Record

Authorised form of nameDirac; Paul Adrien Maurice (1902 - 1984)
Dates1902 - 1984
NationalityBritish
Place of birthBristol, Gloucestershire, England
Date of birth08/08/1902
Place of deathTallahassee, Florida, USA
Date of death20/10/1984
Research fieldQuantum mechanics
Relativity
Cosmology
ActivityEducation:
Cotham School, Bristol; BSc (Bristol); PhD (Camb)
Career:
Lecturer, University of Cambridge; Lucasian Professor of Mathematics, 1932-1969; Professor of Physics, Florida State University 1971-1984
Medals and prizes:
Nobel Prize (Physics) 1933
Honours:
OM 1973
Membership categoryFellow
Date of election15/05/1930
Age at election27
RSActivityMedals and prizes:
Royal Medal 1939; Copley Medal 1952
Lectures:
Bakerian 1941
RelationshipsMarried Margit Wigner, sister of physicist Eugene Wigner, 1937
PublishedWorksThe Principles of Quantum Mechanics (1930); Quantum Electrodunamics (1943); Developments in Quantum Electrodynamics (1946)
SourceSources:
Bulloch's Roll; DSB vol 17 pp 224-233
Obituaries:
Biographical Memoirs of Fellows of the Royal Society 1986 vol 32 pp 137-185, plate, by R H Dalitz and Sir Rudolf Peierls
References:
Sir Fred Hoyle, 'The Achievement of Dirac', review of Helge S. Kragh, Dirac: A Scientific Biography in NR 1992 vol 46 pp 183-187
Anon, 'Visit of His Excellency the Soviet Ambassador, 19 November 1959' in NR 1959 vol 14 pp 160-162
R H Dalitz (ed), 'The collected works of P A M Dirac: 1924-1948' (Cambridge University Press, 1995)
H Kragh, 'Dirac : A Scientific Biography' (Cambridge University Press 1991)
B N Kursunoglu and E P Wigner (eds) 'Reminiscences about a great physicist : Paul Adrien Maurice Dirac' (Cambridge, 1987)
B V Medvedev (ed) ' Paul Dirac and 20th century physics' (Russian) (Moscow 1990)
N Mukunda , The life and work of P A M Dirac in 'Recent developments in theoretical physics (Singapore, 1987)
A Pais, M Jacob, D I Olive and M F Atiyah, 'Paul Dirac : the man and his work' (Cambridge, 1998)
J G Taylor (ed) 'Tributes to Paul Dirac, Cambridge, 1985' (Bristol, 1987)
Michael Berry, 'Paul Dirac, the purest soul in physics', Physics World, February 1998
www-groups.dcs.st-and.ac.uk/history/Mathematicians/Dirac.html
B Pippard, 'Euclid and other popular romances. Such silver currents: the story of William and Lucy Clifford 1845-1929, by M Chisholm' in NR 2003 vol 57 pp 252-253
R Singh and F Riess, 'The nobel laureate Sir Chandrasekhara Venkata Raman FRS and his contacts with the British Scientific community in a social and political context' in NR 2004 vol 58 pp 47-64
P Fara, 'Lucasian Professors. From Newton to Hawking: a history of Cambridge University's Lucasian professors of mathematics, ed K C Knox and R Noakes' in NR 2004 vol 58 pp 312-313
Virtual International Authority Filehttp://viaf.org/viaf/17350683
CodeNA6266
Archives associated with this Fellow
RefNoTitleDate
PB/7/2/4/1/2Letter from Home Office refusing visa, 13 June 1945, and Blackett's correspondence with other colleagues involved requesting meeting with Royal Society to discuss the matter.1945
PB/1/33/1/2Nobel Prize1948
PB/2/7/5/6Letter from Paul Dirac re electron passing through a lead plate.2 December 1937
EC/1930/04Dirac, Paul Adrien Maurice: certificate of election to the Royal Society
PB/2/7/5/4Letter from PAM Dirac, commenting on paper sent to him by Blackett.19 May 1937
P/0150Portrait of Dirac, Paul Adrien Maurice1939
MS/825Letters of Paul Dirac and Manci Dirac1953-1981
RR/65/29Referee's report by Paul Adrien Maurice Dirac, on a paper 'Application of “reciprocity” to nuclei' by Max Born1938
RR/43/125Referee's report by Paul Adrien Maurice Dirac, on a paper 'The polarisation of electrons by double scattering' by Nevill Francis MottDecember 1931
