The last man who knew everything : the life and times of Enrico Fermi, father of the nuclear age / David N Schwartz

By: Schwartz, David NContributor(s): Schwartz, David NMaterial type: TextTextPublisher number: : Atlantic Publishers & Distributors | : 7/22 Ansari Road Darya Ganj New Delhi Publication details: New York :Basic Books 2017Description: xxiii, 453 pages : illustrations 25 cmISBN: 9780465072927Subject(s): Physics | Nuclear physicists -- United States -- Biography | Manhattan Project (U.S.) | SCIENCE -- History | Physicists | Physicists -- Italy -- Biography | BIOGRAPHY & AUTOBIOGRAPHY -- Science & TechnologyDDC classification: 530.092 SCH
Contents:
Part I: Becoming Fermi : -- Prodigy -- Pisa -- Germany and Holland -- Quantum breakthroughs -- Of geckos and men -- Part II: The Rome years : -- Family life -- The Rome School -- Beta rays -- Goldfish -- Physics as soma -- The Nobel Prize -- Part III: The Manhattan Project : -- The New World -- Splitting the atom -- Fermi meets the Navy -- Piles of graphite -- The move to Chicago -- "We're cookin'!" -- Xenon-135 -- On a mesa -- An unholy Trinity -- Part IV: The Chicago years : -- Return to Chicago -- In the public eye -- A patent fight -- Brilliant teacher, beloved mentor -- Travels abroad -- Home to die -- Fermi's legacy.
Summary: "In December 1942, a team at the University of Chicago achieved a milestone in human history: a nuclear chain reaction. At the forefront of this breakthrough stood Enrico Fermi, the father of the nuclear age. But as David N. Schwartz shows in this groundbreaking biography, Fermi's impact goes well beyond this epochal event. With his theory of beta decay and his development of quantum statistics, Fermi revolutionized modern physics. Straddling the classical and quantum ages, equally at ease with elegant mathematics and grubby experiments, Fermi truly was the last man who knew everything--at least about physics. In [this book], Schwartz draws from newly discovered archival material and exclusive interviews with those who knew Fermi to reveal the complex figure behind these historic contributions. A reluctant member of the Italian Fascist party, Fermi escaped to New York when Mussolini promulgated a series of anti-Semitic laws that put his wife, Laura, at risk. A citizen of an Axis power at the heart of the US government's most secret war effort, the Manhattan Project, he became one of its leading lights. A less-than-ideal father and husband, he was nevertheless one of history's greatest scientific mentors and teachers. He was also a deep thinker, as perspicacious about extraterrestrial life as he was about quantum field theory. The Last Man Who Knew Everything brings Fermi's brilliant, complex genius to life in a profound and consuming read."--Dust jacket flap. Read less
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Item type Current library Call number Status Date due Barcode Item holds
Books Books SNU LIBRARY
530.092 SCH (Browse shelf(Opens below)) Not For Loan 27575
Total holds: 0

Part I: Becoming Fermi : --
Prodigy --
Pisa --
Germany and Holland --
Quantum breakthroughs --
Of geckos and men --
Part II: The Rome years : --
Family life --
The Rome School --
Beta rays --
Goldfish --
Physics as soma --
The Nobel Prize --
Part III: The Manhattan Project : --
The New World --
Splitting the atom --
Fermi meets the Navy --
Piles of graphite --
The move to Chicago --
"We're cookin'!" --
Xenon-135 --
On a mesa --
An unholy Trinity --
Part IV: The Chicago years : --
Return to Chicago --
In the public eye --
A patent fight --
Brilliant teacher, beloved mentor --
Travels abroad --
Home to die --
Fermi's legacy.

"In December 1942, a team at the University of Chicago achieved a milestone in human history: a nuclear chain reaction. At the forefront of this breakthrough stood Enrico Fermi, the father of the nuclear age. But as David N. Schwartz shows in this groundbreaking biography, Fermi's impact goes well beyond this epochal event. With his theory of beta decay and his development of quantum statistics, Fermi revolutionized modern physics. Straddling the classical and quantum ages, equally at ease with elegant mathematics and grubby experiments, Fermi truly was the last man who knew everything--at least about physics. In [this book], Schwartz draws from newly discovered archival material and exclusive interviews with those who knew Fermi to reveal the complex figure behind these historic contributions. A reluctant member of the Italian Fascist party, Fermi escaped to New York when Mussolini promulgated a series of anti-Semitic laws that put his wife, Laura, at risk. A citizen of an Axis power at the heart of the US government's most secret war effort, the Manhattan Project, he became one of its leading lights. A less-than-ideal father and husband, he was nevertheless one of history's greatest scientific mentors and teachers. He was also a deep thinker, as perspicacious about extraterrestrial life as he was about quantum field theory. The Last Man Who Knew Everything brings Fermi's brilliant, complex genius to life in a profound and consuming read."--Dust jacket flap. Read less

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