Editing Eugene Wigner (section)

==Later years==
Wigner was elected to the [[American Philosophical Society]] in 1944 and the United States [[National Academy of Sciences]] in 1945.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Member History - Dr. Eugene P. Wigner |url=https://search.amphilsoc.org/memhist/search?creator=Eugene+Wigner&title=&subject=&subdiv=&mem=&year=&year-max=&dead=&keyword=&smode=advanced |access-date=2023-04-03 |website= American Philosophical Society |url-status=live |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20230413001342/https://search.amphilsoc.org/memhist/search?creator=Eugene+Wigner&title=&subject=&subdiv=&mem=&year=&year-max=&dead=&keyword=&smode=advanced |archive-date= Apr 13, 2023 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Eugene P. Wigner |url=http://www.nasonline.org/member-directory/deceased-members/49127.html |access-date=2023-04-03 |website=National Academy of Sciences }}</ref> He accepted a position as the director of research and development at the Clinton Laboratory (now the [[Oak Ridge National Laboratory]]) in [[Oak Ridge, Tennessee]] in early 1946. Because he did not want to be involved in administrative duties, he became co-director of the laboratory, with James Lum handling the administrative chores as executive director.{{sfn|Johnson|Schaffer|1994|p=31}} When the newly created [[United States Atomic Energy Commission|Atomic Energy Commission]] (AEC) took charge of the laboratory's operations at the start of 1947, Wigner feared that many of the technical decisions would be made in Washington.<ref name="NAS">{{cite web|last1=Seitz|first1=Frederick|author-link=Frederick Seitz |first2=Erich |author-link2=Erich Vogt |last2=Vogt |first3=Alvin M. |last3=Weinberg |author-link3=Alvin Weinberg |series=Biographical Memoirs |title=Eugene Paul Wigner |url=http://www.nap.edu/readingroom/books/biomems/ewigner.html|publisher=National Academies Press|access-date=20 August 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131029003807/http://www.nap.edu/readingroom/books/biomems/ewigner.html |archive-date= Oct 29, 2013 }}</ref> He also saw the Army's continuation of wartime security policies at the laboratory as a "meddlesome oversight", interfering with research.<ref name=ORNL-History-RnR>{{cite web|title=ORNL History. Chapter 2: High-Flux Years. Section: Research and Regulations|url=http://web.ornl.gov/info/ornlreview/rev25-34/chapter2.shtml|website=ORNL Review|publisher=Oak Ridge National Laboratory's Communications and Community Outreach|access-date=20 August 2013|quote=Oak Ridge at that time was so terribly bureaucratized that I am sorry to say I could not stand it.|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130316204501/http://web.ornl.gov/info/ornlreview/rev25-34/chapter2.shtml|archive-date=16 March 2013}}</ref> One such incident occurred in March 1947, when the AEC discovered that Wigner's scientists were conducting experiments with a [[critical mass]] of [[uranium-235]] when the director of the Manhattan Project, [[Major General (United States)|Major General]] [[Leslie R. Groves, Jr.]], had forbidden such experiments in August 1946 after the death of [[Louis Slotin]] at the [[Los Alamos Laboratory]]. Wigner argued that Groves's order had been superseded, but was forced to terminate the experiments, which were completely different from the one that killed Slotin.{{sfn|Hewlett|Duncan|1969|pp=38–39}}

Feeling unsuited to a managerial role in such an environment, he left Oak Ridge in 1947 and returned to Princeton University,{{sfn|Johnson|Schaffer|1994|p=49}} although he maintained a consulting role with the facility for many years.<ref name="NAS"/> In the postwar period, he served on a number of government bodies, including the [[National Bureau of Standards]] from 1947 to 1951, the mathematics panel of the [[United States National Research Council|National Research Council]] from 1951 to 1954, the physics panel of the [[National Science Foundation]], and the influential General Advisory Committee of the [[United States Atomic Energy Commission|Atomic Energy Commission]] from 1952 to 1957 and again from 1959 to 1964.{{sfn|Szanton|1992|p=270}} He also contributed to [[civil defense]].{{sfn|Szanton|1992|pp=288–290}}

Wigner was elected to the [[American Academy of Arts and Sciences]] in 1950.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Eugene Paul Wigner |url=https://www.amacad.org/person/eugene-paul-wigner |access-date=2023-04-03 |website=American Academy of Arts & Sciences |date=9 February 2023 |language=en}}</ref>