RR/40/22Referee's report by Paul Adrien Maurice Dirac, on a paper 'Matter and radiation as the propogated discontinuities' by [Ali Moustafa] MosharrafaMarch 1930
RR/65/151Referee's report by Paul Adrien Maurice Dirac, on a paper 'Quantum theory of Einstein-Bose particles and nuclear interaction' by Nicholas Kemmer1938
RR/72/219Referee's report by Paul Adrien Maurice Dirac, on a paper 'Unified field theory in six dimensions' by J Podolanski1949
RR/53/122Referee's report by Paul Adrien Maurice Dirac, on a paper 'On the new field theory' by Banesh Hoffmann[October 1934]
RR/65/136Referee's report by Paul Adrien Maurice Dirac, on a paper 'ß-Transitions in a coulomb field' by Fred HoyleFebruary 1938
RR/43/94Referee's report by Paul Adrein Maurice Dirac, on a paper 'The quantum theory of dispersion in metallic conductors. — II' by R de L KronigJune 1931
RR/61/102Referee's report by Paul Adrien Maurice Dirac, on a paper 'The rotational energy-levels of a diatomic molecule in a tetrahedral field' by H M CundyDecember 1937
RR/70/86Referee's report by Paul Adrien Maurice Dirac, on a paper 'The interaction of radiation and matter' by P M Davidson1947
RR/58/104Referee's report by Paul Adrien Maurice Dirac, on a paper 'Kinematics, dynamics, and the scale of time' by Edward Arthur MilneOctober 1936
RR/63/23Referee's report by Paul Adrien Maurice Dirac, on a paper 'The inverse square law of gravitation—II and III' by Edward Arthur MilneFebruary 1937
RR/65/259Referee's report by Paul Adrien Maurice Dirac, on a paper 'New systems of normal co-ordinates for relativistic optics' by G TempleJuly 1938
RR/47/85Referee's report by Paul Adrien Maurice Dirac, on a paper 'The change of resistance of a semi-conductor in a magnetic field' by J W HardingNovember 1932
RR/55/107Referee's report by Paul Adrien Maurice Dirac, on a paper 'The inertia of electrons in metals' by Charles Galton DarwinDecember 1935
RR/54/59Second referee's report by Paul Adrien Maurice Dirac, on a paper 'On the foundations of dynamics' by Edward Arthur MilneDecember 1935
RR/47/11Referee's report by Paul Adrien Maurice Dirac, on a paper 'Notes on the theory of radiation' by Charles Galton DarwinFebruary 1932
RR/46/126Referee's report by Paul Adrien Maurice Dirac, on a paper 'Dissociation of excited diatomic molecules by external perturbations' by Clarence Zener[January 1933]
RR/47/16Referee's report by Ralph Howard Fowler, on a paper 'Relativistic quantum mechanics' by Paul Adrien Maurice DiracApril 1932
RR/60/52Referee's report by Paul Adrien Maurice Dirac, on a paper 'On the new field theory' by Maurice Henry Lecorney PryceMarch 1936
RR/52/51Referee's report by Paul Adrien Maurice Dirac, on a paper 'On the annihilation radiation of positrons' by Hans Albrecht BetheJanuary 1935
RR/49/117Referee's report by Paul Adrien Maurice Dirac, on a paper 'The masses of the proton and electron' by Arthur Stanley Eddington[October 1933]
RR/49/159Referee's report by Paul Adrien Maurice Dirac, on a paper 'Internal photoelectric absorption in halide crystals' by R W Gurney[February 1933]
RR/65/273Referee's report by Paul Adrien Maurice Dirac, on a paper 'On the Hamilton-Jacobi theory and quantization of a dynamical continuum' by P WeissSeptember 1938
RR/48/101Referee's report by Paul Adrien Maurice Dirac, on a paper 'Notes on some electronic properties of conductors and insulators' by Ralph Howard Fowler[May 1933]
RR/49/8Referee's report by Paul Adrien Maurice Dirac, on a paper 'On relativity and wave mechanics' by W Band[June 1933]
RR/48/100Referee's report by Paul Adrien Maurice Dirac, on a paper 'An elementary theory of electronic semi-conductors, and some of their possible properties' by Ralph Howard Fowler[March 1933]
