Peter Freund is a Professor Emeritus of Physics at the University of Chicago (http://physics.uchicago.edu/t_part.html#Freund). He has made important contributions to theoretical physics, in particular to string theory, to the theory of magnetic monopoles, to the unification of all laws of physics by allowing for small extra space dimensions beyond the three familiar large ones.

Peter Freund was born, raised and educated in the Romanian city of Timişoara, Because of his participation in an anti-Soviet demonstration in November 1956, Freund was arrested by the communist security police, the Securitate, and lined up with other students between a wall and a line of tanks, essentially an armored firing squad, which, in the reigning confusion, did not fire.... In 1959 he managed to leave Romania. Freund obtained his PhD in theoretical physics at the University of Vienna and since 1965 has been on the faculty of the University of Chicago

 

Beyond his scientific work, Peter Freund has a keen interest in narratives. His book  

        A Passion for Discovery 

World Scientific, Singapore, New York, London 2007,  

http://www.worldscibooks.com/physics/6448.html

 

tells  many fascinating stories about physicists and mathematicians. All these stories cluster around certain larger themes having to do with the interaction between scientists, and with the impact of historic events — such as the advent of fascism and communism in the twentieth century — on scientists’ behavior. Briefly, but lucidly, some of the beautiful science that brought these scientists together in the first place is explained.

Peter Freund has also written more than seventy short stories. Some of these have appeared in literary journals. In particular,  

Koloman'sCross(http://www.corpse.org/issue_9/ficciones/freund.htm),                                                                 

The Love Life of a Jewish Gary Cooper (http://www.corpse.org/issue_10/ficciones/freund.html),  

Place of Skulls                                                    (http://www.corpse.org/issue_11/ficciones/freund.html) and                        

 Annie Karney                                                                                                                   (http://www.corpse.org/issue_12/marriage/freund.html) 

have all appeared in the online journal EXQUISITE CORPSE (http://www.corpse.org/).

 

West of West End

is a collection of Peter Freund's short stories scheduled for publication later this year by the literary publisher SPUYTEN DUYVIL (http://www.spuytenduyvil.net/fiction/index.htm).

Just below you will find links to two of Peter Freund's, as yet unpublished, short stories: 

--- Dachau Idyll  Dachau-Idyll.doc

--- Russian Sable  RussianSable.doc.

In addition to short stories, Peter Freund has written two novellas 

--- The Fine Underwear of Consciousness and 

--- Upside Down

and the novel  

--- Belonging.


Together with his childhood friend, the Romanian novelist Radu Ciobanu, Peter Freund has written in Romanian the book Dialog peste Atlantic (Dialog Across the Atlantic), published by Editura Emia in 2006. Those interested can purchse this book (in the Romanian language) online at   (http://www.librarie.net/carti/60364/DIALOG-PESTE-ATLANTIC-Radu-Ciobanu-&-Peter-Freund).    An expanded second edition is now in the works. The book deals with the way two friends, separated for half a century, view world events, arts, science, and ultimately try to catch up on two lives lived under very different conditions: Peter Freund has managed to leave Romania for the West, while Radu Ciobanu lived through the horrors of the communist dictatorship.

DIALOG PESTE ATLANTIC