H. Eugene Stanley
Encyclopedia
Harry Eugene Stanley is an American
physicist
and University Professor
at Boston University
. He has made seminal contributions to statistical physics
and is one of the pioneers of interdisciplinary science. His current research focuses on understanding the anomalous behavior of liquid water, but he had made fundamental contributions to complex systems, such as quantifying correlations among the constituents of the Alzheimer brain, and quantifying fluctuations in noncoding and coding DNA
sequences, interbeat intervals of the healthy and diseased heart. He is one of the founding fathers of econophysics
.
in 1962.
He performed biological physics research with Max Delbrueck in 1963 and was awarded a Ph.D.
in physics from Harvard University
in 1967.
Stanley was a Miller Fellow at University of California, Berkeley
with Charles Kittel
, where he wrote an Oxford monograph
Introduction to Phase Transitions and Critical Phenomena which won the
Choice Award for Outstanding Academic Book of 1971.
Associate Professor in 1973, in recognition of his interdepartmental teaching and research with the Harvard-MIT Program in Health Sciences and Technology. In 1976, Stanley joined Boston University as Professor of Physics, and Associate Professor of Physiology (in the School of Medicine). In 1978 and 1979, he was promoted to Professor of Physiology and University Professor, respectively. Since 2007 he holds joint appointments with the Chemistry and Biomedical Engineering Departments.
, such as the theory of phase transition
s, percolation, disordered systems, aggregation phenomena, polymer
s, econophysics and biological physics. His early work introduced the n-vector model of magnetism
and its exact solution in the limit nà infinity, topics that are now part of standard statistical physics textbooks.
His seminal work on liquid water started with a percolation model he developed with Texeira to explain the experimentally observed anticorrelations in entropy and volume [H. E. Stanley and J. Teixeira, “Interpretation of The Unusual Behavior of H2O
and D2O at Low Temperatures: Tests of a Percolation Model” J. Chem. Phys.
73, 3404–3422 (1980)]. In 1992 he developed the liquid-liquid critical point hypothesis, that offered a quantitative understanding of water’s anomalies, applying to all liquids with tethrahedral symmetry (like silicon, silica) [P. H. Poole, F. Sciortino, U. Essmann, and H. E. Stanley, “Phase Behavior of
Metastable Water” Nature 360, 324–328 (1992).] Direct experimental proof for his proposal was obtained by recent experiments in Tsukuba and MIT.
Stanley coined the term ‘econophysics’ in 1994 to denote the field of physics dealing with economic phenomenon. His group has found empirical laws governing economic fluctuations, and proposed statistical mechanics models to explain their origins.
His publications have received 47,500 citations [40,400 to articles and 7100 to books]
and his Hirsch index is h = 102. Two of his papers were reproduced in
The Physical Review, The First Hundred Years: A Selection of
Seminal Papers and Commentaries.
Stanley is committed to education at all levels, from high school to
graduate studies. He has served as thesis advisor to 96 Ph. D. students
and has collaborated with 102 postdoctoral fellows and visiting
faculty. He is also active in worldwide efforts for achieving gender
balance in the physical sciences.
. He is an Honorary Member of the
Hungarian Physical Society and he is currently
Honorary Professor at the Institute for Advanced Studies, University of Pavia
(Pavia
, Italy
), and at Eötvös Loránd University (Budapest
, Hungary
). Stanley awarded the 2004 APS
Nicholson Medal for Humanitarian Service, "For his extraordinary contributions to human rights, for his initiatives on behalf of female physicists, and for his caring and supportive relationship with those who have worked in his laboratory."
