Abner Eliezer Shimony (; March 10, 1928 – August 8, 2015) was an American physicist and philosopher. He specialized in quantum theory and philosophy of science. As a physicist, he concentrated on the interaction between relativity theory and quantum mechanics. He authored many works and research on complementarity in quantum entanglement as well as multiparticle quantum interferometry, both relating to quantum coherence. He authored research articles and books on the foundations of quantum mechanics. He received the 1996 Lakatos Prize for his work in

philosophy of science Philosophy of science is a branch of philosophy concerned with the foundations, methods, and implications of science. The central questions of this study concern what qualifies as science, the reliability of scientific theories, and the ulti ...

Education

Shimony was born in

Columbus, Ohio Columbus () is the state capital and the most populous city in the U.S. state of Ohio. With a 2020 census population of 905,748, it is the 14th-most populous city in the U.S., the second-most populous city in the Midwest, after Chicago, an ...

. He obtained his BA in Mathematics and Philosophy from

Yale University Yale University is a Private university, private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Sta ...

in 1948, and an MA in Philosophy from the

University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, U of C, or UChi) is a private university, private research university in Chicago, Illinois. Its main campus is located in Chicago's Hyde Park, Chicago, Hyde Park neighborhood. The University of Chic ...

in 1950. He obtained his Ph.D. in philosophy from

in 1953 under the supervision of

Rudolf Carnap Rudolf Carnap (; ; 18 May 1891 – 14 September 1970) was a German-language philosopher who was active in Europe before 1935 and in the United States thereafter. He was a major member of the Vienna Circle and an advocate of logical positivism. ...

, and served in the U.S. Army Signal Corps from 1953 to 1955. Shimony acquired his second doctorate in

physics Physics is the natural science that studies matter, its fundamental constituents, its motion and behavior through space and time, and the related entities of energy and force. "Physical science is that department of knowledge which rel ...

from

Princeton University Princeton University is a private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and one of the n ...

in 1962 under the supervision of

Eugene Wigner Eugene Paul "E. P." Wigner ( hu, Wigner Jenő Pál, ; November 17, 1902 – January 1, 1995) was a Hungarian-American theoretical physicist who also contributed to mathematical physics. He received the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1963 "for his con ...

with a thesis titled ''Regression and Response in Thermodynamic Systems''.

Career

After receiving his second Ph.D., Shimony interacted with both the philosophical academic world and the physics academic world. His most famous professional correspondence is with

. He taught philosophy of science at MIT from 1959 until 1968 in the school’s Department of Humanities. In 1968 he transferred to

Boston University Boston University (BU) is a private research university in Boston, Massachusetts. The university is nonsectarian, but has a historical affiliation with the United Methodist Church. It was founded in 1839 by Methodists with its original c ...

, beginning a 26-year appointment in both the physics and philosophy departments, and was Professor Emeritus there until his death in 2015. Shimony is best known for his work in developing the

CHSH inequality In physics, the CHSH inequality can be used in the proof of Bell's theorem, which states that certain consequences of entanglement in quantum mechanics can not be reproduced by local hidden-variable theories. Experimental verification of the i ...

, an empirically testable form of the Bell inequality, also known as Bell's theorem. Since 1992, he proposed a geometric measure of

quantum entanglement Quantum entanglement is the phenomenon that occurs when a group of particles are generated, interact, or share spatial proximity in a way such that the quantum state of each particle of the group cannot be described independently of the state o ...

and, along with Gregg Jaeger and

Michael Horne Michael Rex Horne OBE FREng, FRS (29 December 1921 – 6 January 2000) was an English structural engineer, scientist and academic who pioneered the theory of the Plastic Design of Structures. Early life and education Horne was born i ...

, discovered two novel complementarity relations involving

interferometric visibility The interferometric visibility (also known as interference visibility and fringe visibility, or just visibility when in context) is a measure of the contrast of ''interference'' in any system subject to wave superposition. Examples include as opti ...

in multiparticle quantum

interferometry Interferometry is a technique which uses the '' interference'' of superimposed waves to extract information. Interferometry typically uses electromagnetic waves and is an important investigative technique in the fields of astronomy, fiber o ...

. He is also known for his inquiry into the question of the "peaceful coexistence" of

quantum mechanics Quantum mechanics is a fundamental theory in physics that provides a description of the physical properties of nature at the scale of atoms and subatomic particles. It is the foundation of all quantum physics including quantum chemistry, q ...

and

special relativity In physics, the special theory of relativity, or special relativity for short, is a scientific theory regarding the relationship between space and time. In Albert Einstein's original treatment, the theory is based on two postulates: # The law ...

