Freeman Dyson, independent thinker, pacifist and physicist who has written several books about science and the future of mankind, is scheduled to be at UC Davis on Oct. 21 to give a talk on the question of which is more important: the individual or the group?

The question is at the root of our ethics, laws and politics, and important to all members of a civilized society, say organizers of Dyson's talk.

The program is set for 7 p.m. in the AGR Room of the Buehler Alumni and Visitors Center. Admission is free and open to the public. The talk is part of the Physics Centennial Speaker Series.

Organizers said Dyson is struck by three perspectives on the clash of individual interests vs. group interests. These perspectives are offered up by anthropologist Caroline Humphrey of the University of Cambridge, who studies the topic in Mongolian and Central Asian cultures; Lawrence Latto, former editor of the Columbia Law Review, who considers the topic in the context of American constitutional law; and Richard Dawkins, author of The Selfish Gene, who examines the topic in a biological context.

After describing the three perspectives, organizers said, Dyson will draw some unifying conclusions, and then participate in a question-and-answer session.

Dyson served in operations research for the Royal Air Force Bomber Command during World War II, and then studied at Cambridge and Cornell University. He joined the Cornell faculty in 1951 and two years later moved to the Institute for Advanced Study at Princeton University, where he is now a professor emeritus. Known for important contributions to quantum mechanics, solid state physics, mathematics and engineering, he was elected to the National Academy of Sciences in 1964.

His books include Disturbing the Universe, Weapons and Hope, Origins of Life, Infinite in All Directions, Imagined Worlds, and The Sun, the Genome and the Internet.

He received the Lewis Thomas Prize in 1996, honoring the Scientist as Poet; and in 2000 received the $1 million Templeton Prize for Progress in Religion.

In making the award, the Templeton Foundation committee said: "Of the many qualities attributed to physicist and mathematician Freeman Dyson ... perhaps nothing more fully captures his personality than 'optimist'."