Fermi remembered /

Fermi remembered /

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Bibliographic Details
Imprint:Chicago : University of Chicago Press, [2004]
©2004
Description:1 online resource (xi, 287 pages) : illustrations
Language:English
Subject:
Fermi, Enrico, -- 1901-1954 -- Archives.
Fermi, Enrico, -- 1901-1954.
Nuclear physics.
Nuclear physics.
Archives.
Format: E-Resource Book
URL for this record:http://pi.lib.uchicago.edu/1001/cat/bib/11204909
Hidden Bibliographic Details
Other authors / contributors:Fermi, Enrico, 1901-1954.
Cronin, James W., 1931-2016.
ISBN:9780226109954
022610995X
0226121119
9780226121116
9780226100883
Notes:Includes bibliographical references (pages 267-268) and index.
Print version record.
Summary:"Nobel laureate and scientific luminary Enrico Fermi (1901-1954) was a pioneering nuclear physicist whose contributions to the field were numerous, profound, and lasting. Best known for his involvement with the Manhattan Project and his work at Los Alamos that led to the first self-sustained nuclear reaction and ultimately to the production of electric power and plutonium for atomic weapons, Fermi and his legacy continue to color the character of the sciences at the University of Chicago. During his tenure as professor of physics at the Institute for Nuclear Studies, Fermi attracted an extraordinary scientific faculty and many talented students - ten Nobel Prizes were awarded to faculty or students under Fermi's tutelage."
"Fermi Remembered combines essays and newly commissioned reminiscences with private material from Fermi's research notebooks, correspondence, speech outlines, and lectures to document the profound and enduring significance of Fermi's life and labors. In candid recollections of Fermi by his colleagues and students, the eminent physicist emerges as a three-dimensional character who, for example, with his wife Laura, opened his home to young people for square dances during which the discussion of physics was forbidden.
The volume also features extensive university archival material - including correspondence between Fermi and biophysicist Leo Szilard and a letter from Harry Truman - with new introductions that provide context for both the history of physics and the academic tradition at the University of Chicago."--Jacket.
Other form:Print version: Fermi remembered 0226121119
Review by Choice Review

Primarily a book of remembrances by former colleagues and students, this book describes the career of Enrico Fermi, one of the major creators of the physics of the 20th century and "father" of the atomic bomb. Only the second chapter, by recent Nobelist Frank Wilczek, tries to relate Fermi's work to contemporary physics. The remaining chapters are titled "Biographical Introduction"; "Letters and Documents Relating to the Development of Nuclear Energy"; "Correspondence Between Fermi and Colleagues: Scientific, Political, and Personal"; "Research and Teaching: Selections from the Archives"; "Reminiscences of Fermi's Faculty and Research Colleagues, 1945-1954"; "Reminiscences of Fermi's Students, 1945-1954"; "Reminiscences of Students of the Fermi Period, 1945-1954"; and "What Can We Learn with High Energy Accelerators?" Anyone interested in the development of modern physics or the relations between science and society will find material of interest in this book. ^BSumming Up: Recommended. General readers; lower-division undergraduates through professionals. A. M. Saperstein Wayne State University

Copyright American Library Association, used with permission.
Review by Choice Review

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