Remembering J. Robert Schrieffer: A Pioneer in Superconductivity Theory?

[ZapperZ]

I'm surprised no one has posted this already, considering that we are usually quick to announce the passing of major figures in science. Or maybe I missed it somewhere in this forum.

J. Robert Schrieffer, the "S" in BCS theory of superconductivity, has passed away this past July at the age of 88. If you do a search on PF for "BCS theory", you would have gotten many hits. In fact, the BCS theory paper of 1957 is one of the most cited paper in physics. Schrieffer's text on superconductivity was one of the ones that I used when I got into this field as a graduate student.

Unfortunately, he withdrew from the physics community during the last several years of his life after the tragic accident and his incarceration, as you can read from the news report. The impact of his work, though, remains as his biggest legacy.

Zz.

 

[jedishrfu]

Thanks for posting @ZapperZ. I read about that accident sometimes great scientists are just as flawed as us ordinary folks. I don't know how many times we drive when we aren't fully there or are distracted by some device,

Here's the Wikipedia entry on his life:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Robert_Schrieffer

 

[DrDu]

That's sad news. In my oppinion, his book on superconductivity is still one of the best books on the topic.