Nuclear Museum Logo
Nuclear Museum Logo

National Museum of Nuclear Science & History

Peter Galison

Professor of History of Science and PhysicsCambridge, MA

Expert
Listen to Peter Galison’s Oral History on Voices of the Manhattan Project

Peter Galison is the Joseph Pellegrino University Professor in History of Science and Physics at Harvard University. He received his Ph.D. from Harvard University in both Physics and the History of Science in 1983. The central component of Galison’s work involves the exploration of twentieth century physics, including atomic, nuclear, and particle physics. In particular, he examines physics as a closely interconnected set of scientific subcultures: experimenters, instrument makers, and theorists.

Galison has published a number of books, including Big Science: The Growth of Large-scale ResearchImage and Logic: A Material Culture of Microphysics, and Einstein for the 21st Century: His Legacy in Science, Art, and Modern Culture.

Galison courses include: “History and Philosophy of 20th-Century Physics;” “History and Philosophy of Experimentation;” “Fascism, Art and Science in the Interwar Years;” “Scientific Realism;” “The Einsteinian Revolution;” seminars on Critical History and on the History and Philosophy of Theory in 20th Century Physics; and “Filming Science.”

Peter Galison’s Timeline
1955 Born in New York.

1983 Received Ph.D. in Physics and History of Science from Harvard University.

Related Profiles

Bruno Rossi

Los Alamos, NM

Bruno Rossi (1908-1993) was an Italian physicist. Rossi was a promising young scientist when his career was redirected by politics.

Austin M. Brues

Chicago, IL

Austin M. Brues (1906-1991) was the Director of the Biology Division at the Manhattan Project’s Chicago location, the Metallurgical Laboratory (Met Lab).

Adolph Molin

Oak Ridge, TN

During WWII, Adolph Molin was a member of the Special Engineer Detachment (SED) and worked as an Engineer at the K-25 Plant at the Oak Ridge, TN facility.

Garret Martin

France

Garret Martin is a professor at American University’s School of International Service and is the author of General de Gaulle’s Cold War: Challenging American Hegemony, 1963-68.