PAUL DIRAC; WON NOBEL IN PHYSICS
Author: Associated Press
Date: Monday, October 22, 1984
Page: 46
Section: OBITUARY
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. - Physicist Paul A.M. Dirac, winner of the Nobel Prize
in 1933 for his discoveries in atomic theory, died at his home here after a
long illness. He was 82.
Mr. Dirac, who joined the physics faculty at Florida State University in
1971, continued teaching until shortly before his death Saturday, university
spokeswoman Martee Wills said.
He won the Nobel Prize in physics along with Erwin Schrodinger, an
Austrian scientist, for research in atomic physics. Working separately, the
two pioneered quantum mechanics, a mathematical system for describing the
behavior of molecules, atoms, subatomic particles and other aspects of
physics.
Mr. Dirac's work established the base from which television, computers,
space travel and other high technology have emerged.
A native of Bristol, England, Mr. Dirac received degrees from Bristol and
Cambridge universities. In 1930, he became a fellow of the Royal Society.
He taught at Cambridge until reaching the mandatory retirement age of 67.
He frequently traveled to the United States as a visiting lecturer and to
serve as a member of Princeton University's Institute for Advanced Study.
Mr. Dirac was a member of the Pontifical Academy of Science and said he
agreed with Pope John Paul II that science and religion aren't contradictory.
''They are both seekers after truth," he said in a 1983 interview.
At Florida State, Mr. Dirac developed the theory that gravitational forces
are getting weaker as the world gets older. Asked if he knew why, he said,
''Why? Because God made it so."
Mr. Dirac had remained a British citizen.
Funeral arrangements were incomplete last night.
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