Upon his return from Princeton in 1949, where he earned his doctorate under the leadership of Nobel Eugene Wigner, the young Moshinsky began to gather around him a group of young people who form the first generation of international level professional physicists at the Institute of Physics of the UNAM.
His early work on the world stage had to do with the fundamentals of quantum mechanics. In one, published in Physical Review 1952, and which was entitled "Diffraction in time," he did a novel prediction of a quantum phenomenon related to the temporal evolution of a particle initially confined in a region of space. At that time, the elegant result could not be verified experimentally and seemed destined to remain as an idea or a "thought experiment". To the glee of physicists from Mexico, however, predictions of Marcos were verified through exactly delicate experiments with neutrons ... 45 years after its formulation! But the passion of Marcos, his true love in the field of science and that has given him international fame, is the beautiful language of physics known as group theory, which is the mathematical theory of symmetry in nature.
Marcos soon became one of the most important exhibitors at global level of this vital scientific tool, achieving remarkable applications in atomic, molecular and nuclear physics. The "Moshinsky parenthesis " or Moshinskets, that Marcos invented and Tomas Brody numerically evaluated in 1960 using the first computer that existed in Mexico, revolutionized the calculations of the nuclear era and set UNAM on the map of mundial physics.
Builders of science at the UNAM
At the pass of the years, the teacher continued to conduct frontline research and school training. Soon his students began to conducting quality research and the Institute of Physics become a centre of excellence which in turn gave rise to other research centers at the UNAM and the rest of the country.
Since 1947, when Marcos Moshinsky published his first article, until the year 2003, his scientific output in theoretical physics has appeared on the best magazines in the world, reaching nearly 300 publications, including 5 books, which have received more than 5000 formal references and citations in the universal literature. Moshinsky is undoubtedly the most famous Mexican physicist in the world.
Marcos Moshinsky have been granted with all mexican scientific awards and some important international awards, among them:
Prince of Asturias Award(1988), Bernardo Houssay Award(O EA,1990), UNESCO Science Award(1997), Honoris Causa Doctorate from Frankfurt University(2000), and what is considered the most important award in the field of symmetry and the theory of groups, the Eugene Vigner Medal, that Marcos granted in Hobart, Australia in July 1998.
It has also been invited to join 11 scientific academies, including the Pontifical Academy of Sciences and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. He was the founding editor of 1st Mexican Physics Magazine from 1952 to 1967, and also founder of the Latin American School of Physics. He has directed about 40 undergraduate, master and doctorate students and a dozen postdoctoral researchers.
At his home in Copilco, Marcos has a unique collection of paintings, containing the signatures of hundreds of physicists, from Nobel laureates to mere mortals (with just one degree in physics) who have visited over the years. There are the signings of Robert Oppenheimer, Eugene Wigner, Richard Feynman, Abdus Salam and many others. As Jorge Flowers points in a recent testimony, each of these signatures testifies academic activities, an indirect record in the history of physics in Mexico along the second half of the twentieth century and earlier this.
Each of these activities greatly influenced on their younger colleagues and left the Marco's firm conviction that science can only be conceived as an internationally activity. "There is no national science," said Anton Chekhov, "as there is no national multiplication table."
Undoubtedly, Marcos Moshinsky has been decisive for internationalization of science in Mexico. His paintings testify, silent witnesses of the universal vocation of the teacher. In addition to these achievements, Marcos Moshinsky never be isolated from society in which they live. For many years has stated boldly and clearly his ideas on scientific issues as on general ideas, across nearly 400 newspaper articles. This facet from his activity has also been recognized internationally. In 1991 he received the Andrei Sakharov Medal for his support for human rights in the Soviet Union during the years 1970 and 1980. It would be difficult to record here the many Marcos Moshinsky's facets, as a scientist and as a human being. It seems to me, however, that those who have had the fortune to know him as a teacher, colleague and friend, will emphasize his extraordinary generosity.
Let me read a letter that Professor John Archibald Wheeler from Princeton University, sent to Marcos in the occasion of his seventy birthday:
*************************************************************************************************************
Dear Marcos:
So you reach seventies? I can not believe it! Or, as the Niels Bohr's wife exclaimed when she knew that Robert Frisch was withdrawn: "No. I can understand it. All young people I know are leaving." You, I am sure you are not withdrawing and you will never. You have too much creative impulse, too much love for our wonderful discipline. I want to especially thank you three things: You have done that Groups Theory have an impact on almost all branches of physics. You have educated three generations of scientists in your great country that have had special affection in the course of my life. And lastly, but not least, you has reached a very special place in the hearts of your former colleagues at Princeton, including Eugene Wigner and me.
*************************************************************************************************************
Wheeler was not mistaken. In the twelve years since then, the teacher has continued his academic work with the same energy, intelligence and passion as ever. Wheeler's words have proved prophetic, Marcos Moshinsky at his 82 years is not going into retirement and he will never.
Marcos often impart a conference under the title "Symmetry in nature" which illustrates the main ideas of symmetry through examples taken from art. I find increasingly clear that he, his work and the legacy of his life devoted to science, embody better than anyone the symmetry, balance and harmony that all of us aspire. His example is and will remain being an inspiration for new generations of scientists in our country.
