Victor Frederick Weisskopf, who died on 21 April 2002, was a leading figure in the second generation of theoretical physicists who expanded the reach of quantum mechanics following its discovery in 1925–26. That discovery proved to be the most profound and swift turning point in the history of physics since the time of Isaac Newton. Born in Vienna on 19 September 1908, Viki, as he was called by all who knew him, was too young to do original research in those first watershed years. But, like other outstanding members of his remarkable cohort, Viki was a fast study. He published his first landmark paper 1 at the age of 22.
Viki was eventually to become a major actor in a wide variety of settings, but all these roles were consequences of his achievements as a creative scientist. Therefore we devote here considerable attention to his contributions to fundamental theoretical physics....