Daedalus in Dublin: A Physicist’s Labyrinth

Abstract

I describe some of the rich physical and natural-philosophy heritage of the urban center of the Irish capital Dublin (first tour) and its environs (second tour), in a two-part excursion that could take between two and eight hours in toto. In terms of history, both tours center around the nineteenth century. The first tour is located in and around Trinity College, and we encounter such personages as William Rowan Hamilton, George Fitzgerald, Ernest Walton, and Erwin Schrodinger, among others. Moving away from Trinity College, the second tour explores some of the periphery of the city. I describe the role of politics, money, and religion in shaping the emergence and development of scientific talent among the Irish people, and consequently the footprint left by physics in the city today, with its numerous sites and names that put Irish physics in an honorable place among the nations.