Date sent:        Sat, 27 Apr 1996 17:52:34 -0700



William Duell 

LBS 133 (Mr. Clark)

Observing the Universe



 Disturbing the Universe, the autobiographical work by renowned
physicist Freeman Dyson, is a profound piece that offers insight
into the human qualities of the author. Although "it" does
chronicle his career as a scientist, the scope of the book is
greater than that. Dyson reflects on his life work as pertains
to public knowledge. In many ways Dyson's story resonates to
some extent or another, in all of our lives. Dyson's personality
is earmarked by his keen abilities as an observer and an
analyst, and by his struggle between conformity and
individuality. 

 Early on in his life Dyson took typical youthful views of the
world. He was a simple-minded idealist. Pondering the upcoming
war he concluded, "...the basic cause of war is injustice. If
all men had a fair share of the world's goods, if all of us were
given an equal chance in the game of life, then there would be
no hatred and no war." Dyson also noted, "The war for me was an
unconditional evil". The prime example of his attitude was his
simple yet all-encompassing theory called Cosmic Unity. 

 "Enlightenment came to me suddenly and unexpectedly one
afternoon in

  March... in a blinding flash of inner light I saw the answer
to the problem

  of war and the problem of injustice. The answer was amazingly
simple. I 

 called it Cosmic Unity. Cosmic Unity said: There is only one of
us. We are 

 all the same person. I am you and I am Winston Churchill and
Hitler and 

 Gandhi and everybody. There is no problem of injustice because
your 				sufferings are also mine. There will be no problem of
war as soon as you 

 understand that in killing me you are only killing yourself.

 He later laments, "I must find a way to convert the world to my
way of thinking". Most people at some time have been extremely
egocentric. Witty young people such as Dyson are quick to
pinpoint the world's many problems, and possible solutions.
Observing the habits of most young people, Dyson's youthful
exuberance is not uncommon. Many youth act with great fervor on
things they feel passionately about. Dyson was no exception. 

 Freeman Dyson was a very bright young man. When he was a
teenager he became engulfed in Piaggio's Differential Equations.
During one Christmas break, the restless and inquisitive Dyson
would spend nearly every waking hour pressing his bright young
mind in "Examples for Solution". Of his Christmas break he
noted, "Never have I enjoyed a vacation more." This episode in
Dyson's life is can be considered another example of his
devotion to something of which he feels strongly. 	

 Freeman Dyson's parents noticed that their son was becoming too
narrow-minded, thus tried to broaden his outlook. His mother
warned young Freeman that he would ruin his health and burn out
his brains if he did not change his ways. She lectured to him,
"Homo sum: humani nil a me alienum puto." "I am human and I let
nothing human be alien to me." Of Dyson's passion for science
and mathematics she warned him to save his humanity. You will
regret it deeply, she said, when one day you are a great
scientist and you wake up to find that you have never had time
to make friends. It is quite evident that, if not immediately,
this talk struck a chord somewhere in Dyson's formidable psyche.
His mother was also understanding of his notion dubbed Cosmic
Unity. She answered his view by saying that she has thought
something quite similar for quite some time. 

 The fact that Dyson was finally starting to broaden his outlook
foreshadowed the events of the next stage of his life. Dyson
went from being a follower of Gandhi, to a civilian scientist
working at Bomber Command headquarters during World War II. This
radical change was not made without some deep thought on Dyson's
part. He had to rationalize.

 "At the beginning of the war I believed fiercely in the
brotherhood of man,

 called myself a follower of Gandhi, and was morally opposed to
all violence. 

 After a year of war I retreated and said, unfortunately
nonviolent resistance 

 against Hitler is impracticable, but I am still morally opposed
to bombing."

 He goes on,

 "After I arrived at Bomber Command I said, unfortunately it
turns out that 

 we are after all bombing cities indiscriminately, but this is
morally justified 

 as it is helping to win the war... I could no longer find any
excuses. Mike 

 had fought single-handed the battle of the escape hatches and
indeed saved 

 many lives. I had saved none."  

 Dyson learned firsthand, in a deeply meaningful way, the adage:
there are no laws, only circumstances. He was conforming. He had
to approach things in a different way. In an effort to gain
self-respect, Dyson considered enlisting in the army himself.
His mother brought him back to his senses, convincing him to
stay at Bomber Command.

 Dyson had become less assertive. While at Bomber Command, Dyson
concluded quite assuredly that removing the gun turrets from the
airplanes would increase speed and obviously save the lives of
the would-be gunners. In order to realize his notion Dyson would
have involved Wing Commander McGowan in a major beauracratic
battle. He would have had to rustle some feathers. Change often
involves confronting one's adversaries. Dyson backed down.

 His colleague Mike O'Loughlin was a different breed. Mike was
upset about the narrow escape hatches in the bombers. He
concluded if the hatches were widened by just two inches many
lives would be spared. Mike spent two years lobbying Bomber
Command to widen the escape hatches. Ultimately he succeeded. It
was an admirable triumph of one feeble young man overcoming the
conservative military establishment.

 Frank Thompson, an friend of Dyson's, is a second example of an
individual that would fight for a cause. Thompson went to
Oxford, joined the Communist Party and proceeded to enlist in
the army. In an undercover mission to German-occupied Yugoslavia
he was captured as a prisoner of war. Asked why he had come to a
foreign country to wage war Thompson replied, "I came because
this war is something very much deeper than a struggle of nation
against nation. The greatest thing in the world now is the
struggle of Anti-Fascism against Fascism." 

 "They" replied, "Do you know that we shoot men who hold your
opinion?"

 Thompson retorts, "I am ready to die for freedom."

 Frank Thompson was the embodiment of individualism and cause. 

 Freeman Dyson  was more of a thinker than a doer. He was the
kind of person that had to gather his thoughts before acting. A
prime example of his calculated action involved a building
caretaker named Dover Sharpe. Dover Sharpe was injured in a
booby-trapped bomb explosion. Dyson could have saved him. He
hesitated, paralyzed by the intensity of the moment. Dover
Sharpe died. Dyson knew nothing about Dover Sharpe save his
name.                      			Freeman Dyson had difficulty
bringing his thoughts and ideas to fruition. Dyson's style was
to lay back, observe the world, analyze and profess. This was
his nature. Dyson was a humanist. The consequences of his
scientific work did not elude him. Dyson was aware of the
interminable nature of scientific conclusions. He knew that
whimsical ideas could turn into a "Magic City".

 From the tone of this autobiography one can tell that Dyson's
Cosmic Unity was a theme throughout his life. He was careful to
chronicle the influence of the various people, places, and
institutions in his experiences. One cannot help but construe
Cosmic Unity in this way. You have made an impression on me,
therefore I am you. The opposite is true. When one considers the
web of human interaction, we are all one. We are all cosmically
unified.