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ABNER ELIEZER SHIMONY

1928 - 2015

ABNER ELIEZER SHIMONY obituary, 1928-2015, New Haven, CT

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Stanetsky Memorial Chapel - Brookline

1668 Beacon Street

Brookline, Massachusetts

ABNER SHIMONY Obituary

Shimony, Abner Eliezer Of New Haven Connecticut, formerly of Wellesley, Massachusetts, passed away at the Mary Wade Nursing Home on August 8. His life-time work was investigating connections between physics and philosophy. Abner was born in Columbus, Ohio on March 10th, 1928. His father, Morris Shimony, had emigrated from Palestine; his mother, Sarah Altman Shimony, from Poland. The family moved to Memphis, Tennessee in 1932, where Morris was a cantor and Hebrew-school teacher at the Anshei Sphard Synagogue. Following his wife's death in 1935, Morris married Dora Farber, an emigrant from Russia and a member of the congregation. After graduating Summa cum Laude in mathematics and philosophy from Yale in 1948, Abner was a student of Austrian philosopher Rudolph Carnap at the University of Chicago. He subsequently returned to Yale, entering the Graduate Program in Philosophy where he earned his doctoral degree in 1953. It was there that Abner met Annemarie Anrod of Evanston, Illinois, then a graduate student in Yale's Department of Anthropology. They were married on September 1st, 1951 and remained together until her death forty-four years later. From 1953 to 1955 Abner was in the US Army's Signal Corps of Engineers. It was during these years that he decided to continue his education. He said to Annemarie, "When I finish the military service, I'm going back to school to get a doctorate in physics." Years later he recalled the event saying, "Any normal wife would say, 'isn't it about time that you get a job?' She didn't say that. She said, 'if that's what you want to do, that's what you should do.' " Abner enrolled at Princeton in 1955 and studied with Nobel prize-winning physicist Eugene Wigner, earning a second doctoral degree in 1962. He taught philosophy of science at MIT from 1959 until 1968 in the school's Department of Humanities. In that year he transferred to Boston University, beginning a 26 year appointment in both the Physics and Philosophy Departments. In successive sabbatical years Abner brought his family to France and Switzerland, where he taught at the Sorbonne, the University of Geneva, and the Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich. Abner contended that physics and philosophy are intimately related, contrary to the common notion that they are dissimilar disciplines. Already in the 1930s Albert Einstein had objected to quantum uncertainty on philosophical grounds, famously saying, "I am convinced that God does not play dice." Then, in a famed paper, Einstein argued that paired particles must carry intrinsic features or "elements of reality" that do not exist in quantum mechanics. In the 1960s John Bell at CERN proved mathematically that such elements of reality are incompatible with some quantum predictions. Abner was a leader in proposing and designing an experimental resolution. Experiments in the 1970's, first by John Clauser and subsequently improved by Alain Aspect, confirmed these quantum predictions, demonstrating that Einstein's elements of reality do not exist. Einstein had argued that "spooky action at a distance" between separated particles was forbidden by the laws of relativity. Abner coined the alternative phrase "passion at a distance" to avoid suggesting a conflict with relativity. Abner was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1985, and he was president of the Philosophy of Science Association from 1995 to '96. The Search for a Naturalistic World View, a two-volume collection of his essays on philosophy of science, was published in 1993. Three years later Abner won the Lakatos Award for his outstanding contribution to philosophy of science. In addition to his scientific writings, Abner also published his own poetry and the children's book Tibaldo and the Hole in the Calendar. In the 1960's and 1970's Abner was a member of Veterans Against the Vietnam War. In the 1980's he worked with the Nuclear Freeze movement in opposition to the Reagan-era arms build up. Abner's life was greatly disrupted by his first wife's death in 1995. In 1997 he married his high-school classmate Helen-Claire (Pierce) Walker. They remained married until her death in 2001. In 2005 Abner married Manana Sikic of New Haven, Connecticut. "Having the last ten years of one's life include some of the best is something all of us want", says his son Ethan. "Thanks to his marriage to Manana, my father was one of the lucky ones." An exceptionally compassionate and generous man, Abner leaves his wife Manana Sikic of New Haven, his sons Ethan of Brookline, Massachusetts, Jonathan and daughter-in-law Francoise Delassus of Paris, France, and his wife's son Niko Banac of Los Angeles. He is also mourned by his brother-in-law, Christopher Montgomery, his late sister Ruth's husband, and their children Jennifer and Vivian Montgomery, Vivian's husband John Morrison and their son Ezra. Abner leaves other relatives and many friends who all loved him dearly. Friends are welcome to attend a funeral service for Abner to be held at Stanetsky Memorial Chapel, 1668 Beacon Street, Brookline on Tuesday, August 11 at 10 am. The burial will be private. A memorial service will be held at a time to be announced at Boston University's Marsh Chapel. Donations in Abner's memory may be made to Americans for Peace Now (2100 M Street NW, Suite 619, Washington, DC 20037), Human Rights Watch (350 Fifth Ave, 34th floor, NY, NY 10118), or a similar charity. Please see www.stanetsky.com for directions, online condolences, and additional information. Stanetsky Memorial Chapel 617-232-9300 www.stanetsky.com

