Tony Leggett

The Loomis Confessions: Tony Leggett

If you couldn’t be a physicist, what career would you choose?

Well, historically my first choice (circa age 5) was "railway signalman." (I guess that wouldn't have been a good long-term prospect, since I assume that nowadays everything is automated). That was followed a bit later by "explorer" (similarly made redundant by GPS). If I were starting my career now, I would probably go for experimental neuroscientist–not merely a huge intellectual challenge, but one which, unlike superfluidity or quantum foundations, makes almost immediate contact with people's real lives and may even be useful in improving them.

What is your favorite place?

Les Treilles in the south of France. It's a large (~10 square miles I think) estate some miles inland from (but in sight of) the Mediterranean coast. It was formerly owned by the heiress to a large oil fortune, who allowed the Paris-based Fondation Louis de Broglie to use it for physics conferences, one of which I attended, I think probably in the 80's or 90's. The scientific parts of the meeting and the meals are held in the central chateau, but you stay in one of the little chalets that dot the estate, and if necessary commute to the chateau by car (doesn't matter if you don't have a license-it's all on private property). If the property is still being used that way, and I again get invited to a conference there, I'll go, irrespective of the topic.

What is the greatest scientific blunder in history?

That's a "treason doth never prosper" kind of question. If it's that bad a blunder, we probably don't recognize it in hindsight as science. Among ideas which many people would today regard as "science," I would choose the so-called "many-worlds interpretation" of quantum mechanics, which I would regard not so much as wrong but as quite literally meaningless.

Who is/are your favorite artist(s) in any medium—painters, composers, authors, filmmakers?

Among authors, having spent some time in Ghana in the mid-70's, I would choose the remarkable constellation of (relatively) recent West African novelists in English (e.g. Ayi Kwei Armah, Chinua Achebe, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie). For lighter relief, I would go to Frederik Pohl's sci-fi novels.

Who is/are your favorite hero(es) in life or in fiction?

The doctors and nurses in third-world countries who remain devoted to the public health care system despite the fact that they could probably increase their salaries many times by working for private international companies.

Who is/are the villain(s) you love to hate?

I'd better be careful here; it's a politician, still with us, and not one of the two currently most vilified. So no names, no pack-drill!

What is your idea of happiness?

Using skills I have taken time and effort to acquire (wish there were more of them) to be of real help to others.

What is your idea of misery?

Having committed some act that is not just wrong, but ugly, and finding no way of repairing it.

What quality do you most admire in others?

Intellectual honesty, particularly when it incurs the wrath or contempt of the "right-thinking" people who tend to dominate the media.

What scientific question do you hope will be answered in your lifetime?

Is quantum mechanics the ultimate truth about the physical world?