Murray Gell Mann

Murray Gell-Mann.

Biography

Distinguished Fellow Professor and Co-Chairman of the Science Board of the Santa Fe Institute
Robert Andrews Millikan Professor Emeritus of Theoretical Physics at the California Institute of Technology

Murray Gell-Mann was born in New York City in 1929. He entered Yale University at the age of 15 and received his B.Sc. in physics in 1948. He went on to obtain his Ph.D. from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1951 and became a member of the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton the same year. In 1952 he was already teaching at the University of Chicago. In 1955 he moved to the California Institute of Technology where he is currently Professor Emeritus of Theoretical Physics.

In 1953 he began to develop some of the theories that, verified experimentally over the subsequent 40 years, would earn him the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1969. His theory of the "eightfold way" restored order onto the chaos created by the discovery of some 100 new particles in the atomic nucleus. However, Gell-Mann is best known for his theory predicting the even more elementary particles he dubbed "quarks", a discovery which sparked the development of a new branch of physics known as quantum chromodynamics.

Besides being a Nobel laureate, Gell-Mann has received the Ernest O. Lawrence Memorial Award of the Atomic Energy Commission, the Franklin Medal of the Franklin Institute, the Research Corporation Award and the John J. Carty medal of the National Academy of Sciences. He has been awarded honorary doctoral degrees from many institutions, including Yale University, the University of Chicago, the University of Turin, Italy, and Cambridge and Oxford Universities, England. In 1988 he was listed on the United Nations Environmental Program Roll of Honor for Environmental Achievement (the Global 500). In 1994 he shared the 1989 Erice "Science For Peace" Prize

His interests extend to many other subjects, including archaeology, history, evolutionary biology, linguistics, learning and creative thinking. He is a founding member of the Santa Fe Institute, where he is currently involved in the study of the similarities and differences between complex adaptive systems (which develop using information gathered from the environment), which brings all of the information-related subjects together. He is also concerned with environmental and demographic policy matters, sustainable economic development and the stability of the world political system.

Gell-Mann is a member of numerous international institutions, including the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the American Physical Society, the Royal Society and the US President's Committee of Advisors on Science and Technology.

Academic Address

Santa Fe Institute
Santa Fe
New Mexico NM 87501-8943

E-Mail Address / URL

Web Page: www.santafe.edu/sfi/People/mgm/

Some bibliography

Apart from his celebrated contributions in physics, he has recently authored papers bearing titles such as The Global Common; Complexity and Complex Adaptative Systems; Understanding Complexity in the Prehistoric Southwest; What is Complexity?; Nature Conformable to Herself; "Information" versus Knowledge and Understanding; Fundamental Sources of Unpredictability: An Accidental Journey. He is also author of the celebrated book The Quark and the Jaguar, Adventures in the Simple and the Complex (1994, W. H. Freeman).

The title of his contribution to the Cajal Conference is Complexities and Degrees of Self-awareness.

	Murray Gell-Mann.
	Biography
	Distinguished Fellow Professor and Co-Chairman of the Science Board of the Santa Fe Institute Robert Andrews Millikan Professor Emeritus of Theoretical Physics at the California Institute of Technology Murray Gell-Mann was born in New York City in 1929. He entered Yale University at the age of 15 and received his B.Sc. in physics in 1948. He went on to obtain his Ph.D. from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1951 and became a member of the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton the same year. In 1952 he was already teaching at the University of Chicago. In 1955 he moved to the California Institute of Technology where he is currently Professor Emeritus of Theoretical Physics. In 1953 he began to develop some of the theories that, verified experimentally over the subsequent 40 years, would earn him the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1969. His theory of the "eightfold way" restored order onto the chaos created by the discovery of some 100 new particles in the atomic nucleus. However, Gell-Mann is best known for his theory predicting the even more elementary particles he dubbed "quarks", a discovery which sparked the development of a new branch of physics known as quantum chromodynamics. Besides being a Nobel laureate, Gell-Mann has received the Ernest O. Lawrence Memorial Award of the Atomic Energy Commission, the Franklin Medal of the Franklin Institute, the Research Corporation Award and the John J. Carty medal of the National Academy of Sciences. He has been awarded honorary doctoral degrees from many institutions, including Yale University, the University of Chicago, the University of Turin, Italy, and Cambridge and Oxford Universities, England. In 1988 he was listed on the United Nations Environmental Program Roll of Honor for Environmental Achievement (the Global 500). In 1994 he shared the 1989 Erice "Science For Peace" Prize His interests extend to many other subjects, including archaeology, history, evolutionary biology, linguistics, learning and creative thinking. He is a founding member of the Santa Fe Institute, where he is currently involved in the study of the similarities and differences between complex adaptive systems (which develop using information gathered from the environment), which brings all of the information-related subjects together. He is also concerned with environmental and demographic policy matters, sustainable economic development and the stability of the world political system. Gell-Mann is a member of numerous international institutions, including the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the American Physical Society, the Royal Society and the US President's Committee of Advisors on Science and Technology.
	Academic Address
	Santa Fe Institute Santa Fe New Mexico NM 87501-8943
	E-Mail Address / URL
	Web Page: www.santafe.edu/sfi/People/mgm/
	Some bibliography
	Apart from his celebrated contributions in physics, he has recently authored papers bearing titles such as The Global Common; Complexity and Complex Adaptative Systems; Understanding Complexity in the Prehistoric Southwest; What is Complexity?; Nature Conformable to Herself; "Information" versus Knowledge and Understanding; Fundamental Sources of Unpredictability: An Accidental Journey. He is also author of the celebrated book The Quark and the Jaguar, Adventures in the Simple and the Complex (1994, W. H. Freeman). The title of his contribution to the Cajal Conference is Complexities and Degrees of Self-awareness.