To plant trees in memory, please visit the Sympathy Store.

Published by Boston Globe from Aug. 10 to Aug. 11, 2015.

Memories and Condolences
for ABNER SHIMONY

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Bill Rottschaefer

August 5, 2022

It is now seven years since Abner's death. During that period I was very happy to see his work in confirming parts of Bell's Theorem featured in a PBS NOVA program. I wish he had lived long enough to have been one of its live participant. He played such an important part in the work that has now made what he called "passion at a distance" such a well established physical fact.

And in these years since his death his expansive view of the importance of the so-called special sciences for understanding the fundamental issues in the basic philosophical disciplines of metaphysics, epistemology and ethics has taken greater hold among scientific naturalist philosophers. All this working toward the goal of joining what Sellars called the manifest and scientific images, a project in which he initiated and inspired me so many years ago.

September 12, 2015

I was very blessed to have Abner as my graduate advisor at Boston University and director of my PhD dissertation in Philosophy on Wilfrid Sellars views on the relationships between ordinary and scientific knowledge. Writing my dissertation under his tutelage was an exhilarating, enjoyable experience in which I learned ever so much. So too were the courses that I had with Abner in both philosophy and physics. I will be forever grateful to Abner for all his help and support and for all that he taught me. I am also very grateful that our association continued after my graduation and that his enthusiastic interest and support for my work continued as I moved into philosophy of biology and psychology. His excitement in all things intellectual was infectious as was his humor. His kindness and generosity toward me, and my wife, Marie, was and is still, after all these years, very moving. Abner is and has been a major inspiration in my philosophical work and an inspiring example of a life well-lived and well-worth living.

Bill Rottschaefer
Portland, Oregon

Carolyn Evans

September 2, 2015

Abner was one of the first profs I met when working in the office at Boston University. I am thankful to have known his kindness and good spirits; also Tibaldo and the hole in the calendar remains a favorite. Best to family. Surely he is missed.

Millard Baublitz

August 18, 2015

The world has lost its clearest voice about the conundrums of quantum mechanics. My condolences to all of his family members who have lost a kind and wonderful man. He will be missed.

August 16, 2015

I had the honor to work with Abner Shimony He was an inspiration, a supporter, and one of the kindest person I ever met. I lost a professor, and a friend.
Penha Maria Cardozo Dias,
Rio de Janeiro

August 12, 2015

Condolence to Abner's family from old friends.
He was exceptional both as a brain and as a heart. He will be missed.
Judith Buber Agassi and Joseph Agassi
37, Levi Eshkol Street, Herzlia 46745 ISRAEL

Manal Swairjo

August 12, 2015

Prof. Shimony's kind face, smile, and words will stay with me forever.

Ned Block

August 12, 2015

In 1963 I took a quantum mechanics course at MIT in which Shimony was the "section" teacher. He was a deep thinker who changed what would have been an ordinary course into a one of a kind learning experience. He was infinitely patient with my annoying questions.

Sekhar Chivukula

August 12, 2015

It was a great privilege to know Abner, and to count him as a colleague and mentor at Boston University. My condolences to his family.

Eisen Hawer

August 12, 2015

He will be missed.

Sahotra Sarkar

August 11, 2015

Abner was one of my cherished mentors and I learnt much from him, about physics, about philosophy, and even about biology. But most of all, I was inspired by his honesty, dignity, intellectual integrity, and goodwill towards all around him. His death leaves a void that will not be easily filled.

Jeffrey Koperski

August 11, 2015

He was generous with his time and attention, even with lowly graduate students like me.

Steven Savitt

August 11, 2015

Leaving aside his many significant intellectual achievements, Abner was probably the most angelic human being it has been my privilege to meet.

Olival Freire Jr.

August 11, 2015

Abner was one of the kindest person Ive ever met.

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Stanetsky Memorial Chapel - Brookline

1668 Beacon Street, Brookline, MA 02445

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