Cyril Domb
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Cyril Domb FRS (; 9 December 1920 – 15 February 2012) was a British-Israeli
theoretical physicist Theoretical physics is a branch of physics that employs mathematical models and abstractions of physical objects and systems to rationalize, explain, and predict natural phenomena. This is in contrast to experimental physics, which uses experi ...
, best known for his lecturing and writing on the theory of
phase transition In physics, chemistry, and other related fields like biology, a phase transition (or phase change) is the physical process of transition between one state of a medium and another. Commonly the term is used to refer to changes among the basic Sta ...
s and
critical phenomena In physics, critical phenomena is the collective name associated with the physics of critical points. Most of them stem from the divergence of the correlation length, but also the dynamics slows down. Critical phenomena include scaling relations ...
of fluids. He was also known in the
Orthodox Jewish Orthodox Judaism is a collective term for the traditionalist branches of contemporary Judaism. Theologically, it is chiefly defined by regarding the Torah, both Written and Oral, as literally revealed by God on Mount Sinai and faithfully tra ...
world for his writings on science and
Judaism Judaism () is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic, Monotheism, monotheistic, ethnic religion that comprises the collective spiritual, cultural, and legal traditions of the Jews, Jewish people. Religious Jews regard Judaism as their means of o ...
.


Early life

Domb was born on 9 December 1920, the fourth day of
Hanukkah Hanukkah (, ; ''Ḥănukkā'' ) is a Jewish holidays, Jewish festival commemorating the recovery of Jerusalem and subsequent rededication of the Second Temple at the beginning of the Maccabean Revolt against the Seleucid Empire in the 2nd ce ...
, in North London to a
Hasidic Hasidism () or Hasidic Judaism is a religious movement within Judaism that arose in the 18th century as a spiritual revival movement in contemporary Western Ukraine before spreading rapidly throughout Eastern Europe. Today, most of those aff ...
Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...
family. His father, Yoel, who had shortened his name from Dombrowski to Domb, was a native of
Warsaw Warsaw, officially the Capital City of Warsaw, is the capital and List of cities and towns in Poland, largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the Vistula, River Vistula in east-central Poland. Its population is officially estimated at ...
, while his mother, Sarah, was from
Oświęcim Oświęcim (; ; ; ) is a town in the Lesser Poland Voivodeship in southern Poland, situated southeast of Katowice, near the confluence of the Vistula (''Wisła'') and Soła rivers. Oświęcim dates back to the 12th century, when it was an im ...
, Poland. He was given the
Hebrew name A Hebrew name is a name of Hebrew origin. In a more narrow meaning, it is a name used by Jews only in a religious context and different from an individual's secular name for everyday use. Names with Hebrew origins, especially those from the ...
of Yechiel. His father and grandfather paid for tutors to educate him in classical Jewish studies, and he also attended '' shiurim'' (Torah classes) given by Rabbi
Eliyahu Eliezer Dessler Eliyahu Eliezer Dessler (; 1892 – 31 December 1953) was an Orthodox Judaism, Orthodox rabbi, Talmudic scholar, and Jewish philosopher of the 20th century. He is best known for being the ''mashgiach ruchani'' ("spiritual counselor") of the ...
to young men in a nearby synagogue."An Appreciation of Professor Yechiel (Cyril) Domb, z"l, in honor of his shloshim". ''
Hamodia ''Hamodia'' ( – "''the Informer''") is a Jewish daily newspaper, published in Hebrew language, Hebrew-language in Jerusalem and English language, English-language in the United States, as well as weekly English-language editions in England and I ...
'', 29 March 2012, pp. C14–C15. Retrieved 7 April 2012.
Domb possessed both an excellent memory and skill in
mathematics Mathematics is a field of study that discovers and organizes methods, Mathematical theory, theories and theorems that are developed and Mathematical proof, proved for the needs of empirical sciences and mathematics itself. There are many ar ...
. At the age of 17 he won a scholarship to
Pembroke College, Cambridge Pembroke College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge, England. The college is the third-oldest college of the university and has over 700 students and fellows. It is one of the university's larger colleges, with buildings from ...
. He graduated with a degree in mathematics in 1941. He then joined the Admiralty Signal Establishment in
Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port city status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. Most of Portsmouth is located on Portsea Island, off the south coast of England in the Solent, making Portsmouth the only city in En ...
as one of several young scientists working on developing
radar Radar is a system that uses radio waves to determine the distance ('' ranging''), direction ( azimuth and elevation angles), and radial velocity of objects relative to the site. It is a radiodetermination method used to detect and track ...
systems during World War II. Until that point, radar operators were only able to determine the distance of an approaching object; Domb's group worked out a method for determining the height of an object as well. After the war, Domb attended
Cambridge University The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...
. He earned his PhD in 1949 with a doctoral thesis on "Order-Disorder Statistics". His doctoral advisor was
Fred Hoyle Sir Fred Hoyle (24 June 1915 – 20 August 2001) was an English astronomer who formulated the theory of stellar nucleosynthesis and was one of the authors of the influential B2FH paper, B2FH paper. He also held controversial stances on oth ...
.


