Glimpses of Greatness

Abstract

P W Anderson was a theoretical physicist. He won the Nobel Prize in 1977. He catalysed Nobel Prizes for several others. His career spanned 72 years of relentless research, filled with path-breaking contributions. He focussed on ‘here and now’ phenomena of inanimate materials and built theoretical quantum models of lasting value. He communed with nature by contemplation and study of experimental results. As a founding father, he set agenda for the field of condensed matter physics, for half a century. It is a growing fertile field now, with a web of connection to different corners of science, technology, and sometimes beyond. As a person, Anderson was remarkable. He was my long time collaborator since 1984. I had a wonderful opportunity to join hands with him when he initiated the resonating valence bond (RVB) theory of high-temperature superconductivity in cuprates in early 1987.