Bio-Menu
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- Korea's Recent History. I was born and raised in Korea,
and my personality and talents were developed there. Thus, it is of interest
to see Korea's recent history. Korea is a small country surrounded by by big powers,
and the country has a very interesting recent history.
- Division of Korea. Like to know how Korea wasdivided?
Korea has been one country for more
than 4,000 years. The division was made in 1945 when two different armies (the United
States and the Soviet Union) came to two different regions of Korea (south and north
of the 38th parallel). My family was in the North, but moved to Seoul (capital city
of the South) in 1946 to avoid the communist rule being set up there.
- My Korean Background. I came to the United States in
1954. America is highly competitive society, quite different from
the Korean environment. Thus, I have to give up the Korean way of thinking to
adapt myself to the American way.
No! I needed my Korean Wisdom to get ahead in
America. In short, Americans believe in money, but Koreans believe in Jokbo (genealogy).
I have to believe in both.
- On the money side, I had to do enough savings and investments for the college
tuitions for my two grandchildren. I like to be richer, but this seems to be
my limit.
- On the genealogy side, I am more ambitious. Albert Einstein was not my
biological grandfather, but I wanted to his scientific grandson by filling
in a empty spot in his scientific world.
- Wisdom of Korea for daily life. Since I came to
the United States when I was 19 years old. I had to change my way of life to adapt
myself to the American way. Yes, however, I had to go back to my own Korean wisdom
whenever I had to make serious decisions.
- My High School Education in Korea. Koreans believe
in education of their children. The Korean War (1950-53) lasted during my
high-school years (1948-54). I talk about my high school years during the war.
I talk about my high-school background in the competitive academic world.
- Undergraduate Years in Pittsburgh. I was a student at
the Carnegie Institute of Technology in Pittsburgh, now known as
Carnegie Mellon
University. I worked hard there and excellent grades. On March 12, 1958,
during my senior year, I received a letter from Princeton University telling me
I ranked very high among the 15 students admitted to their graduate program in physics.
It was the happiest day in my life.
Going to Princeton! I was ready to meet Einstein, even if he died there three
years earlier, in 1955. Everybody who went to Princeton thought in this way.
Einstein's name was this strong, and his name is still strong.
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While preparing a paper for publication in 1961
at Princeton.
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- Princeton Years. I went there in 1958, and received my PhD
degree in 1961, and stayed there for one additional year as a pot-doctoral fellow.
My Princeton background serves as the most valuable asset in professional world and
in my social life. I am always introduced a Princeton PhD.
On the other hand, the life there was highly competitive. I would be less than
fully honest if I say I was never treated negatively for my national origin by
my American friends. Korea during my time there (1958-62) was regarded as
an underdeveloped country receiving American economic aids.
- I am known as Wigner's youngest student at Princeton. My
Princeton thesis advisor was
Sam Treiman. He was a good adisor to me. However, I am known as Wigner's
younguest student. Why?
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Physics faculty photo of 1963, at the end of
the my first academic year as the faculty member. I am the youngest person
in this photo.
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- University of Maryland. I came to the University of Maryland
as an assistant professor of physics. I became promoted to associate and full professor.
In 2007, I retired from my teaching and other university duties. I am now an emeritus
professor and still maintain my office on the university campus, and I publish my books
and articles with the university address.
- Construction of my own Family.
- Korean Wisdom for research life.
- My Christian background, much stronger than those of
American and European colleagues in science.
- Crisis as Opportunity.
The life in the academic world is
highly competitive. I sometimes had to fight against authorities and establishments.
I could make substantial progresses only by overcoming those difficulties.
- Washington, DC. I came to the Washington area in 1962,
since the University of Maryland in this area. I lived in this area since then.
- I travelled around. I collected photos of interesting
places in the world.
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On his grave stone in London, Karl Marx says
"Philosophers have interpreted this world in various ways. The point
however is to change it."
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- Physics and Philosophy. I am a PhD which means a wise-man
in philosophy. There were many philosophers in history who shaped up our way of life and
our way of thinking. Immanuel Kant and Georg Hegel were among the philosophers who shaped
up the way we think these days. Einstein studied thoroughly the philosophy of Kant when he
was a high-school student. I review my research efforts according to the framework of
Kant and Hegel.
- I love music. Einstein was a music lover. So were
many other physicists. I do not know why they had to love music to to physics.
In any case, I am a physicist and I like music.
- Art museums in the world. In physics, the language of
pictures and cartoons play important roles. It is of great interest to me to see how
traditional artists described the world as they see.
- Life-time achievements I review what I have achieved
and what I still need.
- What do they say about me?
I said enough about myself in my previous webpages. I said I filled in the
empty spot in Eintein's work on how things appear to moving observers, using
the mathematics during the war-time high school years in Korea (1951-54).
Let us hear what others are saying about me.
- Einstein magazine. It is fun to talk about
this person.
- I sing Einstein. Who will listen?
- Easy to understand Einstein if presented with cartoons.
- Further contents of E = mc2.
Bohr and Einstein met occasionly to discuss physics. Bohr was interested in
the electron orbit of tbe hydrogen atom. Einstein was worrying about how
things appear to moving observer. Then how does the hydrogen atom appear
to moving observers? Did they ever discuss this problem?
- Einstein's Ulm. He was born there.
- Einstein's Bern. He formulated his theory of relativity there.
- Einstein's Berlin. He was a professor at tbe Technical University
of Berlin until he came to Princeton for his permanet settlement.
- I talked to Einstein as Moses did to God.
- Heisenberg's gift to Einstein.
- Beautiful minds. It is easy to photograph beautiful girls.
Is is possible to photograph beautiful minds (abstract concepts).
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