. He wrote several books and numerous research articles on the foundations of quantum mechanics and related topics. Shimony is credited with coining the phrase "passion at a distance" to characterize the various phenomena described by quantum correlations in 1984. In 1996 he was awarded the

Lakatos Award The Lakatos Award is given annually for an outstanding contribution to the philosophy of science, widely interpreted. The contribution must be in the form of a monograph, co-authored or single-authored, and published in English during the previ ...

in the philosophy of science for the two-volume collection of papers, ''The Search for a Naturalistic World View'', spanning his career up until 1992. He served as president of the

Philosophy of Science Association The Philosophy of Science Association (PSA) is an international academic organization founded in 1933 that promotes research, teaching, and free discussion of issues in the philosophy of science from diverse standpoints. The PSA engages in activit ...

from 1995 to 1996. He died in

New Haven, Connecticut New Haven is a city in the U.S. state of Connecticut. It is located on New Haven Harbor on the northern shore of Long Island Sound in New Haven County, Connecticut and is part of the New York City metropolitan area. With a population of 134,023 ...

, aged 87. Shimony was married to the noted anthropologistbr>Annemarie Anrod Shimony.
from 1951 until her death in 1995.

Selected publications

;Primary ** 1987. Edited by Abner Shimony & Debra Nails; Naturalistic Epistemology: A Symposium of Two Decades (Boston Studies in the Philosophy of Science Volume 100) ** 1993. Selected Papers, Search for a Naturalistic World View, Volume 1, Scientific Method and Epistemology ** 1993. Selected Papers, Search for a Naturalistic World View, Volume 2, Natural Science and Metaphysics ** 1998, Tibaldo and the Hole in the Calendar ;Secondary ** 1977. Edited by Abner Shimony; Rudolf Carnap; Two Essays on Entropy ** 1997. Edited by Robert S. Cohen, Michael Horne & John Stachel; Experimental Metaphysics: Quantum Mechanical Studies for Abner Shimony, Volume 1 (Boston Studies in the Philosophy of Science Volume 193) ** 1997. Edited by Robert S. Cohen, Michael Horne & John Stachel; Potentiality, Entanglement and Passion-at-a-Distance: Quantum Mechanical Studies for Abner Shimony, Volume 2 (Boston Studies in the Philosophy of Science Volume 194) ** 1997. Edited by Malcolm Longair; Roger Penrose with Abner Shimony, Nancy Cartwright and Stephen Hawking; The Large, the Small and the Human Mind ** 2006. Edited by Abner Shimony; Martin Eger; Science, Understanding, and Justice: Philosophical Essays ** 2009. Edited by Wayne C. Myrvold & Joy Christian; Quantum Reality, Relativistic Causality, and Closing the Epistemic Circle: Essays in Honour of Abner Shimony

References

External links

* Shimony'
article on Bell's theorem
in the

Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy The ''Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy'' (''SEP'') combines an online encyclopedia of philosophy with peer-reviewed publication of original papers in philosophy, freely accessible to Internet users. It is maintained by Stanford University. E ...

.
Partial bibliography of philosophical papers.
* Boston Universit

Photo of Abner Shimony during his career at BU.

Transcript
of Oral History interview with Abner Shimony, September 9, 2002, American Institute of Physics, Niels Bohr Library and Archives. * A recent conference held at the Perimeter Institute in honor of Abner Shimon
Quantum Reality, Relativistic Causality, and Closing the Epistemic Circle: An International Conference in Honour of Abner Shimony , Perimeter Institute
* Shimony conference talks at the Perimeter Institut
Quantum Reality, Relativistic Causality, and Closing the Epistemic Circle – 2006 , PIRSA
*Shimony Paper
Guide to the Abner Shimony Papers, 1947–2009 ASP.2009.02 , Digital Pitt
(Abner Shimony Papers, 1947–2009, ASP.2009.02, Archives of Scientific Philosophy, Special Collections Department, University of Pittsburgh) * An Abner Shimony retrospective (from Mind and Matter
In Appreciation of Abner Shimony
* Former PhD Students

(Boston College)
Joy Christian
(University of Oxford) **John H. Heffner (Lebanon Valley College)
Michael Horne
(Stonehill College)
Don Howard
(University of Notre Dame)
Gregg Jaeger
(Boston University) **Andre Mirabelli

(University of W. Ontario)
Paul Teller
(UC Davis) * Shimony's last presentation, "Reminiscences", at the Boston Colloquium in the Philosophy of Science, at their 50th anniversary celebration, October 22, 2010
Full conference

Video of Shimony presentation

Powerpoint of Shimony presentation

PDF of Shimony presentation
{{DEFAULTSORT:Shimony, Abner 1928 births 2015 deaths American physicists Jewish American scientists Jewish philosophers People from Columbus, Ohio Philosophers of science Princeton University alumni Quantum physicists Yale University alumni Lakatos Award winners 21st-century American Jews American philosophers Massachusetts Institute of Technology faculty Boston University faculty University of Chicago alumni Fellows of the American Physical Society

Education

Career

Selected publications

See also

References

External links