Walter Thirring met Einstein, Schrödinger, Heisenberg and Pauli – the very persons who revolutionised and thereby defined the horizon of modern science. Already before him his father was an outstanding scientist who because of political reasons was seen forced to leave university in 1938. In 1943, at barely 16-years-old, Walter Thirring was conscripted. After the war he worked with Schrödinger at the Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies, then with Werner Heisenberg in Göttingen. He was also a member of the Princeton Institute for Advanced Studies where he met Einstein. His contributions to modern science are many. In his biography he recalls the leading scientists of the 20th-century and also displays an amazing width of knowledge and experience – all the result of a fascinating and many-faceted career. An accompanying CD attests to his talent for composing music.

About the author:

University Professor Dr Walter Thirring was born in 1927. He is one of the most renowned scientists of the age within the field of Theoretical Physics. 1953-54: Member of the Princeton Institute for Advanced Studies; contact with Schrödinger, Heisenberg, Einstein, Pauli. 1956-57: Visiting Professor at MIT, Cambridge and subsequently the University of Washington at Seattle, then went on to teach physics in Bern and Vienna. 1968-1971: Head of the Theoretical Department of CERN. He is credited with approximately 150 scientific papers, many awards, i.e., Eötvös-Medaille, the Erwin-Schrödinger Prize, Max-Planck-Medaille, Honorary Doctorate from the Comenius University, Bratislava, and the Henri-Poincare Prize from the International Association of Mathematical Physics. Thirring's great love is music, above all organ and composition.