17th Michelson Memorial Lecture

Mahan Hall Auditorium

Leon N. Cooper was born in 1930 in New York where he attended Columbia University (A.B. 1951, A.M. 1953, Ph.D. 1954). He became a member of the Institute for Advanced Study in 1954 until 1955. From 1955 to 1957 Professor Cooper was a research associate at the University of Illinois. He later became an assistant professor at the Ohio State University until 1958 when he joined Brown University. At Brown, Professor Cooper became a Henry Ledyard Goddard University Professor in 1966 until 1974. Since 1974 he has served as the Thomas J. Watson, Sr. Professor of Science.

Professor Cooper has received many forms of recognition for his work. In 1972 he received the Nobel Prize in Physics, with J. Bardeen and J. R. Schrieffer, for his studies on the theory of superconductivity which was completed while still in his 20s. His concept of Cooper pairs forms the basis of the BCS theory. Among his other awards are the Comstock Prize, with J. R. Schrieffer, of the National Academy of Sciences, the Award of Excellence, Graduate Faculties Alumni of Columbia University and Descartes Medal, Academie de Paris, Universite Rene Descartes, the John Jay Award and the Alexander Hamilton Award of Columbia College. He holds seven honorary doctorates.

Professor Cooper has been an NSF Postdoctoral Fellow, 1954-55, an Alfred P. Sloan Foundation Research Fellow, 1959-66, and a John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation Fellow, 1965-66. He is a fellow of the American Physical Society and American Academy of Arts and Sciences; member: American Philosophical Society, National Academy of Sciences, Sponsor Federation of American Scientists, Society of Neuroscience American Association for Advancement of Science, Phi Beta Kappa, and Sigma Xi. Professor Cooper also has been on the Governing Board and Executive Committee of the International Neural Network Society and a member of the Defense Science Board.

Professor Cooper is cofounder and cochairman of Nestor, Inc., an industry leader in applying neural-network systems to commercial and military applications. Nestor’s adaptive pattern-recognition and risk-assessment systems simulated in small conventional computers and in a Nestor Intel chip learn by example to accurately classify complex patterns such as targets in sonar, radar or imaging systems, and to emulate human decisions in various situations. He is also Chairman of the Science Advisory Board of Spectra Sciences, a company that commercializes innovative laser products.

Professor Cooper is Founder and Director of Brown University’s Institute for Brain and Neural Systems. The Institute, devoted to the study of brain function and neural systems, brings together an international group of scientists, drawing on the worlds of biology, psychology, mathematics, engineering, physics, linguistics and computer science. An Institute objective is to pave the way for the next generation of cognitive pharmaceuticals and intelligent systems for use in electronics, automobiles and communications.

nce, we were at rest at the center of the universe, the heavens revolving about us, our activities the subject of intense celestial interest. Now, with countless galaxies, we share occupancy of an expanding universe totally indifferent to our needs or concerns. That science has shaped this world view is generally accepted. But that this world view has shaped science is less well understood. In this lecture I will discuss this interaction and how it has brought us to our current view of our place in the universe.