Review by Choice Review
An unusually thorough and competent scientific biography of one of the founders of 20th-century physical theory. Erwin Schrodinger, an Austrian, was talented but pursued mostly minor scientific problems until, in his 40th year, he became interested in the idea that particulate matter might in some sense also be wave-like. In a series of beautiful papers produced in a very short time, he established the main equations and computational methods used in atomic and molecular physics today. The author chronicles Schrodinger's intellectual growth, his Bohemian way of life with its marriage of convenience and endless love affairs, and his relation, partly that of an outsider, with the main scientific circles of his time. There is enough mathematics in the book to make clear what Schrodinger was thinking about and what he accomplished, but for those who skip these passages there is an absorbing account of the social and scientific culture of Europe in the period after WWI. Highly recommended. -D. Park, Williams College
Copyright American Library Association, used with permission.
Review by Choice Review
