Portland Public Library

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

eng

Includes bibliographical references (pages 375-436) and index

individual biography

illustrations

index present

non fiction

The last man who knew everything

bibliography

982093361

David N. Schwartz

the life and times of Enrico Fermi, father of the nuclear age

"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

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