The Trouble with Superlatives

The title of the book reviewed in the October 2000 issue of Physics Today (page 81) boldly states The Discovery of Anti-matter: The Autobiography of Carl David Anderson, the Youngest Man to Win the Nobel Prize. But it's just not so. William Lawrence Bragg was born in Australia in March 1890. Together with his father, William H. Bragg, he was awarded the Nobel Prize in physics in 1915 for their joint work on x-ray diffraction, beating Anderson by a good six years.

[Editor's Note: This is one of several letters we received on this subject. We contacted the publisher, World Scientific Publishing Co, whose editor-in-chief sent us the following response.]

K. K. Phua replies: After consulting the series editor of the book The Discovery of Anti-matter, we admit that we erred. Indeed, William Lawrence Bragg was the youngest to win the Nobel Prize in Physics. We will insert an erratum in the book to the effect that Carl Anderson was the second youngest. Two professors in the history of physics missed this point when they reviewed the book for us. Thank you for bringing this matter to our attention.