Near the end of his life, Wigner's thoughts turned more philosophical. In 1960, he published a now classic article on the philosophy of mathematics and of physics, which has become his best-known work outside technical mathematics and physics, "[[The Unreasonable Effectiveness of Mathematics in the Natural Sciences]]".<ref name="unreasonable">{{Cite journal | last1 = Wigner | first1 = E. P. | author-link = Eugene Wigner | doi = 10.1002/cpa.3160130102 | title = The unreasonable effectiveness of mathematics in the natural sciences. Richard Courant lecture in mathematical sciences delivered at New York University, May 11, 1959 | journal = Communications on Pure and Applied Mathematics | volume = 13 | issue = 1 | pages = 1–14 | year = 1960 | url = http://www.dartmouth.edu/~matc/MathDrama/reading/Wigner.html | bibcode = 1960CPAM...13....1W | s2cid = 6112252 | access-date = December 24, 2008 | archive-date = February 28, 2011 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20110228152633/http://www.dartmouth.edu/~matc/MathDrama/reading/Wigner.html | url-status = dead }}</ref> He argued that biology and cognition could be the origin of physical concepts, as we humans perceive them, and that the happy coincidence that mathematics and physics were so well matched, seemed to be "unreasonable" and hard to explain.<ref name="unreasonable" /> His original paper has provoked and inspired many responses across a wide range of disciplines. These included [[Richard Hamming]] in Computer Science,<ref name="hamming">{{Cite journal | last1 = Hamming | first1 = R. W. | author-link = Richard Hamming | title = The Unreasonable Effectiveness of Mathematics | journal = The American Mathematical Monthly | volume = 87 | issue = 2 | pages = 81–90 | doi = 10.2307/2321982 | year = 1980 | url = http://www.dartmouth.edu/~matc/MathDrama/reading/Hamming.html | jstor = 2321982 | hdl = 10945/55827 | access-date = 2015-08-28 | archive-date = 2007-02-03 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20070203151259/http://www.dartmouth.edu/~matc/MathDrama/reading/Hamming.html | url-status = dead | hdl-access = free }}</ref> [[Arthur M. Lesk|Arthur Lesk]] in Molecular Biology,<ref name="lesk">{{Cite journal | last1 = Lesk | first1 = A. M. | title = The unreasonable effectiveness of mathematics in molecular biology | doi = 10.1007/BF03025372 | journal = The Mathematical Intelligencer | volume = 22 | issue = 2 | pages = 28–37 | year = 2000 | s2cid = 120102813 }}</ref> [[Peter Norvig]] in data mining,<ref name="norvig">{{Cite journal | last1 = Halevy | first1 = A. | author-link1 = Alon Y. Halevy| last2 = Norvig | first2 = P. | author-link2 = Peter Norvig| last3 = Pereira | first3 = F. | doi = 10.1109/MIS.2009.36 | title = The Unreasonable Effectiveness of Data | journal = IEEE Intelligent Systems | volume = 24 | issue = 2 | pages = 8–12 | year = 2009 | url = http://static.googleusercontent.com/media/research.google.com/en//pubs/archive/35179.pdf| s2cid = 14300215 }}</ref>  [[Max Tegmark]] in Physics,<ref name="tegmark">{{cite journal |title=The Mathematical Universe |year=2008 |first=Max |last=Tegmark |author-link=Max Tegmark |doi=10.1007/s10701-007-9186-9 |journal=Foundations of Physics |volume=38 |issue=2 |pages=101–150 |arxiv=0704.0646|bibcode = 2008FoPh...38..101T |s2cid=9890455 }}</ref> [[Ivor Grattan-Guinness]] in Mathematics,<ref name="ivor">{{Cite journal | last1 = Grattan-Guinness | first1 = I. | title = Solving Wigner's mystery: The reasonable (though perhaps limited) effectiveness of mathematics in the natural sciences | doi = 10.1007/BF02985373 | journal = The Mathematical Intelligencer | volume = 30 | issue = 3 | pages = 7–17 | year = 2008 | s2cid = 123174309 }}</ref> and [[Vela Velupillai]] in Economics.<ref name="velupillai">{{Cite journal | last1 = Velupillai | first1 = K. V. | title = The unreasonable ineffectiveness of mathematics in economics | doi = 10.1093/cje/bei084 | journal = Cambridge Journal of Economics | volume = 29 | issue = 6 | pages = 849–872 | year = 2005 | url = http://www.economics.nuigalway.ie/downloads/vela/Unreasonable.pdf | citeseerx = 10.1.1.194.6586 | access-date = 2017-10-24 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20050311203539/http://www.economics.nuigalway.ie/downloads/vela/Unreasonable.pdf | archive-date = 2005-03-11 | url-status = dead }}</ref>

Turning to philosophical questions about the theory of quantum mechanics, Wigner developed a thought experiment (later called [[Wigner's friend|Wigner's Friend paradox]]) to illustrate his belief that consciousness is foundational to the [[Measurement in quantum mechanics|quantum mechanical measurement]] process. He thereby followed an ontological approach that sets human's consciousness at the center: "All that quantum mechanics purports to provide are probability connections between subsequent impressions (also called 'apperceptions') of the consciousness".<ref>{{Citation|last=Wigner|first=E. P.|title=Remarks on the Mind-Body Question|date=1995|url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-78374-6_20|work=Philosophical Reflections and Syntheses|pages=247–260|place=Berlin, Heidelberg|publisher=Springer Berlin Heidelberg|doi=10.1007/978-3-642-78374-6_20|isbn=978-3-540-63372-3|access-date=2021-12-01}}</ref>

Measurements are understood as the interactions which create the impressions in our consciousness (and as a result modify the wave function of the "measured" physical system), an idea which has been called the "[[consciousness causes collapse]]" interpretation.

