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J. A. Wheeler’s Prophetic Vision. John Archibald Wheeler (1911–2008) was… | by Robert Oldershaw | Medium

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John Archibald Wheeler (1911–2008) was an influential theoretical physicist who reignited interest in General Relativity, black holes and ideas like Geometrodynamics that linked the microcosm and macrocosm. He was known for his ability to explain the central essence of complex physics theories in simple and succinct statements. One of the best of those was his elegant statement of General Relativity’s key idea: “Spacetime tells matter how to move; matter tells spacetime how to curve.” It will come as no surprise that one of my favorite Wheeler (2000) quotations is: “How can physics live up to its true greatness except by a new revolution in outlook which dwarfs all its past revolutions? And when it comes, will we not say to each other, ‘Oh, how beautiful and simple it all is! How could we ever have missed it for so long!” Wheeler was well aware that experimental physics and astrophysical observations had been generating discoveries at a remarkable pace, but theoretical physics seemed t

Einstein, Yukawa, and Wheeler Physics Science Astronomy Astrophysics Cosmology J. A. Wheeler’s Prophetic Vision Robert Oldershaw 2 min read · Apr 20, 2018 -- 1 Listen Share John Archibald Wheeler (1911–2008) was an influential theoretical physicist who reignited interest in General Relativity, black holes and ideas like Geometrodynamics that linked the microcosm and macrocosm. He was known for his ability to explain the central essence of complex physics theories in simple and succinct statements. One of the best of those was his elegant statement of General Relativity’s key idea: “Spacetime t

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