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Draft:Mara Beller

Mara Beller
Born
Mara Baruch

(1945-08-14) 14 August 1945 (age 79)
Died(2004-10-30)30 October 2004
Occupation(s)Historian and philosopher of science

Mara Beller (born Mara Baruch; August 14, 1945 – October 30, 2004) was a Jewish historian and philosopher of science.[1]

Born in the Soviet Union, she migrated to Israel at the age of 19. In 1967, while still an undergraduate in physics, she married Aaron Beller. Her M.Sc. degree in the history and philosophy of science she obtained at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem in 1976. In 1983 she received her doctorate in history from the University of Maryland with a dissertation[2] on "The Genesis and Interpretation of Quantum Physics, 1925-1927."[1] She was the Barbara Druss Dibner Professor of History and Philosophy of Science at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel.[3]

Mara Beller is mainly known for her book Quantum Dialogue: The Making of a Revolution[3] and her intervention[4] in the Sokal affair.[1]

In Quantum Dialogue[3] she draws out the early historical development of quantum mechanics, which she describes as moving from a state of "concepts in flux" into one in which "this dialogical flux is flattened into a monological narrative."[3] In her book, Beller puts the historical development of the theory into a critical perspective, drawing upon works of philosophers of science such as Thomas Kuhn and Imre Lakatos. She describes how in the early years of quantum mechanics some physicists - Nils Bohr in particular - had succeeded in systematically shutting down what the historian of science Olival Freire Jr. later termed "the controversy on the foundations and interpretation of quantum mechanics."[3][5] The book was awarded the Morris D. Forkosch Prize for the best book in intellectual history published in 1999.[6]

Beller took a public position in the science wars with her short paper “The Sokal Hoax: At Whom Are We Laughing?”.[4] The paper was a response to the Sokal affair and was given widespread attention: Jean Bricmont and Alan Sokal responded to it as well as to another article[7] by David Mermin in a letter to Physics Today on April 7, 1999.[8] It was later published in the magazine, along with a response by Mermin and Beller.[9] In her response and among other points, Beller argues for teaching alternatives to the Copenhagen interpretation in quantum mechanics courses, concluding with the following words:[9]

We need not “try to convince” each other. There is no need for us to agree. We will be amply rewarded if each of us emerges from the encounter with a little more insight and understanding than before.


Much of Mara Beller's efforts in her later years she spent on writing a play, which features a ficticious love affair between the Russian poet Marina Tsvetaeva and the Jewish physicist Albert Einstein. It was staged at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem in the spring of 2005, a few months after she succumbed to illness.[1]

Selected Works

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  • Beller, Mara. The Genesis of Interpretations of Quantum Physics: 1925-1927. Ann Arbor, MI: University Microfilms, 1998.
  • Beller, Mara. Quantum Dialogue: The Making of a Revolution. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1999.
  • Beller, Mara. Einstein in Context: A Special Issue of Science in Context. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1993.
  • Beller, Mara. “The Sokal Hoax: At Whom Are We Laughing?“ Physics Today 51, Nr. 9 (1998): 29. https://doi.org/10.1063/1.882436
  • Beller, Mara. “Born’s probabilistic interpretation: A case study of ‘concepts in flux’“. Studies in History and Philosophy of Science Part A 21, Nr. 4 (January, 1990): 563–88. https://doi.org/10.1016/0039-3681(90)90033-5
  • Beller, Mara. “The Word with a Loophole and the Word with a Sideward Glance: Dialogical Approach in Science and Literature.” Partial Answers: Journal of Literature and the History of Ideas 1, no. 2 (2003): 27–43. https://doi.org/10.1353/pan.0.0029
  • Beller, Mara. “Jocular Commemorations: The Copenhagen Spirit.” Osiris 14, no. 1 (January 1999): 252–73. https://doi.org/10.1086/649310
  • Beller, Mara. “The Birth of Bohr’s Complementarity: The Context and the Dialogues.” Studies in History and Philosophy of Science Part A 23, no. 1 (March 1, 1992): 147–80. https://doi.org/10.1016/0039-3681(92)90029-6
  • Beller, Mara. “The Conceptual and the Anecdotal History of Quantum Mechanics.” Foundations of Physics 26, no. 4 (April 1996): 545–57. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02071220

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b c d Buchwald, D. K. (2007). "In Memory of Mara Beller (1945-2004)". Iyyun: The Jerusalem Philosophical Quarterly / עיון: רבעון פילוסופי. 56. S.H. Bergman Center for Philosophical Studies / מרכז ש. ה. ברגמן לעיון פילוסופי: 5–8. ISSN 0021-3306. JSTOR 23354462.
  2. ^ Beller, M. (1998). The Genesis of Interpretations of Quantum Physics: 1925-1927. University Microfilms.
  3. ^ a b c d e Beller, M. (1999). Quantum Dialogue: The Making of a Revolution. University of Chicago Press.
  4. ^ a b Beller, Mara (1998). "The Sokal Hoax: At Whom Are We Laughing?". Physics Today. 51 (9): 29–34. Bibcode:1998PhT....51i..29B. doi:10.1063/1.882436. ISSN 0031-9228.
  5. ^ Freire Junior, O. (2015). The Quantum Dissidents: Rebuilding the Foundations of Quantum Mechanics (1950-1990). Springer.
  6. ^ Journal of the History of Ideas, retrieved 17 December 2024
  7. ^ David Mermin, N. (1 October 1997). "What's Wrong with This Reading". Physics Today. 50 (10): 11–13. Bibcode:1997PhT....50j..11D. doi:10.1063/1.881939. ISSN 0031-9228.
  8. ^ Bricmont, J., Sokal, A. (1999), Letter to Physics Today (PDF)
  9. ^ a b Bricmont, J., Sokal, A., Mermin, N. D., Beller, M. (1 August 1999). "Sokalratic Debate Continues, Fueled by Latour and Copenhagen Interpretations". Physics Today. 52 (8): 15–83. Bibcode:1999PhT....52h..15B. doi:10.1063/1.882770. ISSN 0031-9228.
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Category:1945 births Category:2004 deaths Category:Historians of science Category:Immigrants to the United States Category:Israeli women

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