For his contributions to phase transitions Stanley received the
2004 Boltzmann Medal
, awarded by International Union of Pure and Applied Physics
(IUPAP), and the American Physical Society
2008 Julius Edgar Lilienfeld Prize.
He was awarded the Teresiana Medal in Complex Systems Research
given by the University of Pavia. He also received the Distinguished
Teaching Scholar Director's Award from the National Science Foundation
, the Nicholson Medal for Human Outreach from the American Physical Society
, a Guggenheim Fellowship
(1979), the David Turnbull Prize from the Materials Research Society (1998), a BP Venture Research Award, the Floyd K. Richtmyer Memorial Lectureship Award (1997), the Memory Ride Award for Alzheimer Research, and the Massachusetts Professor of the Year
awarded by the Council for Advancement and Support of Education.
Stanley received five Doctorates Honoris Causa, from Bar-Ilan University
Ramat Gan, Israel
), Eotvos Lorand University (Budapest). University of Liège
(Belgium
), University of Dortmund, and University of Wroclaw.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
physicist
Physicist
A physicist is a scientist who studies or practices physics. Physicists study a wide range of physical phenomena in many branches of physics spanning all length scales: from sub-atomic particles of which all ordinary matter is made to the behavior of the material Universe as a whole...
and University Professor
Professor
A professor is a scholarly teacher; the precise meaning of the term varies by country. Literally, professor derives from Latin as a "person who professes" being usually an expert in arts or sciences; a teacher of high rank...
at Boston University
Boston University
Boston University is a private research university located in Boston, Massachusetts. With more than 4,000 faculty members and more than 31,000 students, Boston University is one of the largest private universities in the United States and one of Boston's largest employers...
. He has made seminal contributions to statistical physics
Statistical physics
Statistical physics is the branch of physics that uses methods of probability theory and statistics, and particularly the mathematical tools for dealing with large populations and approximations, in solving physical problems. It can describe a wide variety of fields with an inherently stochastic...
and is one of the pioneers of interdisciplinary science. His current research focuses on understanding the anomalous behavior of liquid water, but he had made fundamental contributions to complex systems, such as quantifying correlations among the constituents of the Alzheimer brain, and quantifying fluctuations in noncoding and coding DNA
DNA
Deoxyribonucleic acid is a nucleic acid that contains the genetic instructions used in the development and functioning of all known living organisms . The DNA segments that carry this genetic information are called genes, but other DNA sequences have structural purposes, or are involved in...
sequences, interbeat intervals of the healthy and diseased heart. He is one of the founding fathers of econophysics
Econophysics
Econophysics is an interdisciplinary research field, applying theories and methods originally developed by physicists in order to solve problems in economics, usually those including uncertainty or stochastic processes and nonlinear dynamics...
.
Education
Stanley obtained his B.A. in physics at Wesleyan UniversityWesleyan University
Wesleyan University is a private liberal arts college founded in 1831 and located in Middletown, Connecticut. According to the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, Wesleyan is the only Baccalaureate College in the nation that emphasizes undergraduate instruction in the arts and...
in 1962.
He performed biological physics research with Max Delbrueck in 1963 and was awarded a Ph.D.
Ph.D.
A Ph.D. is a Doctor of Philosophy, an academic degree.Ph.D. may also refer to:* Ph.D. , a 1980s British group*Piled Higher and Deeper, a web comic strip*PhD: Phantasy Degree, a Korean comic series* PhD Docbook renderer, an XML renderer...
in physics from Harvard University
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
in 1967.
Stanley was a Miller Fellow at University of California, Berkeley
University of California, Berkeley
The University of California, Berkeley , is a teaching and research university established in 1868 and located in Berkeley, California, USA...
with Charles Kittel
Charles Kittel
Charles Kittel is an American physicist. He was a Professor at University of California, Berkeley from 1951 and has been Professor Emeritus since 1978.- Life and work :...
, where he wrote an Oxford monograph
Introduction to Phase Transitions and Critical Phenomena which won the
Choice Award for Outstanding Academic Book of 1971.
