MacTutor
Fritz Zwicky, Professor of Astrophysics Emeritus at the California Institute of Technology, died on 1974 February 8. He was internationally known for his observational contributions to the study of super-novae, clusters of galaxies, compact galaxies and intergalactic matter. His contributions to theoretical astrophysics were also extensive: Zwicky predicted the existence of neutron stars in 1934, and related cosmic rays and neutron stars to supernovae. He was one of the first to predict the existence of black holes. In more recent years, Zwicky with collaborators produced a six-volume catalogue of galaxies and clusters of galaxies that promises to become a classical work of reference for these objects. This set was followed by a catalogue of compact galaxies, and at the time of his death Zwicky was working on a comprehensive catalogue of all known supernovae, the majority of which he had discovered himself. Zwicky received the Gold Medal of the Royal Astronomical Society in 1973 for 'his many distinguished contributions to the understanding of the constituents of the Galaxy and the Universe'.
Zwicky was born in 1898 in Varna, Bulgaria, of Swiss parentage, and was a Swiss citizen throughout his life. He was a graduate of the Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich and received a PhD in physics from the same institution in 1922. Zwicky went to the California Institute of Technology in 1925 on a fellowship from the International Education Board and remained there for the rest of his life, serving as assistant professor and associate professor of theoretical physics from 1927 to 1942 and then as professor of astrophysics until his retirement in 1968.
To balance his narrow institutional associations, Zwicky spread his research broadly. Besides his work in astronomy, he published important papers in crystal structure, electrolytes, superconductivity, cosmic rays, shaped charges, jet and rocket fuels and propulsive systems, civil defence and the philosophy of science. But his interests within astronomy were also broad, including: the nature of the redshift, novae and super-novae, gravitational lenses, highly collapsed stars, clusters of galaxies, variability of the fundamental 'constants', the cosmological time-scale, atmospheric seeing, intergalactic matter, Zwicky-Humason stars and compact galaxies.
Zwicky's skills and interests were not limited to theory and observation, he was also active in the development of instrumentation. He obtained several US and UK patents in the field of propulsive power, pioneered the use of shaped charges as artificial meteors and, a decade before the first sputnik, made the first attempt to launch matter from the Earth into cislunar space. In astronomy, Zwicky pioneered in the development of Schmidt telescopes. His work, beginning in 1936 with an 18-in. Schmidt on Palomar Mountain, attracted the attention of the astronomical community to the unique capabilities of these telescopes. The Schmidt telescope and Zwicky were made for each other. The wide field of the Schmidt matched Zwicky's own mental way of viewing the Universe. He felt other telescopes were like 'looking through keyholes', and that many astronomers had developed mental optics to match.
No list of Zwicky's extensive contributions or many awards could begin to convey the scope of his interests, energy or imagination. Labels such as physicist, astronomer, aerodynamicist, philosopher or humanitarian – although all apply do not succeed in putting Zwicky into proper perspective. The only title that seems to do him justice is that of 'revolutionist'. Consistent with the pattern of those other revolutionaries – Albert Einstein, C.G.Jung and V.I.Ulyanov – Zwicky launched his career of revolutionary thought and action from Zurich in the second decade of this century. In fact, a good description of Zwicky can be built up by taking a portion of Einstein's physical insight, a portion of Jung's percipient unothodoxy and a portion of Ulyanov's abrasive drive. It is not at all improbable that Zwicky's revolution may yet turn out to be as important as those initiated by the other three.
Zwicky's revolution was in his approach. He was not interested in finding the answer or the solution to a question or a problem, he wanted to find all the possible answers and solutions. He formalized his approach in what he called 'morphological construction' a systematic way for discovering the totality of solutions and possibilities. It was his application of this method that allowed him to see so many possibilities that one colleague remarked: 'We could keep all the telescopes on both Mount Wilson and Palomar busy full-time just checking on Zwicky's predictions'. Zwicky at the same time used the Schmidt telescopes to search for unpredicted 'new species of cosmic inhabitants', and used various physical theories to predict new species. For Zwicky theories were platforms for exploration. He could pick up and set aside a theory as one does a tool. His unwillingness to dogmatize theories and thereby restrict himself made him appear somewhat radical to many of his colleagues. But for Zwicky's goal of 'the totality', tensions between conflicting views must be endured not resolved.
Zwicky was a firm believer in the paramount importance of unfettered individual creativity and effort, and felt that the world's hopes lie in individual free agents men and women of good will who can work together when the need arises, but who form no permanent organizations or institutions. He wrote: 'Most individuals just never seem to realize that they possess unique potentialities and capabilities not to be matched by anybody else and that the penalty for not realizing one's genius is frustration and unhappiness'. Our present civilization is built on, and for, only a few types of geniuses. This is why so many are frustrated and unhappy. This malignancy will remain at the core of society until some way is found of restructuring so as to allow each person to discover his own innate genius.
