This is the first part of an oral history interview on the lifelong involvement of Joel Lebowitz in the development of statistical mechanics. Here the covered topics include the formative years, which overlapped the tragic period of Nazi power and World War II in Europe, the emigration to the United States in 1946 and the schooling there. It also includes the beginnings and early scientific works with Peter Bergmann, Oliver Penrose and many others. The second part will appear in a forthcoming issue of Eur. Phys. J. H.

中文翻译：

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统计力学的一生

这是关于乔尔·莱博维茨终身参与统计力学发展的口述历史访谈的第一部分。这里所涵盖的主题包括形成时期，这与纳粹权力和欧洲第二次世界大战的悲剧时期重叠，1946年移民到美国以及在那里接受教育。它还包括与Peter Bergmann，Oliver Penrose和其他许多人的开端和早期科学著作。第二部分将出现在即将发行的Eur中。物理 JH