John (1972). Principles of the Theory of Solids. Cambridge University Press.  
• Ziman, John (1976). The Force of Knowledge: The Scientific Dimension of Society. Cambridge University Press.  
• Ziman, John (1978). Reliable Knowledge: an Exploration of the Grounds for Belief in Science. Cambridge University Press.  
• Ziman, John (2000). Real Science: What It Is and What It Means. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-77229-X.  

Further reading

• Berry, M.V.; Nye, J.F. (2006). "John Michael Ziman". Biographical Memoirs of Fellows of the Royal Society 52: 479–491. doi:10.1098/rsbm.2006.0032. http://www.phy.bris.ac.uk/people/berry_mv/the_papers/Berry394.pdf.  
• Ravetz, J. (February 2, 2005). "Obituary: John Ziman". The Guardian. http://education.guardian.co.uk/obituary/story/0,12212,1403852,00.html.  
• Enderby, J. (2005). "John Michael Ziman". Physics Today 58 (11): 74. doi:10.1063/1.2155772.  

From Wikiquote

John Ziman (May 16, 1925 – January 2, 2005) was a scientist, and later a philosopher specialising in the philosophy of science.

Sourced

• ...the 'size' of science has doubled steadily every 15 years. In a century this means a factor of 100. For every single scientific paper or for every single scientist in 1670, there were 100 in 1770, 10,000 in 1870 and 1,000,000 in 1970.
  • John M. Ziman (1976). The Force of Knowledge: The Scientific Dimension of Society. Cambridge University Press. p. 56-57. ISBN 0-521-09917-X.  
• A new scientific theory is seldom stated with such clarity by its original author, and usually takes many years to creep into public conciousness.
  • John M. Ziman (1976). The Force of Knowledge: The Scientific Dimension of Society. Cambridge University Press. p. 98. ISBN 0-521-09917-X.  
• The communication of modern science to the ordinary citizen, necessary, important, desirable as it is, cannot be considered an easy task. The prime obstacle is lack of education. ... There is also the difficulty of making scientific discoveries interesting and exciting without completely degrading them intellectually. ... It is a weakness of modern science that the scientist shrinks from this sort of publicity, and thus gives an impression of arrogant mystagoguery.
  • John M. Ziman (1976). The Force of Knowledge: The Scientific Dimension of Society. Cambridge University Press. p. 119. ISBN 0-521-09917-X.  
• A philosopher is a person who knows less and less about more and more, until he knows nothing about everything.
  A scientist is a person who knows more and more about less and less, until he knows everything about nothing.
  • John M. Ziman (1987). Knowing Everything about Nothing: Specialization and Change in Scientific Careers. Cambridge University Press. p. v. ISBN 0-521-32385-1.  
• Ethics is not just an abstract intellectual discipline. It is about the conflicts that arise in trying to meet real human needs and values.
  • Ziman, John M. "Why must scientists become more ethically sensitive than they used to be?", Science, December 4, 1998.

External links

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John Ziman

• Obituary