RR/48/102Referee's report by Paul Adrien Maurice Dirac, on a paper 'General considerations on the theory of the separation of H1 and H2 by electrolysis of water' by Ralph Howard Fowler[January 1934]
RR/65/249Referee's report by Paul Adrien Maurice Dirac, on a paper 'Collective electron ferromagnetism II. Energy and specific heat' by Edmund Clifton Stoner1938
RR/55/39Referee's report by Paul Adrien Maurice Dirac, on a paper 'The scattering of positrons by electrons with exchange on Dirac’s theory of the positron' by H J BhabhaNovember 1935
RR/50/135Referee's report by Paul Adrien Maurice Dirac, on a paper 'On the electromagnetic fields due to variable electric charges and the intensities of spectrum lines according to the quantum theory' by George Adolphus SchottOctober 1933
RR/65/117Referee's report by Paul Adrien Maurice Dirac, on a paper 'Showers produced by the penetrating cosmic radiation' by W HeitlerMarch 1938
RR/54/136Referee's report by Paul Adrein Maurice Dirac, on a paper 'The quantum theory of the neutron' by George TempleFebruary 1934
RR/60/53Referee's report by Paul Adrien Maurice Dirac, on a paper 'On the new field theory II-Quantum theory of field and charges' by Maurice Henry Lecorney PryceNovember 1936
RR/66/80Referee's report by Paul Adrien Maurice Dirac, on a paper 'On field equations of electric charge' by H T Flint[April 1939]
RR/65/177Referee's report by Paul Adrien Maurice Dirac, on a paper 'The low-temperature properties of gaseous helium' by Harrie Stewart Wilson Massey and R A BuckinghamJuly 1938
RR/65/274Referee's report by Paul Adrien Maurice Dirac, on a paper 'On the Hamilton-Jacobi theory and quantization of generalized electrodynamics' by P WeissOctober 1938
RR/58/105Referee's report by Paul Adrien Maurice Dirac, on a paper 'Kinematics, dynamics, and the scale of time II' by Edward Arthur MilneDecember 1936
RR/62/90Referee's report by Paul Adrien Maurice Dirac, on a paper 'On the relations of the tensor-calculus to the spinor-calculus' by Edmund Taylor Whittaker[October 1936]
RR/64/63Referee's report by Paul Adrien Maurice Dirac, on a paper 'Stability of polyatomic molecules in degenerate electronic states II-Spin degeneracy' by H A Jahn[November 1937]
RR/65/28Referee's report by Paul Adrien Maurice Dirac, on a paper 'A suggestion for unifying quantum theory and relativity' by Max BornJanuary 1938
RR/63/22Second referee's report by Paul Adrien Maurice Dirac, on a paper 'The equations of electromagnetism. I - Fundamental identifications. II - Field theory' by Edward Arthur MilneJanuary 1938
RR/63/24Referee's report by Paul Adrien Maurice Dirac, on a paper 'Kinematics, dynamics and the scale of time, III' by Edward Arthur MilneJanuary 1937
RR/68/456Memoranda, on a paper 'Unitary representations of the Lorentz group' by Paul Adrien Maurice Dirac8 June 1944
RR/64/88Referee's report by Paul Adrien Maurice Dirac, on a paper 'The theory of pressure-ionization and its applications' by D S Kothari[December 1937]
RR/59/52Referee's report by Edmund Taylor Whittaker, on a paper 'Relativistic wave equations' by Paul Adrien Maurice Dirac[April 1936]
RR/61/13Second referee's report by Paul Adrien Maurice Dirac, on a paper 'The basis of a theory of the universe' by F L ArnotMay 1937
RR/66/139Referee's report by Paul Adrien Maurice Dirac, on a paper 'The particle aspect of meson theory' by Nicholas Kemmer[July 1939]
RR/62/38Referee's report by Paul Adrien Maurice Dirac, on a paper 'The relativistic interaction of two electrons in the self-consistent field method' by Bertha Swirles[August 1936]
