Abraham Pais (May 19, 1918 – July 28, 2000) was a Dutch-born American physicist and science historian. Pais earned his Ph.D. from University of Utrecht just prior to a Nazi ban on Jewish participation in Dutch universities during World War II. When the Nazis began the forced relocation of Dutch Jews, he went into hiding, but was later arrested and saved only by the end of the war. He then served as an assistant to Niels Bohr in Denmark and was later a colleague of Albert Einstein at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, New Jersey. Pais wrote books documenting the lives of these two great physicists and the contributions they and others made to modern physics. He was a physics professor at Rockefeller University until his retirement.
Scientists are like pickpockets. God has all the secrets in his pockets, and we try to pick them. You make an assumption in science -- and it is an assumption -- that there are fundamental laws you can find out. You have an idea you think can be proved, and you try to prove it. Depending on how it goes, you make a step forward or you make a fool of yourself. Nature doesn't care whether you're right or wrong. Nature is the way it is, and you had better be smart enough to get a glimpse.
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Fact
1
With Lila Lee (Awill), a poet and painter, his son is actor Josh Pais and his grandson is actor Zane Pais.
2
Author of a critically acclaimed biography of Einstein, Subtle is the Lord: the Science and Life of Albert Einstein (Oxford University Press, 1982); a definitive history of the study of modern physics, Inward Bound: Of Matter and Forces in the Physical World (Clarendon Press, 1986); the biography Niels Bohr's Times: In Physics, Philosophy and Polity (Clarendon Press, 1991); the book Einstein Lived Here (Clarendon Press, 1995); a biography of Paul Dirac; The Genius of Science: A Portrait Gallery (Oxford University Press, 2000); and other works.
3
In 1947, he was a colleague of Albert Einstein at the Princeton Institute for Advanced Study. Pais made several important contributions to the theory of particle physics during his time at Princeton.
4
His dissertation attracted the attention of Niels Bohr, who sent a message inviting him to work with him in Denmark. Pais finally escaped Nazi-occupied Holland in 1946 to do so.
5
Reknowned theoretical physicist and scientific historian. Pais worked with Albert Einstein, J. Robert Oppenheimer, Paul Dirac and Richard Feynman, among many others. The relationships he made during his research career gave him a unique perspective from which he wrote many highly acclaimed biographies.
6
A brilliant physics student at the University of Utrecht when the Nazis came to power. The German authorities ordered that the 14th of June, 1941, would be the last day Jews were allowed to get a Ph.D in Holland. Pais determined to get a Ph.D before this date, because he wanted to get out of Holland to study abroad. On June 9, 1941, he earned his degree, making him the last Jew to receive a doctorate degree in wartime Holland.
Self
Title
Year
Status
Character
Reflections of Einstein
2015
Documentary
Himself
Einstein Revealed
1996
TV Movie documentary
Himself - Rockefeller University
Known for movies
Einstein Revealed 1996 as Himself - Rockefeller University
$500,000
