Hugh Everett III

Lore & Background

area. His parents separated when he was young, and he was raised by his father and stepmother from age seven. Everett received a National Science Foundation fellowship to attend Princeton University, where he started in mathematics under Albert W. Tucker but drifted into physics.

Reader's Guide

Hugh Everett III's most significant contribution is the relative state interpretation of quantum mechanics, which later became the many-worlds interpretation (MWI). This approach eliminated the wave function collapse postulate and treated the observer as part of the same quantum state as the observation result, with the quantum statistic becoming a measure of branching of the universal wave function. Although his work was largely disregarded during his lifetime, it gained credibility with the discovery of quantum decoherence in the 1970s and has received increased attention in recent decades, making MWI one of the important interpretations of quantum mechanics. Everett's career after physics focused on defense analysis and consulting. He worked on classified studies for the U.S. government, including the Minuteman missile project and nuclear fallout distribution. He also founded small companies that applied military modeling to civilian problems and conducted research on affirmative action programs. His work continues to influence both physics and philosophy of science.

Did You Know?

• At age 12, Everett wrote to Albert Einstein asking whether the universe was maintained by something random or unifying; Einstein replied, calling him a 'very stubborn boy.'
• After leaving physics, Everett worked on classified studies for the U.S. government, including the Minuteman missile project and nuclear fallout distribution.