RR/64/65Referee's report by Paul Adrien Maurice Dirac, on a paper 'Stability of polyatomic molecules in degenerate electronic states - I—Orbital degeneracy' by H A Jahn and E Teller[April 1937]
RR/65/247Referee's report by Paul Adrien Maurice Dirac, on a paper 'Effusion phenomena in relativistic quantum statistics' by B N SrivastavaMay 1938
RR/67/178Referee's report by Paul Adrien Maurice Dirac, on a paper 'Operator calculus in the electron theory of metals' by K FuchsApril 1940
RR/65/72Referee's report by Ralph Howard Fowler, on a paper 'Classical theory of radiating electrons' by Paul Adrien Maurice DiracMay 1938
RR/66/81Second referee's report by Paul Adrien Maurice Dirac, on a paper 'On field equations of electric charge' by H T Flint[June 1939]
RR/65/97Referee's report by Paul Adrien Maurice Dirac, on a paper 'On the nuclear forces and the magnetic moments of the neutron and the proton' by Herbert Fröhlich, Walter Heinrich Heitler and Nicholas KemmerFebruary 1938
RR/69/142Referee's report by Paul Adrien Maurice Dirac, on a paper 'The correspondence between the particle and the wave aspects of the meson and the photon' by Harish-Chandra1945
RR/71/135Second referee's report by Paul Adrien Maurice Dirac, on a paper 'On the self-energies and cross-sections of orthodox quantum mechanics' by H S Green22 October 1948
RR/66/91Referee's report by Paul Adrien Maurice Dirac, on a paper 'On the statistical method in nuclear theory' by K Fuchs[November 1939]
RR/66/277Referee's report by Paul Adrien Maurice Dirac, on a paper 'Calculation of nuclear energies and stability by the statistical method' by Barbara Spain[November 1939]
RR/72/122Referee's report by Paul Adrien Maurice Dirac, on a paper 'One-dimensional dislocations IV. Dynamics' by Frederick Charles Frank and J H van der Merwe1949
RR/66/280Referee's report by Paul Adrien Maurice Dirac, on a paper 'Effusion and thermal transpiration in quantum statistics' by B N Srivastava[April 1939]
RR/69/61Referee's report by Paul Adrien Maurice Dirac, on a paper 'Infinite irreducible representations of the Lorentz group' by Harish-Chandra1946
RR/67/268Referee's report by Paul Adrien Maurice Dirac, on a paper 'Bose-Einstein statistics and degeneracy' by D S Kothari and B N SinghJune 1940
RR/67/36Referee's report by Paul Adrien Maurice Dirac, on a paper 'Radiative processes involving fast mesons' by F Booth and Alan Herries WilsonApril 1940
RR/67/179Referee's report by Nevill Francis Mott, on a paper 'Operator calculus in the electron theory of metals' by K FuchsApril 1940
RR/68/433Referee's report by Paul Adrien Maurice Dirac, on two papers 'On the theory of point-particles' by Homi Jehangir Bhabha and Harish-Chandra, and 'On the removal of the infinite self-energies of point-particles' by Harish-Chandra[1944]
RR/69/216Referee's report by Paul Adrien Maurice Driac, on a paper 'Algebra related to elementary particles of spin 3/2' by B S Madhavarao , V R Thiruvenkatachar and K Venkatachaliengar1945
RR/68/434Referee's report by Paul Adrien Maurice Dirac, on two papers 'On the fields and equations of motion of point particles' by Homi Jehangir Bhabha and Harish-Chandra, and 'On the equations of motion of point particles' by Harish-Chandra[1944]
RR/71/107Referee's report by Paul Adrien Maurice Dirac, on a paper 'One-dimensional dislocations. I. Static theory' by Frederick Charles Frank and J H Van Der Merwe[1948]
RR/70/85Referee's report by Paul Adrien Maurice Dirac, on a paper 'Theory of spontaneous transitions' by P M Davidson1947
RR/71/134Referee's report by Paul Adrien Maurice Dirac, on a paper 'On the self-energies and cross-sections of orthodox quantum mechanics' by H S Green[1948]
