Abstract
The following quotations describe in “nutshells” a few highlights of John Archibald Wheeler's contributions to physics. The contributions are arranged in roughly the following order: (i) concrete research results, (ii) innovative ideas that have become foundations for the research of others, (iii) insights that give guidance for the development of physics over the coming decades. Since most of Wheeler's work contains strong elements of two or even all three of these characteristics, the editors have not attempted to delineate the dividing lines between the three categories.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Bohr, Niels, and Wheeler, John A. (1939), “The Mechanism of Nuclear Fission,”Phys. Rev. 56, 426.
Feynman, Richard P. (1966), “The Development of the Space-Time View of Quantum Electrodynamics,”Phys. Today, August 1966, p. 31.
Harrison, Kent, Wakano, Masami, and Wheeler, John A. (1958), “Matter-Energy at High Density; End Point of Thermonuclear Evolution,” inLa Structure et L'Evolution de l'Univers, Proceeding of Eleventh Solvay Congress, Brussels, 9–13 June, 1958 (Stoops, Brussels), p. 124.
Lindquist, Richard W., and Wheeler, John A. (1957), “Dynamics of a Lattice Model Universe by the Schwarzschild-Cell Method,”Rev. Mod. Phys. 29, 432.
Misner, Charles W., Thorne, Kip S., and Wheeler, John A. (1973),Gravitation (Freeman, San Francisco), p. 23.
Regge, Tullio, and Wheeler, John A. (1957), “Stability of a Schwarzschild Singularity,”Phys. Rev. 108, 1063.
Ruffini, Remo, and Wheeler, John A. (1971), “Relativistic Cosmology and Space Platforms,” inProceedings of Conference on Space Physics (ESRO, Paris).
Taylor, Edwin F., and Wheeler, John A. (1966),Spacetime Physics (Freeman, San Francisco).
Toll, John, and Wheeler, John A. (1951), “Some Pair-Theoretic Applications of the Dispersion Relation,”Phys. Rev. 81, 654.
Wheeler, John A. (1937), “On the Mathematical Description of Light Nuclei by the Method of Resonating Group Structure,”Phys. Rev. 52, 1107.
Wheeler, John A. (1946), “Polyelectrons,”Ann. N.Y. Acad. Sci. 48, 219–238.
Wheeler, John A. (1949), “Some Consequences of the Electromagnetic Interaction between μ−-Mesons and Nuclei,”Rev. Mod. Phys. 21, 133.
Wheeler, John A. (1955), “Geons,”Phys. Rev. 97, 511.
Wheeler, John A. (1957), “On the Nature of Quantum Geometrodynamics,”Ann. Phys. 2, 604–614.
Wheeler, John A. (1960), “Neutrinos, Gravitation, and Geometry,” inRendiconti della Scuola Internazionale di Fisica “Enrico Fermi,” XI Corso (Zanichelli, Bologna, 1960); reprinted in J. A. Wheeler,Geometrodynamics (Academic Press, New York, 1962).
Wheeler, John A. (1964a), “Geometrodynamics and the Issue of the Final State,” inRelativity, Groups, and Topology, C. deWitt and B. DeWitt, eds. (Gordon and Breach, New York), pp. 317–522.
Wheeler, John A. (1964b), “The Superdense Star and the Critical Nucleon Number,” inGravitation and Relativity, H.-Y. Chiu and W. F. Hoffmann, eds. (Benjamin, New York).
Wheeler, John A. (1966), “Superdense Stars,”Ann. Rev. Astron. Astrophys. 4, 393.
Wheeler, John A. (1968), “Our Universe: The Known and the Unknown,”Am. Sci. 56, 1.
Wheeler, John A. (1979a), “The Quantum and the Universe,” inRelativity, Quanta and Cosmology, Vol. II, M. Pantaleo and F. de Finis, eds. (Johnson Reprint Corp., New York).
Wheeler, John A. (1979b),Frontiers of Time (North-Holland Publishing Co., Amsterdam); also inRediconti della Scuola Internazionale di Fisica “Enrico Fermi,” N. Toraldo di Francia and Bas van Fraassen, eds. (North-Holland Publishing Co., Amsterdam), pp. 395–497.
Wheeler, John A. (1980), “Beyond the Black Hole,” Chapter 22 inSome Strangeness in Proportion, Harry Wolf, ed. (Addison-Wesley, Reading, Massachusetts).
Wheeler, John A. (1981a), “The Lesson of the Black Hole,”Proc. Am. Philos. Soc. 125, 25.
Wheeler, John A. (1981b), “Delayed-Choice Experiments and the Bohr-Einstein Dialogue,” The American Philosophical Society and the Royal Society, pp. 25–37, papers read at the Meeting, June 5, 1980 (American Philosophical Society, Philadelphia).
Wheeler, John A. (1982), “The Computer and the Universe,”Int. J. Theor. Phys. 21, Nos. 6/7.
Wheeler, John A. (1984), “Bits, Quanta and Meaning,” inTheoretical Physics Meeting: Commemorative Volume on the Occasion of Eduardo Caianiello's Sixtieth Birthday, A. Giovanni, M. Marinaro, F. Mancini, and A. Rimini, eds. (Edizioni Scientifici Italiani, Naples), pp. 121–134.
Wheeler, John A. (1985), quoted in Jeremy Bernstein, “Retarded Learner,”Princeton Alumni Weekly, October 9, 1985, p. 28.
Wheeler, John A., and Feynman, Richard P. (1945), “Interaction with the Absorver as the Mechanism of Radiation,”Rev. Mod. Phys. 17, 157.
Wheeler, John A., and Zurek, Wojciech H., eds. (1983),Quantum Theory and the Measurement (Princeton University Press, Princeton), Preface, p. i.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Thorne, K.S., Zurek, W.H. John Archibald Wheeler: A few highlights of his contributions to physics. Found Phys 16, 79–89 (1986). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01889373
Received:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01889373