By Lars Brink, Lay Nam Chang, Moo-Young Han and Kok Khoo Phua (eds)
World Scientific
Less than a year after his death at the age of 94, World Scientific has published a book honouring the memory of Yoichiro Nambu, who was one of the greatest physicists of the second half of the 20th century. A brilliant mind and a visionary thinker, Nambu contributed to the development of many areas of theory – from particle to condensed-matter physics.
In the 1960s, he introduced the concept of spontaneously broken symmetries (with G Jona-Lasinio) and identified a new symmetry for quarks and gluons (with M-Y Han). Both works can be considered cornerstones of the Standard Model of particles and forces.
This book provides an interesting collection of articles written by Nambu’s former collaborators, colleagues, students and friends. Through these contributions, the reader can gain an idea of the importance and variety of Nambu’s work, as well as learn about his personality. He is described by many of those who knew him as kind, warm and humble. Besides being very clever and “many years ahead”, he was also a good mentor. The volume concludes with the last scientific writing by Nambu himself, discussing the origin and development of particle physics.
