Rafael Grinfeld
Country:
Costa Rica
Company:
Science
During his early childhood, he moved with his parents to Argentina, where the family settled in the Jewish agricultural colony of Moisés Ville in the province of Santa Fe. Later, the family moved to La Plata, where he graduated from the Depart- ment of Physics and Mathematics of the National University. During his studies, he was afollower of anarchist theory and waspart of the"Ideas" group, which also includ- ed his younger brothersDavid, Abelardo and Jose, as wel as other prominent libertar- ians. In the 1930s, he practiced at Stanford University. In 1948-1949 he was invited to Venezuela to organize a physics department at the Central University of Venezuela in Caracas. He organized the first physics (bachelor's) course at the engineering de- partment of this university. During the years of Juan Domingo Peron's dictatorship, he was fired from the National University of La Plata because he was not politically trustworthy. He engaged in the translation of scientific literature. After the fal of the dictatorship, he was reinstated as professor and head of the physics department of this university. The most important translations are: The price of scientific research in Argentina (Carlos José Rocca, 1983); Albert Einstein y Leopold Infeld (1945); John C. Slater, Nathaniel H. Frank. Introduccion a la fisica teorica (1951); Albert Einstein, Leopold Infeld. La Fisica Aventura del pensamiento: El Desarrollo de las ideas desde los primeros conceptos hasta la relatividad y los cuantos (1977)