A pr 2 00 7 Dick Dalitz : Examples of His Contributions to Particle Physics Gary

I had been asked to speak about the contributions of Dick Dalitz to Particle Physics. I was very pleased to be able to do this as an expression of my good fortune to have worked with him. This was an opportunity to present a synopsis of his contributions to an audience that may not have known about some of this history. In choosing a sampling of Dalitz’s work, I relied on the talks that were given at the Memorial Meeting in Oxford, June 1, 2006, the extensive bibliography compiled by Aitchison, Close, Gal, and Millener [1] and my own recollections during many years of collaboration. Richard Henry Dalitz was born in 1925 in rural Australia, Dimboola, Victoria. His mother was from Scottish forebears. His father was descended from a small, distinctive ethnic group, the Wends or Sorbs. A large contingent of that group had emigrated from Germany to Australia in the mid-19th century. Later in life Dick discovered that he was not of German descent when he uncovered this geneaology. At age two his family moved near to Melbourne, at his mother’s urging. He had speculated that perhaps she was conscious of his precocious abilities, even that early, and wanted to be near better schools. This was apparently not an easy change for his father, who managed to earn a modest income as a laborer. In any case, Dick distinguished