John Ziman

John Michael Ziman (16 May 1925 – 2 January 2005)^[1] was a physicist and a humanist who worked in the area of condensed matter physics.^[2][3][4] He was a spokesman for science, as well as a teacher and author.

John Ziman was born in Cambridge, England but moved to New Zealand with his family in childhood and obtained his early education at Hamilton and the University of Wellington. He obtained his PhD from Balliol College, Oxford and did his early research on the theory of electrons in liquid metals at University of Cambridge.

In 1964 he was appointed professor of theoretical physics at University of Bristol, where he wrote his Elements Of Advanced Quantum Theory (1969) which explains the rudiments of quantum field theory with a elementary condensed matter slant. During this period, his interests shifted towards the philosophy of science. He argued about the social dimension of science,^[5][6][7][8] and the social responsibility of scientists in numerous essays and books.^{[9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16]}

He married twice, to Rosemary Dixon in 1951 and secondly to Joan Solomon and was survived by his second wife and three of his four children.^[17]

Selected books authored by Ziman

• Ziman, John (1960). Electrons and phonons: The theory of transport phenomena in solids. Clarendon. ISBN 0198507798. 
• Ziman, John (1963). Electrons in metals: A short guide to the Fermi surface. Taylor & Francis. OCLC 13129448. 
• Ziman, John (1968). Public Knowledge: Essay Concerning the Social Dimension of Science. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-06894-0. 
• Ziman, John (1969). Elements Of Advanced Quantum Theory. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-09949-8. 
• Ziman, John (1972). Principles of the Theory of Solids. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0521297338. 
• Ziman, John (1976). The Force of Knowledge: The Scientific Dimension of Society. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 052109917X. 
• Ziman, John (1978). Reliable Knowledge: an Exploration of the Grounds for Belief in Science. Cambridge University Press ISBN 0-521-40670-6. 
• An Introduction to Science Studies: The Philosophical and Social Aspects of Science and Technology, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1987, ISBN 0-521-34680-0
• Ziman, John (1994). Prometheus Bound: Science in a dynamic steady state. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-43430-0. 
• Ziman, John (1995). Of one mind: the collectivization of science. AIP Press (American Institute of Physics). ISBN 978-1-56396-065-6. 
• Ziman, John (2000). Real Science: What It Is and What It Means. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-77229-X. 

References