Whether Zwicky's genius was to hear the beat of different drummers, or whether it was the acuity to hear the fainter drummings of the same cosmic drummer that we all hear in part, his passing removes from our midst a creative source of great originality. All who knew Zwicky would agree in the appropriateness of applying to him that eloquent eulogy, first uttered by Sir Winston Churchill on learning of the death of Rupert Brooke, which was later used at Churchill's own funeral: 'We shall not see his like again', and these are times when this world has a great need for Zwicky's particular type of genius.
ALBERT WILSON
Zwicky was born in 1898 in Varna, Bulgaria, of Swiss parentage, and was a Swiss citizen throughout his life. He was a graduate of the Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich and received a PhD in physics from the same institution in 1922. Zwicky went to the California Institute of Technology in 1925 on a fellowship from the International Education Board and remained there for the rest of his life, serving as assistant professor and associate professor of theoretical physics from 1927 to 1942 and then as professor of astrophysics until his retirement in 1968.
To balance his narrow institutional associations, Zwicky spread his research broadly. Besides his work in astronomy, he published important papers in crystal structure, electrolytes, superconductivity, cosmic rays, shaped charges, jet and rocket fuels and propulsive systems, civil defence and the philosophy of science. But his interests within astronomy were also broad, including: the nature of the redshift, novae and super-novae, gravitational lenses, highly collapsed stars, clusters of galaxies, variability of the fundamental 'constants', the cosmological time-scale, atmospheric seeing, intergalactic matter, Zwicky-Humason stars and compact galaxies.
Zwicky's skills and interests were not limited to theory and observation, he was also active in the development of instrumentation. He obtained several US and UK patents in the field of propulsive power, pioneered the use of shaped charges as artificial meteors and, a decade before the first sputnik, made the first attempt to launch matter from the Earth into cislunar space. In astronomy, Zwicky pioneered in the development of Schmidt telescopes. His work, beginning in 1936 with an 18-in. Schmidt on Palomar Mountain, attracted the attention of the astronomical community to the unique capabilities of these telescopes. The Schmidt telescope and Zwicky were made for each other. The wide field of the Schmidt matched Zwicky's own mental way of viewing the Universe. He felt other telescopes were like 'looking through keyholes', and that many astronomers had developed mental optics to match.
No list of Zwicky's extensive contributions or many awards could begin to convey the scope of his interests, energy or imagination. Labels such as physicist, astronomer, aerodynamicist, philosopher or humanitarian – although all apply do not succeed in putting Zwicky into proper perspective. The only title that seems to do him justice is that of 'revolutionist'. Consistent with the pattern of those other revolutionaries – Albert Einstein, C.G.Jung and V.I.Ulyanov – Zwicky launched his career of revolutionary thought and action from Zurich in the second decade of this century. In fact, a good description of Zwicky can be built up by taking a portion of Einstein's physical insight, a portion of Jung's percipient unothodoxy and a portion of Ulyanov's abrasive drive. It is not at all improbable that Zwicky's revolution may yet turn out to be as important as those initiated by the other three.
Zwicky's revolution was in his approach. He was not interested in finding the answer or the solution to a question or a problem, he wanted to find all the possible answers and solutions. He formalized his approach in what he called 'morphological construction' a systematic way for discovering the totality of solutions and possibilities. It was his application of this method that allowed him to see so many possibilities that one colleague remarked: 'We could keep all the telescopes on both Mount Wilson and Palomar busy full-time just checking on Zwicky's predictions'. Zwicky at the same time used the Schmidt telescopes to search for unpredicted 'new species of cosmic inhabitants', and used various physical theories to predict new species. For Zwicky theories were platforms for exploration. He could pick up and set aside a theory as one does a tool. His unwillingness to dogmatize theories and thereby restrict himself made him appear somewhat radical to many of his colleagues. But for Zwicky's goal of 'the totality', tensions between conflicting views must be endured not resolved.
Zwicky was a firm believer in the paramount importance of unfettered individual creativity and effort, and felt that the world's hopes lie in individual free agents men and women of good will who can work together when the need arises, but who form no permanent organizations or institutions. He wrote: 'Most individuals just never seem to realize that they possess unique potentialities and capabilities not to be matched by anybody else and that the penalty for not realizing one's genius is frustration and unhappiness'. Our present civilization is built on, and for, only a few types of geniuses. This is why so many are frustrated and unhappy. This malignancy will remain at the core of society until some way is found of restructuring so as to allow each person to discover his own innate genius.
Whether Zwicky's genius was to hear the beat of different drummers, or whether it was the acuity to hear the fainter drummings of the same cosmic drummer that we all hear in part, his passing removes from our midst a creative source of great originality. All who knew Zwicky would agree in the appropriateness of applying to him that eloquent eulogy, first uttered by Sir Winston Churchill on learning of the death of Rupert Brooke, which was later used at Churchill's own funeral: 'We shall not see his like again', and these are times when this world has a great need for Zwicky's particular type of genius.
ALBERT WILSON
Fritz Zwicky's obituary appeared in Journal of the Royal Astronomical Society 16:1 (1975), 106-108.