Academic career
Stanley was appointed Assistant Professor of Physics at MIT in 1969 and was promoted to Associate Professor in 1971. He was appointed Hermann von HelmholtzHermann von Helmholtz
Hermann Ludwig Ferdinand von Helmholtz was a German physician and physicist who made significant contributions to several widely varied areas of modern science...
Associate Professor in 1973, in recognition of his interdepartmental teaching and research with the Harvard-MIT Program in Health Sciences and Technology. In 1976, Stanley joined Boston University as Professor of Physics, and Associate Professor of Physiology (in the School of Medicine). In 1978 and 1979, he was promoted to Professor of Physiology and University Professor, respectively. Since 2007 he holds joint appointments with the Chemistry and Biomedical Engineering Departments.
Research and achievements
Stanley had fundamental contributions to several topics in statistical physicsStatistical physics
Statistical physics is the branch of physics that uses methods of probability theory and statistics, and particularly the mathematical tools for dealing with large populations and approximations, in solving physical problems. It can describe a wide variety of fields with an inherently stochastic...
, such as the theory of phase transition
Phase transition
A phase transition is the transformation of a thermodynamic system from one phase or state of matter to another.A phase of a thermodynamic system and the states of matter have uniform physical properties....
s, percolation, disordered systems, aggregation phenomena, polymer
Polymer
A polymer is a large molecule composed of repeating structural units. These subunits are typically connected by covalent chemical bonds...
s, econophysics and biological physics. His early work introduced the n-vector model of magnetism
Magnetism
Magnetism is a property of materials that respond at an atomic or subatomic level to an applied magnetic field. Ferromagnetism is the strongest and most familiar type of magnetism. It is responsible for the behavior of permanent magnets, which produce their own persistent magnetic fields, as well...
and its exact solution in the limit nà infinity, topics that are now part of standard statistical physics textbooks.
His seminal work on liquid water started with a percolation model he developed with Texeira to explain the experimentally observed anticorrelations in entropy and volume [H. E. Stanley and J. Teixeira, “Interpretation of The Unusual Behavior of H2O
and D2O at Low Temperatures: Tests of a Percolation Model” J. Chem. Phys.
73, 3404–3422 (1980)]. In 1992 he developed the liquid-liquid critical point hypothesis, that offered a quantitative understanding of water’s anomalies, applying to all liquids with tethrahedral symmetry (like silicon, silica) [P. H. Poole, F. Sciortino, U. Essmann, and H. E. Stanley, “Phase Behavior of
Metastable Water” Nature 360, 324–328 (1992).] Direct experimental proof for his proposal was obtained by recent experiments in Tsukuba and MIT.
Stanley coined the term ‘econophysics’ in 1994 to denote the field of physics dealing with economic phenomenon. His group has found empirical laws governing economic fluctuations, and proposed statistical mechanics models to explain their origins.
His publications have received 47,500 citations [40,400 to articles and 7100 to books]
and his Hirsch index is h = 102. Two of his papers were reproduced in
The Physical Review, The First Hundred Years: A Selection of
Seminal Papers and Commentaries.
Stanley is committed to education at all levels, from high school to
graduate studies. He has served as thesis advisor to 96 Ph. D. students
and has collaborated with 102 postdoctoral fellows and visiting
faculty. He is also active in worldwide efforts for achieving gender
balance in the physical sciences.
Honors and awards
Stanley has been elected to the U.S. National Academy of Sciences (2004), the Brazilian Academy of SciencesBrazilian Academy of Sciences
The Brazilian Academy of Sciences is the national academy of Brazil. It is headquartered in the city of Rio de Janeiro and was founded in 1916....
. He is an Honorary Member of the
Hungarian Physical Society and he is currently
Honorary Professor at the Institute for Advanced Studies, University of Pavia
University of Pavia
The University of Pavia is a university located in Pavia, Lombardy, Italy. It was founded in 1361 and is organized in 9 Faculties.-History:...
