Harold Lewis
Encyclopedia
Harold Warren Lewis (born October 1, 1923, in New York City
, died May 26, 2011) was an Emeritus
Professor of Physics
and former department chairman at the University of California, Santa Barbara
. He resigned from the American Physical Society
(APS) over their stance on global warming
in 2010.
in 1940 and graduated in physics. He earned a Masters degree from the University of California, Berkeley
from 1943 to 1944 before joining the Navy, where he served in World War II
as an electronics technician. After the war, he returned to the University of California, Berkeley
, and earned his Ph.D. in Physics studying under J. Robert Oppenheimer. His focus was high energy physics (cosmic rays and elementary particles). He, along with the other theoretical Physics professors at Berkeley, refused to sign the McCarthy era loyalty oath
on principle, and in 1950 went to Princeton. Later, when offered reinstatement at Berkeley, he chose instead to accept a position at Bell Labs
where he did research on superconducting materials. In 1956 he left Bell Labs
to join the University of Wisconsin, Madison to work on solid state physics and plasmas. In 1964, he left to join the University of California, Santa Barbara
as a full professor, and later chairman, in their growing Physics department.
He wrote a text on the trade-offs between technological advances and risks, and also authored a popular book on decision making. In 1991 Harold Lewis won the Science Writing Award
for his book 'Technological Risk'.
Lewis was chairman of the JASON Defense Advisory Group
from 1966 to 1973, when he worked on the issue of missile defense. He was a long-term member of the Defense Science Board
(DSB), and chaired a 1985 DSB Task Force (with Stephen Schneider
) on nuclear winter
. Lewis was active in the field of safety of nuclear power plant
s. In 1975, he chaired a year-long study of light-water reactor safety for the American Physical Society
(APS).
Lewis chaired the 1977-1979 Risk Assessment
Review for the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission
.
of the American Physical Society
. In 2010, after 67 years of membership, Lewis resigned from the APS, citing "corruption" from "the money flood" of government grants
. His letter characterizes the APS as having changed from an organization that seeks to further scientific knowledge, to an organization that suppresses science in its attempt to obtain further funding from government agencies. The majority of his letter details his criticism of the group's support for the "global warming scam", which is the yearly source of millions of dollars of funding for scientific organizations, and further expresses his belief that the loss of that funding would be devastating to those organizations. Often quoted in his letter to the APS president, Lewis declared the global warming scam as "the greatest and most successful pseudoscientific fraud I have seen in my long life as a physicist."
In late 2010, Lewis joined the Academic Advisory Council of the Global Warming Policy Foundation
(GWPF), and they published Lewis's APS resignation letter in October 2010. Lewis's letter of resignation "vaulted [him] to celebrity status" among global warming skeptics. The APS responded by disputing Lewis' accusations, and defending its policy.
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
, died May 26, 2011) was an Emeritus
Emeritus
Emeritus is a post-positive adjective that is used to designate a retired professor, bishop, or other professional or as a title. The female equivalent emerita is also sometimes used.-History:...
Professor of Physics
Physics
Physics is a natural science that involves the study of matter and its motion through spacetime, along with related concepts such as energy and force. More broadly, it is the general analysis of nature, conducted in order to understand how the universe behaves.Physics is one of the oldest academic...
and former department chairman at the University of California, Santa Barbara
University of California, Santa Barbara
The University of California, Santa Barbara, commonly known as UCSB or UC Santa Barbara, is a public research university and one of the 10 general campuses of the University of California system. The main campus is located on a site in Goleta, California, from Santa Barbara and northwest of Los...
. He resigned from the American Physical Society
American Physical Society
The American Physical Society is the world's second largest organization of physicists, behind the Deutsche Physikalische Gesellschaft. The Society publishes more than a dozen scientific journals, including the world renowned Physical Review and Physical Review Letters, and organizes more than 20...
(APS) over their stance on global warming
Global warming
Global warming refers to the rising average temperature of Earth's atmosphere and oceans and its projected continuation. In the last 100 years, Earth's average surface temperature increased by about with about two thirds of the increase occurring over just the last three decades...
in 2010.