[[Hugh Everett III]] (a student of Wigner's) discussed [[Wigner's friend|Wigner's thought experiment]] in the introductory part of his 1957 dissertation as an "amusing, but ''extremely hypothetical'' drama".<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Everett|first=Hugh|date=1957-07-01|title="Relative State" Formulation of Quantum Mechanics|url=https://link.aps.org/doi/10.1103/RevModPhys.29.454|journal=Reviews of Modern Physics|language=en|volume=29|issue=3|pages=454–462|doi=10.1103/RevModPhys.29.454|bibcode=1957RvMP...29..454E|issn=0034-6861}}</ref> In an early draft of Everett's work, one also finds a drawing of the Wigner's Friend situation,<ref>{{Cite book|date=2012-05-20|editor-last=Barrett|editor-first=Jeffrey A.|editor2-last=Byrne|editor2-first=Peter|title=The Everett Interpretation of Quantum Mechanics|url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1515/9781400842742|doi=10.1515/9781400842742|isbn=9781400842742}}</ref> which must be seen as the first evidence on paper of the thought experiment that was later assigned to be Wigner's. This suggests that Everett must at least have discussed the problem together with Wigner.

In November 1963, Wigner called for the allocation of 10% of the national defense budget to be spent on [[Bomb shelter|nuclear blast shelters]] and survival resources, arguing that such an expenditure would be less costly than disarmament. Wigner considered a recent [[Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution|Woods Hole]] study's conclusion that a nuclear strike would kill 20% of Americans to be a very modest projection and that the country could recover from such an attack more quickly than Germany had recovered from the devastation of World War II.<ref>Lyons, R. (1963, November 22). Asks Better Civil Defense for Atomic Victory. ''New York Daily News'', p. 6.</ref>

Wigner was awarded the [[Nobel Prize in Physics]] in 1963 "for his contributions to the theory of the [[atomic nucleus]] and the [[elementary particles]], particularly through the discovery and application of fundamental symmetry principles".<ref name="Prize" /> The prize was shared that year, with the other half of the award divided between [[Maria Goeppert-Mayer]] and [[J. Hans D. Jensen]].<ref name="Prize" /> Wigner professed that he had never considered the possibility that this might occur, and added: "I never expected to get my name in the newspapers without doing something wicked."{{sfn|Szanton|1992|p=147}} He also won the [[Franklin Medal]] in 1950,<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.fi.edu/laureates/eugene-p-wigner |title=Eugene P. Wigner |publisher=The Franklin Institute |access-date=May 19, 2015|date=2014-01-15 }}</ref> the [[Enrico Fermi]] award in 1958,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://science.energy.gov/fermi/award-laureates/1950s/wigner/ |title=Eugene P. Wigner, 1958 |publisher=[[United States Department of Energy]] Office of Science |access-date=May 19, 2015}}</ref> the [[Atoms for Peace Award]] in 1959,<ref>{{cite web |url=https://libraries.mit.edu/archives/research/collections/collections-mc/mc10.html |title=Guide to Atoms for Peace Awards Records MC.0010 |publisher=[[Massachusetts Institute of Technology]] |access-date=May 19, 2015 |archive-date=August 5, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150805013236/http://libraries.mit.edu/archives/research/collections/collections-mc/mc10.html |url-status=dead }}</ref> the [[Max Planck Medal]] in 1961,<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.dpg-physik.de/preise/preistraeger_mp.html |language=de |title=Preisträger Max Planck nach Jahren |publisher=Deutschen Physikalischen Gesellschaft |access-date=May 19, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150923220325/http://www.dpg-physik.de/preise/preistraeger_mp.html |archive-date=September 23, 2015 |url-status=dead }}</ref> the [[National Medal of Science]] in 1969,<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.nsf.gov/od/nms/recip_details.jsp?recip_id=392 |title=The President's National Medal of Science: Recipient Details - Eugene P. Wigner |publisher=[[United States National Science Foundation]] |access-date=May 19, 2015}}</ref> the [[Albert Einstein Award]] in 1972,<ref name="Princeton">{{cite web |title=Eugene P. Wigner |url=https://www.princeton.edu/pr/news/95/q1/0103wigner.html |publisher=[[Princeton University]] Communications |date=January 3, 1995 |url-status=live |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20160304222103/https://www.princeton.edu/pr/news/95/q1/0103wigner.html |archive-date= Mar 4, 2016 }}</ref> the Golden Plate Award of the [[Academy of Achievement|American Academy of Achievement]] in 1974,<ref>{{cite web|title= Golden Plate Awardees - Science & Exploration |publisher=[[American Academy of Achievement]]|url=https://achievement.org/our-history/golden-plate-awards/#science-exploration |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240216064403/https://achievement.org/our-history/golden-plate-awards/ |archive-date= Feb 16, 2024 }}</ref> the eponymous [[Wigner Medal]] in 1978,<ref>{{cite web |url=https://web2.ph.utexas.edu/~bohmwww/wigner/ |title=The Wigner Medal |publisher=[[University of Texas]] |access-date=May 19, 2015}}</ref> and the [[Herzl Award (Hungarian Jewry)|Herzl Prize]] in 1982. In 1968 he gave the [[Josiah Willard Gibbs]] lecture.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.ams.org/meetings/lectures/meet-gibbs-lect |title=Josiah Willard Gibbs Lectures |publisher=American Mathematical Society |access-date=May 15, 2015 }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|title=Problems of symmetry in old and new physics|journal=Bulletin of the American Mathematical Society |year=1968 |volume=75 |issue=5 |pages=793–815 |mr=1566474|doi = 10.1090/S0002-9904-1968-12047-6|last1=Wigner |first1=Eugene P |doi-access=free }}</ref>

