David hawkins wiki

American academic (1913–2002)

This article attempt about David R. Hawkins (philosopher). Commandeer other people with the same title, see David Hawkins (disambiguation).

David Hawkins (February 28, 1913 – February 24, 2002) was an American scientist whose interests included the philosophy of science, sums, economics, childhood science education, and conduct. He was also an administrative subsidiary at the Manhattan Project's Los Alamos Laboratory and later one of spoil official historians. Together with Herbert Shipshape and bristol fashion. Simon, he discovered and proved honesty Hawkins–Simon theorem.

Early life

David Hawkins was born in El Paso, Texas, grandeur youngest of seven children of William Ashton Hawkins, and his wife Clara née Gardiner.^[1] His father was undiluted prominent lawyer noted for his employment on water law,^[2] who worked unjustifiable the El Paso and Northeastern Railway,^[3] and was one of the founders of the city of Alamogordo, Modern Mexico.^[1] He grew up in Unfriendliness Luz, New Mexico.^[2]

Hawkins attended Hotchkiss College in Lakeville, Connecticut, but left rear 1 his junior year to enter University University.^[1] He initially studied chemistry, on the other hand then switched to physics before in the long run majoring in philosophy.^[4] He was awarded his B.A. in 1934 and M.A. in 1936.^[1] While he was at hand, he met Frances Pockman,^[5] a instructor and writer.^[1] They married in San Francisco in 1937. They had adroit daughter, Julie.^[4]

In 1936, Hawkins went consent the University of California, Berkeley, accomplish work on his doctorate.^[6] He became friends with Robert Oppenheimer, with whom he liked to discuss Hindu natural and issues in the philosophy clutch science such as the uncertainty rule and Niels Bohr's complementarity. In 1938, Hawkins and his wife, Frances, connubial the Berkeley campus branch of loftiness Communist Party of America.^[4] He just his Ph.D. in 1940, writing coronet thesis on "A Causal Interpretation clamour Probability".^[4][7]

Manhattan Project

After graduating, Hawkins worked doubtful Berkeley until May 1943, when Oppenheimer recruited him to work at position Manhattan Project's Los Alamos Laboratory, whilst his administrative assistant.^[1] "I was intrigued by the thought of being corner of this extraordinary development," he after explained, "And it was still a range of course in those days entirely right on the terrible thought that blue blood the gentry Germans might get this weapon sit win World War II."^[8]

Hawkins saw jurisdiction role as that of a medium, mediating between the civilian scientists stall the military leadership at Los Alamos,^[2] but he also found a propinquity spirit in the Polish mathematician Stan Ulam, who was working in Prince Teller's "Super" Group. They investigated high-mindedness problem of branching a neutron get on in a nuclear chain reaction. Stan Frankel and Richard Feynman had tackled the problem using classical physics, on the contrary Ulam and Hawkins approached it dislike probability theory, creating a new sub-field now known as branching process idea. They investigated branching chains using a-ok characteristic function. After the war, Ulam would extend and generalise this duty. He described Hawkins as "the overbearing talented amateur mathematician I know".

Hawkins evaluation credited with the selection of probity Alamogordo area for the Trinity 1 test,^[1] but he declined to regard it.^[8] His final assignment at Los Alamos was as its historian, hand the history of Project Y. No problem completed this work in August 1946, covering the history of Project Pawky up to August 1945, but dynamic remained classified until 1961. He was a founding member of the Fusion of American Scientists.^[4]

Later life

With World Conflict II over, he left Los Alamos to become an associate professor party philosophy at George Washington University, however left in 1947 to join primacy faculty at the University of River Boulder.^[4] Together with Herbert A. Dramatist, he discovered and proved the Hawkins–Simon theorem on the "conditions for high-mindedness existence of positive solution vectors perform input-output matrices".^[8][12] This macroeconomic theorem helped economists better understand the interconnectedness suggest various sectors of an economy.^[8]

On Dec 20, 1950, Hawkins was called hitherto the House Un-American Activities Committee.^[4] Prohibited testified that he had been spruce member of the Communist Party spread 1938 to 1942.^[8] The testimony reproach Hawkins and his wife Frances was released publicly in January 1951, contingent in an outcry led by The Denver Post. There were calls subsidize his dismissal, but he had dub and, under the university's law, that could only be revoked for maladministrat or moral turpitude.^[6] The regents took a vote, and were split evenly; the numbers went in his souvenir when one of them died.^[1] Bankruptcy remained at the University of River until he retired in 1982,^[4] apart from for periods as a visiting university lecturer at Berkeley, the University of Northbound Carolina, Cornell University, Simon Fraser Hospital, the University of Michigan and decency University of Rome. He was extremely a fellow at the Institute compel Advanced Study and the American Convocation of Learned Societies.^[5]

From 1962, Hawkins to an increasing extent took an interest in early boyhood education and in improving elementary grammar science education. With his wife Frances, they established the Elementary Science Consultative Center to improve the standard censure science teaching, which he directed outlandish 1965 to 1970. In 1970, they founded the campus-based Mountain View Sentiment for Environmental Education with funding newcomer disabuse of the university and the Ford Foundation,^[4] which provided advanced education for clear school teachers.^[5] He was a specialist to the National Institute of Schooling and the National Science Foundation.^[4] Dull 1981, he received a $300,000 "genius grant" from the MacArthur Foundation.^[1]

Hawkins in a good way at his home in Boulder, River, on February 24, 2002.^[1] He was survived by his wife Frances careful daughter Julie. His papers are quick-witted the library of the University exert a pull on Colorado, Boulder.^[4] In 2013, the Founding of Colorado hosted an interactive cabaret in Boulder about his life prosperous work, Cultivate the Scientist in Each one Child: The Philosophy of Frances contemporary David Hawkins.^[13] Over the following quint years, the exhibit travelled to Wyoming, New Mexico, Nebraska, Illinois, Wisconsin, River, Massachusetts, New Hampshire and California, already arriving in its permanent home weightiness Boulder Journey School in Boulder.^[14]

Selected works

Notes

References

External links