Career as a Physicist
He entered New York UniversityNew York University
New York University is a private, nonsectarian research university based in New York City. NYU's main campus is situated in the Greenwich Village section of Manhattan...
in 1940 and graduated in physics. He earned a Masters degree from the University of California, Berkeley
University of California, Berkeley
The University of California, Berkeley , is a teaching and research university established in 1868 and located in Berkeley, California, USA...
from 1943 to 1944 before joining the Navy, where he served in World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
as an electronics technician. After the war, he returned to the University of California, Berkeley
University of California, Berkeley
The University of California, Berkeley , is a teaching and research university established in 1868 and located in Berkeley, California, USA...
, and earned his Ph.D. in Physics studying under J. Robert Oppenheimer. His focus was high energy physics (cosmic rays and elementary particles). He, along with the other theoretical Physics professors at Berkeley, refused to sign the McCarthy era loyalty oath
Loyalty oath
A loyalty oath is an oath of loyalty to an organization, institution, or state of which an individual is a member.In this context, a loyalty oath is distinct from pledge or oath of allegiance...
on principle, and in 1950 went to Princeton. Later, when offered reinstatement at Berkeley, he chose instead to accept a position at Bell Labs
Bell Labs
Bell Laboratories is the research and development subsidiary of the French-owned Alcatel-Lucent and previously of the American Telephone & Telegraph Company , half-owned through its Western Electric manufacturing subsidiary.Bell Laboratories operates its...
where he did research on superconducting materials. In 1956 he left Bell Labs
Bell Labs
Bell Laboratories is the research and development subsidiary of the French-owned Alcatel-Lucent and previously of the American Telephone & Telegraph Company , half-owned through its Western Electric manufacturing subsidiary.Bell Laboratories operates its...
to join the University of Wisconsin, Madison to work on solid state physics and plasmas. In 1964, he left to join the University of California, Santa Barbara
University of California, Santa Barbara
The University of California, Santa Barbara, commonly known as UCSB or UC Santa Barbara, is a public research university and one of the 10 general campuses of the University of California system. The main campus is located on a site in Goleta, California, from Santa Barbara and northwest of Los...
as a full professor, and later chairman, in their growing Physics department.
He wrote a text on the trade-offs between technological advances and risks, and also authored a popular book on decision making. In 1991 Harold Lewis won the Science Writing Award
Science writing award
The American Institute of Physics institute their Science Writing Award to "promote effective science communication in print and broadcast media in order to improve the general public's appreciation of physics, astronomy, and allied science fields." The winner receives $3000, and an engraved...
for his book 'Technological Risk'.
Lewis was chairman of the JASON Defense Advisory Group
JASON Defense Advisory Group
JASON is an independent group of scientists which advises the United States government on matters of science and technology. The group was first created as a way to get a younger generation of scientists—that is, not the older Los Alamos and MIT Radiation Laboratory alumni—involved in advising the...
from 1966 to 1973, when he worked on the issue of missile defense. He was a long-term member of the Defense Science Board
Defense Science Board
The Defense Science Board is a committee of civilian experts appointed to advise the U.S. Department of Defense on scientific and technical matters...
(DSB), and chaired a 1985 DSB Task Force (with Stephen Schneider
Stephen Schneider
Stephen Henry Schneider was Professor of Environmental Biology and Global Change at Stanford University, a Co-Director at the Center for Environment Science and Policy of the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies and a Senior Fellow in the Stanford Woods Institute for the Environment...
) on nuclear winter
Nuclear winter
Nuclear winter is a predicted climatic effect of nuclear war. It has been theorized that severely cold weather and reduced sunlight for a period of months or even years could be caused by detonating large numbers of nuclear weapons, especially over flammable targets such as cities, where large...