After his retirement from Princeton in 1971, Wigner prepared the first edition of Symmetries and Reflections, a collection of philosophical essays, and became more involved in international and political meetings; around this time he became a leader<ref name="NASBio">{{cite web |last1=Seitz |first1=Frederick |last2=Vogt |first2=Erich |last3=Weinberg |first3=Alvin |title=Eugene Paul Wigner 1902-1995: A biographical memoir |url=http://www.nasonline.org/publications/biographical-memoirs/memoir-pdfs/wigner-eugene.pdf |website=National Academy of Sciences |publisher=National Academies Press |access-date=9 May 2023}}</ref> and vocal defender<ref>{{cite news |last1=Johnson |first1=Thomas |title='Unification' Science Parley Is Defended |url=https://nyti.ms/3MamNHW |access-date=9 May 2023 |agency=The New York Times |date=9 November 1975}}</ref> of the [[Unification Church]]'s annual [[International Conference on the Unity of the Sciences]].

Mary died in November 1977. In 1979, Wigner married his third wife, Eileen Clare-Patton (Pat) Hamilton (1915-2010), the widow of physicist Donald Ross Hamilton, the dean of the graduate school at Princeton University, who had died in 1972.{{sfn|Szanton|1992|p=305}} In 1992, at the age of 90, he published his memoirs, ''The Recollections of Eugene P. Wigner'' with [[Andrew Szanton]]. In it, Wigner said: "The full meaning of life, the collective meaning of all human desires, is fundamentally a mystery beyond our grasp. As a young man, I chafed at this state of affairs. But by now I have made peace with it. I even feel a certain honor to be associated with such a mystery."{{sfn|Szanton|1992|p=318}} In his collection of essays 'Philosophical Reflections and Syntheses' (1995), he commented: "It was not possible to formulate the laws of quantum mechanics in a fully consistent way without reference to consciousness."{{sfn|Wigner|Mehra|Wightman|1995|p=14}}

Wigner was credited as a member of the advisory board for the [[Western Goals Foundation]], a private domestic intelligence agency created in the US in 1979 to "fill the critical gap caused by the [[COINTELPRO#Program revealed|crippling of the FBI]], the disabling of the [[House Un-American Activities Committee]] and the destruction of crucial government files".<ref name=MM>Staff writer (Jan. 2, 1989). [https://archive.today/20201204105029/https://militarist-monitor.org/western_goals_foundation/ "Western Goals Foundation."] ''Interhemispheric Resource Center/International Relations Center''. Archived from [https://militarist-monitor.org/western_goals_foundation/ the original.]</ref>

Wigner died of [[pneumonia]] at the [[University Medical Center of Princeton at Plainsboro|University Medical Center]] in [[Princeton, New Jersey]] on 1 January 1995.<ref>{{cite news |newspaper=[[The New York Times]] |title=Eugene Wigner, 92, Quantum Theorist Who Helped Usher In Atomic Age, Dies|date=January 4, 1995 |first=William J. |last=Broad |access-date=May 19, 2015 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1995/01/04/obituaries/eugene-wigner-92-quantum-theorist-who-helped-usher-in-atomic-age-dies.html }}</ref>