(Pavia
Pavia
Pavia , the ancient Ticinum, is a town and comune of south-western Lombardy, northern Italy, 35 km south of Milan on the lower Ticino river near its confluence with the Po. It is the capital of the province of Pavia. It has a population of c. 71,000...
, Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
), and at Eötvös Loránd University (Budapest
Budapest
Budapest is the capital of Hungary. As the largest city of Hungary, it is the country's principal political, cultural, commercial, industrial, and transportation centre. In 2011, Budapest had 1,733,685 inhabitants, down from its 1989 peak of 2,113,645 due to suburbanization. The Budapest Commuter...
, Hungary
Hungary
Hungary , officially the Republic of Hungary , is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is situated in the Carpathian Basin and is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine and Romania to the east, Serbia and Croatia to the south, Slovenia to the southwest and Austria to the west. The...
). Stanley awarded the 2004 APS
American Physical Society
The American Physical Society is the world's second largest organization of physicists, behind the Deutsche Physikalische Gesellschaft. The Society publishes more than a dozen scientific journals, including the world renowned Physical Review and Physical Review Letters, and organizes more than 20...
Nicholson Medal for Humanitarian Service, "For his extraordinary contributions to human rights, for his initiatives on behalf of female physicists, and for his caring and supportive relationship with those who have worked in his laboratory."
For his contributions to phase transitions Stanley received the
2004 Boltzmann Medal
Boltzmann Medal
The Boltzmann Medal is the most important prize awarded to physicists that obtain new results concerning statistical mechanics; it is named after the celebrated physicist Ludwig Boltzmann...
, awarded by International Union of Pure and Applied Physics
International Union of Pure and Applied Physics
The International Union of Pure and Applied Physics is an international non-governmental organization devoted to the advancement of physics...
(IUPAP), and the American Physical Society
American Physical Society
The American Physical Society is the world's second largest organization of physicists, behind the Deutsche Physikalische Gesellschaft. The Society publishes more than a dozen scientific journals, including the world renowned Physical Review and Physical Review Letters, and organizes more than 20...
2008 Julius Edgar Lilienfeld Prize.
He was awarded the Teresiana Medal in Complex Systems Research
given by the University of Pavia. He also received the Distinguished
Teaching Scholar Director's Award from the National Science Foundation
National Science Foundation
The National Science Foundation is a United States government agency that supports fundamental research and education in all the non-medical fields of science and engineering. Its medical counterpart is the National Institutes of Health...
, the Nicholson Medal for Human Outreach from the American Physical Society
American Physical Society
The American Physical Society is the world's second largest organization of physicists, behind the Deutsche Physikalische Gesellschaft. The Society publishes more than a dozen scientific journals, including the world renowned Physical Review and Physical Review Letters, and organizes more than 20...
, a Guggenheim Fellowship
Guggenheim Fellowship
Guggenheim Fellowships are American grants that have been awarded annually since 1925 by the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation to those "who have demonstrated exceptional capacity for productive scholarship or exceptional creative ability in the arts." Each year, the foundation makes...
(1979), the David Turnbull Prize from the Materials Research Society (1998), a BP Venture Research Award, the Floyd K. Richtmyer Memorial Lectureship Award (1997), the Memory Ride Award for Alzheimer Research, and the Massachusetts Professor of the Year
awarded by the Council for Advancement and Support of Education.
Stanley received five Doctorates Honoris Causa, from Bar-Ilan University
Bar-Ilan University
Bar-Ilan University is a university in Ramat Gan of the Tel Aviv District, Israel.Established in 1955, Bar Ilan is now Israel's second-largest academic institution. It has nearly 26,800 students and 1,350 faculty members...
Ramat Gan, Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
), Eotvos Lorand University (Budapest). University of Liège
University of Liège
The University of Liège , in Liège, Wallonia, Belgium, is a major public university in the French Community of Belgium. Its official language is French.-History:...
(Belgium
Belgium
Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...
), University of Dortmund, and University of Wroclaw.