Gerald Feinberg


Gerald Feinberg was a Columbia University physicist, futurist and populist author. He spent a year as a Member of the Institute for Advanced Study, and two years at the Brookhaven Laboratories.. Feinberg went to Bronx High School with Steven Weinberg and Sheldon Glashow.

Research

He coined the term tachyon for hypothetical faster-than-light particles and analysed their quantum field properties, predicted the existence of the muon neutrino and advocated cryonics as a public service. He was a member of the Foresight Institute's advisory panel.

Parapsychology

Feinberg wrote a foreword to Edgar Mitchell's book Psychic Explorations in which he endorsed psychic phenomena. His concept of a tachyon, a theoretical particle that travels faster than the speed of light has been advocated by some parapsychologists who claim that it could explain precognition or psychokinesis. However, there is no scientific evidence tachyon particles exist and such paranormal claims have been described as pseudoscientific.

Publications

Books
Papers