PHYSICIST

Freeman Dyson

1923 - 2020

Photo of Freeman Dyson

Icon of person Freeman Dyson

Freeman John Dyson (15 December 1923 – 28 February 2020) was a British-American theoretical physicist and mathematician known for his works in quantum field theory, astrophysics, random matrices, mathematical formulation of quantum mechanics, condensed matter physics, nuclear physics, and engineering. He was professor emeritus in the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton and a member of the board of sponsors of the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists.Dyson originated several concepts that bear his name, such as Dyson's transform, a fundamental technique in additive number theory, which he developed as part of his proof of Mann's theorem; the Dyson tree, a hypothetical genetically engineered plant capable of growing in a comet; the Dyson series, a perturbative series where each term is represented by Feynman diagrams; the Dyson sphere, a thought experiment that attempts to explain how a space-faring civilization would meet its energy requirements with a hypothetical megastructure that completely encompasses a star and captures a large percentage of its power output; and Dyson's eternal intelligence, a means by which an immortal society of intelligent beings in an open universe could escape the prospect of the heat death of the universe by extending subjective time to infinity while expending only a finite amount of energy. Dyson disagreed with the scientific consensus on climate change. Read more on Wikipedia

Since 2007, the English Wikipedia page of Freeman Dyson has received more than 2,833,459 page views. His biography is available in 56 different languages on Wikipedia (up from 53 in 2019). Freeman Dyson is the 301st most popular physicist (down from 297th in 2019), the 909th most popular biography from United Kingdom (up from 1,006th in 2019) and the 36th most popular British Physicist.

Freeman Dyson is a physicist and mathematician who has contributed to a number of fields, including nuclear physics, quantum electrodynamics, solid-state physics, astrophysics, and mathematics. He is most famous for his work in quantum electrodynamics.

Memorability Metrics

  • 2.8M

    Page Views (PV)

  • 60.28

    Historical Popularity Index (HPI)

  • 56

    Languages Editions (L)

  • 4.13

    Effective Languages (L*)

  • 5.24

    Coefficient of Variation (CV)

Page views of Freeman Dysons by language

Over the past year Freeman Dyson has had the most page views in the with 312,423 views, followed by French (20,161), and German (15,330). In terms of yearly growth of page views the top 3 wikpedia editions are Bosnian (152.61%), Haitian (104.78%), and French (91.15%)

Among PHYSICISTS

Among physicists, Freeman Dyson ranks 301 out of 851Before him are Qian Xuesen, Giovanni Battista Venturi, Armen Sarkissian, John Tyndall, George Smoot, and William Daniel Phillips. After him are Andre Geim, Giorgio Parisi, Jack Steinberger, Abdul Qadeer Khan, Hélène Langevin-Joliot, and David Gross.

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Contemporaries

Among people born in 1923, Freeman Dyson ranks 56Before him are Queen Anne of Romania, Norman Mailer, Linda Christian, Stephanie Kwolek, Horst Tappert, and Dev Anand. After him are Victoria de los Ángeles, Chaleo Yoovidhya, Zoya Kosmodemyanskaya, Merton Miller, Robert Maxwell, and Vladimir Gelfand. Among people deceased in 2020, Freeman Dyson ranks 66Before him are Abdul Halim Khaddam, Radomir Antić, Mario J. Molina, John Saxon, Infanta Pilar, Duchess of Badajoz, and Pranab Mukherjee. After him are Stirling Moss, Jack Steinberger, Ulay, Amadou Toumani Touré, Clive Cussler, and Eddie Van Halen.

Others Born in 1923

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Others Deceased in 2020

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In United Kingdom

Among people born in United Kingdom, Freeman Dyson ranks 909 out of 8,785Before him are Anthony Ashley-Cooper, 3rd Earl of Shaftesbury (1671), Danny Boyle (1956), Duncan I of Scotland (1001), Van Morrison (1945), Sarah, Duchess of York (1959), and James Anderson (1680). After him are Adelard of Bath (1075), Anne Hyde (1637), Pat Hitchcock (1928), David I of Scotland (1084), Princess Victoria of the United Kingdom (1868), and Stirling Moss (1929).

Among PHYSICISTS In United Kingdom

Among physicists born in United Kingdom, Freeman Dyson ranks 36Before him are John Cockcroft (1897), Daniel Rutherford (1749), Andrew Huxley (1917), Osborne Reynolds (1842), Anthony James Leggett (1938), and Nevill Francis Mott (1905). After him are James Jeans (1877), William Whewell (1794), Joseph Swan (1828), John Stewart Bell (1928), William Sturgeon (1783), and Stephen Hales (1677).