| Abstrakt: |
Brian David Josephson was born in Wales in 1940. Most of his academic career was spent at Cambridge University in England. As an undergraduate, he was noted for his scientific insight, readily pointing out to his superiors oversights in major scientific experiments. Only twenty-two years old when he made the discoveries that ultimately led to the Nobel Prize in Physics, he was doing graduate work in experimental superconductivity. One of the youngest Nobel laureates, Josephson shared the prize in 1973 with Leo Esaki and Ivar Giaever. All three had made advances in tunneling phenomena, validating earlier theories of superconductivity. The presenter of the award used the metaphor of a baseball occasionally penetrating a wall rather than bouncing back to explain how electrons tunnel through thin insulating barriers. Thus, because of their work, questions arose about normal perceptions of reality. By the time he was thirty-three, Josephson was already growing dissatisfied with traditional physics. He believed that the greatest advance in contemporary physics was John Bell's 1965 theorem arguing on the basis of quantum mechanics that disconnected particles would continue to influence one another, even events in different parts of the universe. A reexamination of appropriate areas of research for the scientist, Josephson suggested, should consider conscious experience. INSET: Brian D. Josephson. |
