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German physicist From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Hans-Peter Dürr (7 October 1929 – 18 May 2014) was a German physicist. He worked on nuclear and quantum physics, elementary particles and gravitation, epistemology, and philosophy, and he advocated responsible scientific and energy policies.[1] In 1987, he was awarded the Right Livelihood Award for "his profound critique of the Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI) and his work to convert high technology to peaceful uses".
Hans-Peter Dürr | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Dürr in 2007 | |
| Born | 7 October 1929 Stuttgart, Germany |
| Died | 18 May 2014 (aged 84) Munich, Germany |
| Occupation | Physicist |
| Awards | Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany, Right Livelihood Award |
 |
Hans-Peter Dürr was born in Stuttgart in 1929. He studied physics in Stuttgart, graduating with a Diploma in 1953 and did postgraduate studies at University of California, Berkeley, completing his Ph.D. in 1956 supervised by Edward Teller.
| This section needs additional citations for verification. (June 2022) |
From 1958 until 1976 he was a research associate of Werner Heisenberg, specializing in nuclear physics, quantum physics, elementary particles and gravitation epistemology and philosophy. He was Heisenberg's closest ally in their attempts to develop a unified field theory of elementary particles.[2] In 1962 he habilitated at the Ludwig Maximilian University in Munich.[2] The same year he was a guest professor in Berkeley, California and Madras, India.[2]
Until 1997 he was professor of physics at the Ludwig Maximilian University in Munich. Between 1978 and 1997 he was executive Director of the Max Planck Institute for Physics (Werner-Heisenberg-Institute) and Max Planck Institute for Astrophysics in Munich several times.[2] He was Vice executive director from 1972-1977, 1981–1986 and 1993-1995.
In the 1980s, Dürr advocated the cause of peace as a member of the Pugwash Conferences on Science and World Affairs. In 1983, he helped co-fund the Scientists' Initiative "Responsibility for Peace", which led to the Scientists' Peace Congress in Mainz attended by 3,300 scientists and the Mainzer Appell, a declaration against further nuclear armament. In 1990, another large scientists' convention in Göttingen warned against the militarization of space. In support of these conventions, Dürr gave a series of lectures at numerous German universities. Dürr was a leading critic of the US Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI), otherwise known as Star Wars.[3]
In 1986 Dürr proposed a World Peace Initiative, on a similar scale to the SDI, to solve environmental problems, and achieve social justice and peace. In 1987 this was reborn as the Global Challenges Network, which received the Right Livelihood Award together with Dürr.[4]
More recently,[when?] Dürr contributed to the global environmental movement. He served as a member of the board of Greenpeace Germany and as a member of the International Advisory Council on the Economic Development of Hainan in Harmony with the Natural Environment in China. In 1996, Dürr was made a member of the UN Secretary General's international advisory group for the Habitat II Conference in Istanbul.
Dürr was a member of the Club of Rome and served on the scientific committee of the Vienna Internationale Akademie für Zukunftsfragen, advocating sustainable, equitable, and viable development, emphasizing energy efficiency and sufficiency as a point of entry. He was a founder member of the German Vereinigung für Ökologische Ökonomie.[2]
In 2005, together with Daniel Dahm and Rudolf zur Lippe, he published the Potsdam Manifesto and the Potsdam Denkschrift as a follow-up to the Russell–Einstein Manifesto of 1955. They were signed by a large group of scientists from all over the world, including 20 laureates of the Right Livelihood Award.
From 2006 until his death, he was a founding councillor at the World Future Council, and a supporter of the Campaign for the Establishment of a United Nations Parliamentary Assembly, an organisation which campaigns for the democratic reformation of the United Nations.[5]
He also championed various social justice causes, and helped fund the "David against Goliath" organization protesting against a nuclear fuel reprocessing plant in Bavaria.[citation needed]
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Dürr was married for more than 50 years and had 4 children and numerous grandchildren. He died in May 2014 in Munich.[1]
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