. Lewis was active in the field of safety of nuclear power plant
Nuclear power plant
A nuclear power plant is a thermal power station in which the heat source is one or more nuclear reactors. As in a conventional thermal power station the heat is used to generate steam which drives a steam turbine connected to a generator which produces electricity.Nuclear power plants are usually...
s. In 1975, he chaired a year-long study of light-water reactor safety for the American Physical Society
American Physical Society
The American Physical Society is the world's second largest organization of physicists, behind the Deutsche Physikalische Gesellschaft. The Society publishes more than a dozen scientific journals, including the world renowned Physical Review and Physical Review Letters, and organizes more than 20...
(APS).
Lewis chaired the 1977-1979 Risk Assessment
Risk assessment
Risk assessment is a step in a risk management procedure. Risk assessment is the determination of quantitative or qualitative value of risk related to a concrete situation and a recognized threat...
Review for the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission
Nuclear Regulatory Commission
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission is an independent agency of the United States government that was established by the Energy Reorganization Act of 1974 from the United States Atomic Energy Commission, and was first opened January 19, 1975...
.
Resignation from APS
Lewis was a fellowFellow
A fellow in the broadest sense is someone who is an equal or a comrade. The term fellow is also used to describe a person, particularly by those in the upper social classes. It is most often used in an academic context: a fellow is often part of an elite group of learned people who are awarded...
of the American Physical Society
American Physical Society
The American Physical Society is the world's second largest organization of physicists, behind the Deutsche Physikalische Gesellschaft. The Society publishes more than a dozen scientific journals, including the world renowned Physical Review and Physical Review Letters, and organizes more than 20...
. In 2010, after 67 years of membership, Lewis resigned from the APS, citing "corruption" from "the money flood" of government grants
Grant (money)
Grants are funds disbursed by one party , often a Government Department, Corporation, Foundation or Trust, to a recipient, often a nonprofit entity, educational institution, business or an individual. In order to receive a grant, some form of "Grant Writing" often referred to as either a proposal...
. His letter characterizes the APS as having changed from an organization that seeks to further scientific knowledge, to an organization that suppresses science in its attempt to obtain further funding from government agencies. The majority of his letter details his criticism of the group's support for the "global warming scam", which is the yearly source of millions of dollars of funding for scientific organizations, and further expresses his belief that the loss of that funding would be devastating to those organizations. Often quoted in his letter to the APS president, Lewis declared the global warming scam as "the greatest and most successful pseudoscientific fraud I have seen in my long life as a physicist."
In late 2010, Lewis joined the Academic Advisory Council of the Global Warming Policy Foundation
Global Warming Policy Foundation
The Global Warming Policy Foundation is a registered, educational charity and think tank in the United Kingdom, whose stated aims are to challenge "extremely damaging and harmful policies" envisaged by governments to mitigate anthropogenic global warming.-History:Established in November 2009,...
(GWPF), and they published Lewis's APS resignation letter in October 2010. Lewis's letter of resignation "vaulted [him] to celebrity status" among global warming skeptics. The APS responded by disputing Lewis' accusations, and defending its policy.
Personal
His father was a textile salesman who immigrated from Russia; his mother was born in the United States. He had two older brothers. He met his future wife Mary at UC Berkeley. They had two children, and later moved to Santa Barbara, California in 1964.Selected books
- H. W. Lewis, Technological Risk, W.W.Norton, 1990 368 pages, ISBN 978-0393028836 . Review at New York Times
- H. W. Lewis, Why Flip a Coin: The Art and Science of Good Decisions, Wiley, 1997, 224 pages ISBN 978-0471165972
External links
- "A Physicist’s Climate Complaints", column about and interview of Lewis by Andrew RevkinAndrew RevkinAndrew C. Revkin is a journalist and author who has spent a quarter of a century covering subjects ranging from the assault on the Amazon to the Asian tsunami, from the troubled relationship of science and politics to climate change at the North Pole. From 1995 through 2009, he covered the...
at the New York Times, October 15, 2010 - Climate change 'fraud' letter: a Martin Luther moment in science history, an editorial about Dr. Lewis's resignation from APS.
- Obituary – Hal Lewis, July 9, 2011