Drawing Theories Apart: The Dispersion of Feynman Diagrams in Postwar Physics

Winner of the 2007 Pfizer Prize from the History of Science Society.

Feynman diagrams have revolutionized nearly every aspect of theoretical physics since the middle of the twentieth century. Introduced by the American physicist Richard Feynman (1918-88) soon after World War II as a means of simplifying lengthy calculations in quantum electrodynamics, they soon gained adherents in many branches of the discipline. Yet as new physicists adopted the tiny line drawings, they also adapted the di...