Academic career

Domb was a university lecturer in mathematics at Cambridge University between 1952 and 1954 and professor of theoretical physics at
King's College London King's College London (informally King's or KCL) is a public university, public research university in London, England. King's was established by royal charter in 1829 under the patronage of George IV of the United Kingdom, King George IV ...
between 1954 and 1981. In the latter position, he became the youngest professor in London at that time. In 1972 Domb began co-editing what would become a 20-volume series, '' Phase Transitions and Critical Phenomena'', considered a classic in the field. After the death of his first co-editor, Melville S. Green, he worked with
Joel Lebowitz Joel Louis Lebowitz (born May 10, 1930) is a mathematical physicist known for his contributions to statistical physics, statistical mechanics, and many other fields of mathematics and physics. He is a founding editor of the Journal of Statis ...
.


Science and Judaism

In the late 1950s, Domb helped found the British Association of Orthodox Jewish Scientists, based on the American model, and served as its president. Domb began writing his views reconciling the apparent contradictions between science and Judaism in 1961, when ''
The Jewish Chronicle ''The Jewish Chronicle'' (''The JC'') is a London-based Jewish weekly newspaper. Founded in 1841, it is the oldest continuously published Jewish newspaper in the world. Its editor () is Daniel Schwammenthal. The newspaper is published every Fri ...
'' of London asked him for a 1000-word article on how Jewish teachings accord with the
Big Bang The Big Bang is a physical theory that describes how the universe expanded from an initial state of high density and temperature. Various cosmological models based on the Big Bang concept explain a broad range of phenomena, including th ...
and
Steady State In systems theory, a system or a process is in a steady state if the variables (called state variables) which define the behavior of the system or the process are unchanging in time. In continuous time, this means that for those properties ''p' ...
cosmological Cosmology () is a branch of physics and metaphysics dealing with the nature of the universe, the cosmos. The term ''cosmology'' was first used in English in 1656 in Thomas Blount's ''Glossographia'', with the meaning of "a speaking of the wo ...
theories A theory is a systematic and rational form of abstract thinking about a phenomenon, or the conclusions derived from such thinking. It involves contemplative and logical reasoning, often supported by processes such as observation, experimentation, ...
. This article gained the attention of the
Lubavitcher Rebbe Chabad, also known as Lubavitch, Habad and Chabad-Lubavitch (; ; ), is a dynasty in Hasidic Judaism. Belonging to the Haredi (ultra-Orthodox) branch of Orthodox Judaism, it is one of the world's best-known Hasidic movements, as well as one of ...
, who began a correspondence with Domb and encouraged him to continue his efforts to show religious sceptics that there is no contradiction between science and such Torah concepts as the
Genesis creation narrative The Genesis creation narrative is the creation myth of both Judaism and Christianity, told in the book of Genesis chapters 1 and 2. While the Jewish and Christian tradition is that the account is one comprehensive story, modern scholars of ...
and the
Existence of God The existence of God is a subject of debate in the philosophy of religion and theology. A wide variety of arguments for and against the existence of God (with the same or similar arguments also generally being used when talking about the exis ...
. Unlike the Rebbe, Domb gave credence to the
theory of evolution Evolution is the change in the heritable characteristics of biological populations over successive generations. It occurs when evolutionary processes such as natural selection and genetic drift act on genetic variation, resulting in certai ...
, but held that this and other scientific theories were "only tentative summaries of our situation, whereas religion deals with what is right and what is wrong, and with many of the major driving forces in one's life". Domb went on to publish a collection of articles on science and religion in ''Challenge: Torah views on science and its problems'' (1976), which he co-edited with Rabbi Aryeh Carmell.


