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

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

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Bibliographic Details
Author / Creator:	Schwartz, David N., 1956- author.
Edition:	First edition.
Imprint:	New York : Basic Books, an imprint of Perseus Books, LLC, a subsidiary of Hachette Book Group, Inc., 2017. ©2017
Description:	xxiii, 453 pages : illustrations ; 25 cm
Language:	English
Subject:	Fermi, Enrico, -- 1901-1954. Fermi, Enrico, -- 1901-1954. Physicists -- Italy -- Biography. Physicists -- United States -- Biography. Nuclear physicists -- Italy -- Biography. Nuclear physicists -- United States -- Biography. Nuclear physicists. Physicists. Italy. United States. Biographies. Biography.
Format:	Print Book
Local Note:	University of Chicago Library's copy 1 has dust jacket.
URL for this record:	http://pi.lib.uchicago.edu/1001/cat/bib/11290945

Hidden Bibliographic Details
ISBN:	9780465072927 0465072925 9780465093120 0465093124
Notes:	Includes bibliographical references (pages 375-436) and index.
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.

Special Collections, Archival Monographs

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Holdings details from Special Collections, Archival Monographs
Call Number:	QC16.F46 S39 2017
c.1	Available Loan period: Special Collections Reading Room use only Request from SCRC Need help? - Ask SCRC or Request Scans