RR/68/112Referee's report by Paul Adrien Maurice Dirac, on a paper 'Perturbation theory for the self-consistent field' by H W Peng[April 1941]
RR/43/2Referee's report by Paul Adrien Maurice Dirac, on a paper 'The wave theory of light quanta' by Charles Galton DarwinApril 1931
RR/68/216Referee's report by Paul Adrien Maurice Dirac, on a paper 'The cascade theory with collision loss' by Homi Jehangir Bhabha and S K Chakrabartynd [1942]
RR/69/243Referee's report by Paul Adrien Maurice Dirac, on a paper 'On the divergence difficulty of quantized field theories and the rigorous treatment of radiation reaction' by H W Peng1945
RR/71/106Referee's report by Paul Adrien Maurice Dirac, on a paper 'One-dimensional dislocations. II. Misfitting monolayers and oriented overgrowth' by Frederick Charles Frank and J H Van Der Merwe[1948]
RR/68/459Referee's report by Paul Adrien Maurice Dirac, on a paper 'A study of the nature of the field theories of the electron and positron and of the meson' by H T Flint[1944]
RR/47/122Referee's report by Paul Adrien Maurice Dirac, on a paper 'The physical principles of the quantum theory' by G TempleJuly 1932
RR/71/102Referee's report by Paul Adrien Maurice Dirac, on a paper 'On the classical theory of particles' by C Jayaratnam Eliezer[1948]
RR/72/33Letter from Paul Adrien Maurice Dirac, on a paper 'On the stochastic theory of continuous parametric systems and its application to electron cascades' by Homi Jehangir Bhabha to D C Martin, Assistant Secretary of the Royal Society17 April 1950
S/0007Sculpture bust of Dirac, Paul Adrien Maurice1973
RR/59/51Referee's report by Charles Galton Darwin, on a paper 'Relativistic wave equations' by Paul Adrien Maurice Dirac[April 1936]
RR/72/32Letter from Paul Adrien Maurice Dirac, on a paper 'On the stochastic theory of continuous parametric systems and its application to electron cascades' by Homi Jehangir Bhabha to D C Martin, Assistant Secretary of the Royal Society3 November 1949
RR/65/74Second referee's report by Edward Arthur Milne, on a paper 'Classical theory of radiating electrons' by Paul Adrien Maurice Dirac1938
RR/68/217Letter from Paul Adrien Maurice Dirac, to Alfrd Charles Glyn Egerton, regarding a paper 'The cascade theory with collision loss' by Homi Jehangir Bhabha and S K Chakrabarty17 April 1942
RR/45/114Referee's report by Paul Adrien Maurice Dirac, on a paper 'On superfast electromagnetic waves and the structure of the electron and the protons' by N S Japolsky[August 1932]
RR/63/21Referee's report by Paul Adrien Maurice Dirac, on a paper 'The equations of electromagnetism. I - Fundamental identifications. II - Field theory' by Edward Arthur MilneNovember 1937
RR/68/460Second referee's report by Paul Adrien Maurice Dirac, on a paper 'A study of the nature of the field theories of the electron and positron and of the meson' by H T Flint[1944]
RR/63/20Referee's report by Charles Galton Darwin, on a paper 'The equations of electromagnetism. I - Fundamental identifications. II - Field theory' by Edward Arthur MilneAugust 1937
RR/59/72Second referee's report by Paul Adrien Maurice Dirac, on a paper 'Ultimate measurements of space and time' by H T Flint[November 1936]
RR/47/32Referee's report by James Hopwood Jeans, on a paper 'Theory of electric charge' by Arthur Stanley Eddington15 April 1932
RR/44/96Referee's report by Paul Adrien Maurice Dirac, on a paper 'The angular momentum of a photon' by G Temple and E C RustMay 1931
RR/56/99Referee's report by Paul Adrien Maurice Dirac, on a paper 'The electromagnetic field due to a uniformly and rigidly electrified sphere in spinless accelerated motion and its mechanical reaction on the sphere—I' by George Adolphus Schott[January 1936]