Move to Israel

In 1981, at the age of 60, Domb took
early retirement Retirement is the withdrawal from one's position or occupation or from one's active working life. A person may also semi-retire by reducing work hours or workload. Many people choose to retire when they are elderly or incapable of doing their j ...
from Kings College and made
aliyah ''Aliyah'' (, ; ''ʿălīyyā'', ) is the immigration of Jews from Jewish diaspora, the diaspora to, historically, the geographical Land of Israel or the Palestine (region), Palestine region, which is today chiefly represented by the Israel ...
to Israel, settling in the Bayit Vegan neighbourhood of Jerusalem. Between 1981 and 1989 he was professor of physics at
Bar-Ilan University Bar-Ilan University (BIU, , ''Universitat Bar-Ilan'') is a public research university in the Tel Aviv District city of Ramat Gan, Israel. Established in 1955, Bar Ilan is Israel's second-largest academic university institution. It has 20,000 ...
, boosting the prestige of the department and attracting leading physicists and students to it. In keeping with his interests in
Torah study Torah study is the study of the Torah, Hebrew Bible, Talmud, responsa, rabbinic literature, and similar works, all of which are Judaism's Sifrei kodesh, religious texts. According to Rabbinic Judaism, the study is done for the purpose of the ''mi ...
, he opened each staff meeting with a Dvar Torah (Torah thought), started a
Daf Yomi ''Daf Yomi'' (, ''Daf Yomi'', "page of the day" or "daily folio") is a daily regimen of learning the Oral Torah and its commentaries (also known as the Gemara), in which each of the 2,711 pages of the Babylonian Talmud is covered in sequence. A ' ...
''
shiur A shiur (, , ; , ) is a lecture given any Torah-related topic of study, such as Gemara, Mishnah, ''Halakha'' (Jewish law), or Tanakh (Hebrew Bible), usually given in a yeshiva, though commonly in other Jewish communal settings. Histor ...
'' after afternoon prayers, and founded an academic journal, ''Journal of Torah and Scholarship''. He was also a visiting professor at the
University of Maryland The University of Maryland, College Park (University of Maryland, UMD, or simply Maryland) is a public land-grant research university in College Park, Maryland, United States. Founded in 1856, UMD is the flagship institution of the Univ ...
,
Yeshiva University Yeshiva University is a Private university, private Modern Orthodox Judaism, Orthodox Jewish university with four campuses in New York City.
,
Hebrew University of Jerusalem The Hebrew University of Jerusalem (HUJI; ) is an Israeli public university, public research university based in Jerusalem. Co-founded by Albert Einstein and Chaim Weizmann in July 1918, the public university officially opened on 1 April 1925. ...
, and
Weizmann Institute of Science The Weizmann Institute of Science ( ''Machon Weizmann LeMada'') is a Public university, public research university in Rehovot, Israel, established in 1934, fourteen years before the State of Israel was founded. Unlike other List of Israeli uni ...
, and academic president of Machon Lev, the Jerusalem College of Technology. In October 2011, the ''
Journal of Statistical Physics The ''Journal of Statistical Physics'' is a biweekly publication containing both original and review papers, including book reviews. All areas of statistical physics as well as related fields concerned with collective phenomena in physical systems ...
'' published a tribute issue to Domb, commemorating his influence on the field of
statistical physics In physics, statistical mechanics is a mathematical framework that applies statistical methods and probability theory to large assemblies of microscopic entities. Sometimes called statistical physics or statistical thermodynamics, its applicati ...
.


Personal

Domb married Shirley Galinsky in 1957; they had six children.


Honors and awards

*
Fellow of the Royal Society Fellowship of the Royal Society (FRS, ForMemRS and HonFRS) is an award granted by the Fellows of the Royal Society of London to individuals who have made a "substantial contribution to the improvement of natural science, natural knowledge, incl ...
, 1977. * Max Born Prize, 1981.


Works


Selected scientific publications

*Domb, C. 1949. "Order-Disorder Statistics II. A two-dimensional model." Proc. Roy. Soc. A199: 199–221 *Domb, C. 1960. "On the Theory of Cooperative Phenomena. "Adv. Phys., Phil. Mag. S9: 149–361 *Domb, C. and Sykes, M.F. 1961. "Use of Series Expansions for the Ising Model Susceptibility and Excluded Volume Problem." J. Math. Phys. 2: 63–67 *Domb, C. and Green, M.S., Eds. 1972–1976. "Phase Transitions and Critical Phenomena," Vols. 1–6, London: Academic Press. *Domb, C. and Lebowitz, J.L., Eds. 1983–2000. “Phase Transitions and Critical Behavior,” Vols. 6–20, London: Academic Press. *


Torah works

* * (co-edited with Aryeh Carmell); 2nd edition published by Feldheim in 2000 * (2nd edition published by Feldheim, 1982)


See also

* Jewish views on evolution *Prominent Orthodox Jewish physicists: ** Nathan Aviezer ** Herman Branover **
Aryeh Kaplan Aryeh Moshe Eliyahu Kaplan (; October 23, 1934 – January 28, 1983) was an American Orthodox Judaism, Orthodox rabbi, author, and translator best known for his The Living Torah and Nach, Living Torah edition of the Torah and extensive Kabbalah, ...
** Yehuda (Leo) Levi ** Alvin Radkowsky ** Gerald Schroeder


References


External links


Cyril Domb Interview, June 2002

Cyril Domb: A Personal View and Appreciation
by
Michael E. Fisher Michael Ellis Fisher (3 September 1931 – 26 November 2021) was an English physicist, as well as chemist and mathematician, known for his many seminal contributions to statistical physics, including but not restricted to the theory of phase t ...
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Domb, Cyril Jewish British physicists British physicists Academics of the University of Cambridge Alumni of Pembroke College, Cambridge Academics of King's College London People educated at Hackney Downs School British emigrants to Israel English Orthodox Jews Fellows of the Royal Society Israeli Orthodox Jews Israeli physicists Academic staff of Jerusalem College of Technology Judaism and science 1920 births 2012 deaths Writers about religion and science