From Quarks to Galaxies: A tour through the forefront of modern physics with Frank Wilczek
The Origins Podcast with Lawrence Krauss
Lawrence M. Krauss
4.4 • 592 Ratings
🗓️ 23 April 2024
⏱️ 235 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
I have had the privilege of working closely with Frank Wilczek for over 40 years, on and off, and we have written perhaps a dozen scientific papers together over that time. Our collaborations together were always a source of joy, and often of wonder, and I am pleased to say that a number of them had significant impact on our fields of study.
While I have had the privilege of working with many talented scientists during my career, Frank is unique. He is one of the most broadly read, deep, and creative scientists I have known. To first approximation, he has read everything in science, and one of the characteristics of our own collaborations that has been so much fun is entering an entirely new field of study and learning how much is known about it, and how that knowledge might be used in new contexts.
Frank is likely the most significant theoretical physicist of my generation, and along with Ed Witten, perhaps the intellectually most gifted. That he won the Nobel Prize for work performed as a graduate student with David Gross to develop the theory of one of the four known forces in nature is notable, but it just scratches the surface of his interests and accomplishments.
While Frank and I have appeared onstage together on numerous occasions, I was waiting for the opportunity to sit down with him for an extended period to discuss his life in science, and the areas of study that reflect the most significant developments of recent times, and the outstanding challenges in our field. It was a pleasure to be able to do so for this podcast. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did, and that it inspires your interest in the world around us.
As always, an ad-free video version of this podcast is also available to paid Critical Mass subscribers. Your subscriptions support the non-profit Origins Project Foundation, which produces the podcast. The audio version is available free on the Critical Mass site and on all podcast sites, and the video version will also be available on the Origins Project Youtube channel as well.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Hi, and welcome to the Origins Podcast. I'm your host, Lawrence Krause. I've had the pleasure and |
| 0:15.7 | privilege of working with my friend and colleague Nobel Prize winning physicist Frank Wilcheck for almost 40 years |
| 0:22.9 | on a wide variety of projects. I think we've written a dozen papers together that I like to think |
| 0:28.2 | have had a significant impact on our respective fields. During that time I've gotten to know Frank |
| 0:34.2 | as one of truly the most remarkable intellects I know with having read a wide |
| 0:40.0 | variety of areas of science. He's incredibly well read, incredibly creative. And I think certainly one of |
| 0:46.2 | the dominant theoretical physicists of my own generation. I've wanted to have a deep dive with Frank |
| 0:52.5 | about his own career in science, his perspectives |
| 0:55.0 | of physics more generally for some time, and I'm glad we finally got to sit down and do that |
| 1:00.0 | in the podcast you're about to hear. You can listen to it, or watch it, in fact, add-free |
| 1:07.0 | on our Critical Mass Substac site. If you subscribe to that site, it supports the nonprofit Origins Project Foundation that produces this podcast. |
| 1:16.2 | And I hope you'll consider supporting the foundation. |
| 1:19.2 | You can listen to it or watch it as well on our YouTube channel and subscribe to that channel or listen to it on any podcast site you can go to when you enjoy listening to a podcast song. |
| 1:31.2 | No matter how you listen to it or watch it, I think you'll be entertained and inspired by listening to Frank. |
| 1:37.8 | And I hope you enjoyed as much as I did. |
| 1:39.8 | With no further ado, Frank Welchek. |
| 1:54.4 | Well, Frank, it is a delight to finally have you on the podcast. |
| 1:55.7 | It's so good to see you. |
| 1:56.6 | I hope you're doing well. |
| 1:58.2 | I'm doing very well. |
| 1:59.3 | I'm happy to be here. |
| 2:02.6 | It's been a moment. Well, good. Well, it's, I'm here and we're about to have, it looks, my, my studio |
... |
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