Peter Higgs: ‘Today I would not get an academic work. It’s as simple as that’. Photograph: David Levene for the Guardian
Peter Higgs, the British physicist who gave his name to the Higgs boson, believes no university would use him in today’s academic system since he would not be regarded as “productive” enough.
The emeritus professor at Edinburgh University, who says he has never sent an e mail, browsed the net or even produced a mobile telephone call, published fewer than ten papers right after his groundbreaking work, which recognized the mechanism by which subatomic material acquires mass, was published in 1964.
He doubts a related breakthrough could be attained in today’s academic culture, because of the expectations on academics to collaborate and maintain churning out papers. He explained: “It is tough to picture how I would ever have adequate peace and quiet in the present kind of climate to do what I did in 1964.”
Speaking to the Guardian en route to Stockholm to get the 2013 Nobel prize for science, Higgs, 84, explained he would practically definitely have been sacked had he not been nominated for the Nobel in 1980.
Edinburgh University’s authorities then took the see, he later discovered, that he “may possibly get a Nobel prize – and if he does not we can often get rid of him”.
Higgs mentioned he grew to become “an embarrassment to the division when they did analysis evaluation exercises”. A message would go all around the department saying: “Please give a list of your latest publications.” Higgs explained: “I would send back a statement: ‘None.’ “
By the time he retired in 1996, he was uncomfortable with the new academic culture. “Following I retired it was very a extended time just before I went back to my division. I imagined I was nicely out of it. It wasn’t my way of performing factors any much more. Today I would not get an academic work. It is as basic as that. I don’t believe I would be regarded as productive adequate.”
Higgs revealed that his career had also been jeopardised by his disagreements in the 1960s and 70s with the then principal, Michael Swann, who went on to chair the BBC. Higgs objected to Swann’s handling of pupil protests and to the university’s shareholdings in South African businesses throughout the apartheid regime. “[Swann] did not understand the issues, and denounced the student leaders.”
He regrets that the particle he recognized in 1964 grew to become identified as the “God particle”.
He said: “Some people get baffled amongst the science and the theology. They claim that what occurred at Cern proves the existence of God.”
An atheist considering that the age of 10, he fears the nickname “reinforces puzzled considering in the heads of people who are presently contemplating in a puzzled way. If they believe that story about creation in seven days, are they getting intelligent?”
He also exposed that he turned down a knighthood in 1999. “I am rather cynical about the way the honours method is utilised, frankly. A total good deal of the honours method is utilised for political functions by the government in electrical power.”
He has not yet made a decision which way he will vote in the referendum on Scottish independence. “My perspective would depend a minor bit on how much progress the lunatic right of the Conservative celebration tends to make in making an attempt to get us out of Europe. If the Uk were threatening to withdraw from Europe, I would undoubtedly want Scotland to be out of that.”
He has never been tempted to acquire a tv, but was persuaded to view The Big Bang Concept final yr, and stated he wasn’t impressed.
Peter Higgs: I wouldn"t be productive enough for today"s academic system
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