Biography

Victor Frederick Weisskopf was born on September 19, 1908, in Vienna, into a comfortable, assimilated and cultured Jewish family as a second child of Emil and Martha Weisskopf (maiden last name: Gut). He is regarded as one of the great men of the 20th-century physics. His contributions to physics, science, and society in general had been many. He was a highly accomplished researcher, innovative administrator, scientific statesman, inspired teacher, passionate pianist, and articulate spokesman for the international community of physicists and scientists. His deep interest in history, politics, art, music, and other human endeavors is the product of his unique polymathic mind. He was a man of warmth, compassion, and wisdom-a contemplative and unpretentious human being.

Throughout the world's scientific community he is known simply as Viki.

In physics he had given us, among other things, the theory of the widths of energy levels and their fundamental relations to atomic and nuclear lifetimes, the theory of the self-energy of the electron, the theory of nuclear structure, known as the "Clouded Crystal Ball" model, and the theory of hadron matter called the "MIT Bag" model.

He played a leading role in fostering international collaboration in physics, perhaps most visibly as Director General of CERN [The European Organization for Nuclear Research (French: Conseil Europeen pour la Recherche Nucleaire)], from 1961 to 1965. He was an eloquent spokesman regarding the social and political responsibilities of science and scientists. He was called the conscience of the physics community and the conscience of the entire international scientific community.

Of high importance are his contributions to the teaching, exposition and promotion of physics at all levels. His books, conference lectures, review articles, and popular scientific writings all demonstrate exceptional scope and the power of insight of an exceptional interpreter of science.

Victor Frederick Weisskopf brought to all of us - colleagues, students, friends, and the general public - new ways of seeing phenomena with which we live daily. By his deep insight and personal example as a teacher, he enabled us to see further and deeper and to understand the immensely productive power of knowledge combined with compassion.

- IMDb mini biography by: V. Alexander Stefan, La Jolla, California.