RR/33/53Referee's report by Charles Galton Darwin, on a paper 'Quantum mechanics and a preliminary investigation of the hydrogen atom' by Paul Adrien Maurice DiracFebruary 1926
RR/43/11Referee's report by Arthur Stanley Eddington, on a paper 'Quantised singularities in the electromagnetic field' by Paul Adrien Maurice DiracJune 1931
RR/47/31Referee's report by Paul Adrien Maurice Dirac, on a paper 'Theory of electric charge' by Arthur Stanley EddingtonJune 1932
RR/54/58Referee's report by Paul Adrien Maurice Dirac, on a paper 'On the foundations of dynamics' by Edward Arthur MilneNovember 1935
RR/56/96Second referee's report by Paul Adrien Maurice Dirac, on a paper 'The electromagnetic field due to a uniformly and rigidly electrified sphere in spinless accelerated motion and its mechanical reaction on the sphere—I' by George Adolphus Schott[May 1936]
RR/59/71Referee's report by Paul Adrien Maurice Dirac, on a paper 'Ultimate measurements of space and time' by H T Flint[October 1936]
RR/61/12Referee's report by Paul Adrien Maurice Dirac, on a paper 'The basis of a theory of the universe' by F L ArnotApril 1937
RR/61/14Third referee's report by Paul Adrien Maurice Dirac, on a paper 'The basis of a theory of the universe' by F L ArnotJune 1937
RR/61/111Referee's report by Edward Arthur Milne, on a paper 'A new basis for cosmology' by Paul Adrien Maurice DiracJanuary 1938
RR/65/73Referee's report by Edward Arthur Milne, on a paper 'Classical theory of radiating electrons' by Paul Adrien Maurice DiracApril 1938
RR/72/31Letter from Paul Adrien Maurice Dirac, on a paper 'On the stochastic theory of continuous parametric systems and its application to electron cascades' by Homi Jehangir Bhabha to David Brunt12 September 1949
RR/73/12Referee's report by Paul Dirac, on a paper 'Excitation and ionization of atoms by electron impact. II. The Born and Oppenheimer approximations - Comparison with experiment' by David Robert Bates, A Fundaminsky and Harrie Stewart Wilson Massey1950
RR/73/32Referee's report by Paul Dirac, on a paper 'The fine structure of hydrogen alpha line' by Heinrich Gerhard Kuhn and George William Series6 February 1950
RR/73/10Referee's report by Paul Dirac, on a paper 'Excitation and ionization of atoms by electron impact. I. The Born and Oppenheimer approximations - General theory' by David Robert Bates, A Fundaminsky and Harrie Stewart Wilson Massey1950
RR/73/117Letter from Paul Dirac, on a paper 'Wave equations in momentum space' by M Levy to the Assistant Secretary of the Royal Society [D C Martin]5 July 1950
RR/73/116Referee's report by Paul Dirac, on a paper 'Wave equations in momentum space' by M Levy31 May 1950
Add to My Items

    Collection highlights

    Browse the records of some of our collections, which cover all branches of science and date from the 12th century onwards. These include the published works of Fellows of the Royal Society, personal papers of eminent scientists, letters and manuscripts sent to the Society or presented at meetings, and administrative records documenting the Society's activities since our foundation in 1660.

    The Royal Society

    The Royal Society is a Fellowship of many of
    the world's most eminent scientists and is the
    oldest scientific academy in continuous existence.
    Registered charity number 207043

    Website design ©CalmView



    CONTACT US

    + 44 207 451 2500
    (Lines open Mon-Fri, 9:00-17:00. Excludes bank holidays)

    6-9 Carlton House Terrace, London SW1Y 5AG

    Email Us →

    SUBSCRIBE

    Subscribe to our newsletters to be updated with the
    latest news on innovation, events, articles and reports.

    Subscribe →

    © CalmView