The Pope of Physics, Gino Segre
The Pope of Physics, Gino Segre
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The Pope of Physics
Enrico Fermi and the Birth of the Atomic Age

Author: Gino Segre, Bettina Hoerlin

Narrator: Tim Campbell

Unabridged: 10 hr 39 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Tantor Media

Published: 02/14/2017


Synopsis

Enrico Fermi is unquestionably among the greats of the world's physicists, the most famous Italian scientist since Galileo. Called the Pope by his peers, he was regarded as infallible in his instincts and research. His discoveries changed our world; they led to weapons of mass destruction and conversely to life-saving medical interventions.

This unassuming man struggled with issues relevant today, such as the threat of nuclear annihilation and the relationship of science to politics. Fleeing Fascism and anti-Semitism, Fermi became a leading figure in America's most secret project: building the atomic bomb. The last physicist who mastered all branches of the discipline, Fermi was a rare mixture of theorist and experimentalist. His rich legacy encompasses key advances in fields as diverse as comic rays, nuclear technology, and early computers.

In their revealing book, The Pope of Physics, Gino Segrè and Bettina Hoerlin bring this scientific visionary to life. An examination of the human dramas that touched Fermi's life as well as a thrilling history of scientific innovation in the twentieth century, this is the comprehensive biography that Fermi deserves.

About Gino Segre

Gino Segre has a bachelor's degree in physics from Harvard, attended the Massachusetts Institute of Technology for graduate school, and spent time at Geneva's international accelerator laboratory for postdoctoral work. He began teaching at the University of Pennsylvania in 1967, and is now emeritus. A long-term interest in history led him to begin writing science history for a broader audience. After many years of specialized research, he wanted to try thinking about science in a broader context. That is how he began his first book.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Jean on March 12, 2017

This is a biography of Enrico Fermi (1901- 1954). He is Italy’s greatest scientist since Galileo. Fermi was called Pope by his peers. Fermi’s discoveries covered a broad range from semiconductors, transistors to MRI’s, nuclear reactors to the atomic bomb. He won the Nobel Prize in 1938 in physics fo......more

Goodreads review by Bryan on December 07, 2016

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I found it to be well-written, informative, and a wonderful biography of a complex and extremely impressive man. The first author is the nephew of Fermi's first graduate student, Emilio Segre, and thus part of an extended 'family' of the people surrounding Enrico Ferm......more

Goodreads review by Veronica on May 20, 2017

It immediately became one of my favorite books and I can't wait to read it again. It has the perfect balance between biography elements and science. As a scientist, there were many things I didn't know or remember about Fermi's contributions to the atomic age and physics, in general. Deeply inspirin......more

Goodreads review by Oren on November 12, 2016

Disappointing. Co-written by a physicist, Emilio Segre's son, it's clear the authors decided early on to remove all actual physics and chemistry from the book. They didn't even mention by name the "three methods for separating U-238 from U-235".. The writing is fine. It flows. And Fermi is a good sub......more

Goodreads review by Charlene on August 28, 2018

Oh how I wish I had read this book right before reading The Quantum Labyrinth: How Richard Feynman and John Wheeler Revolutionized Time and Reality. It would have been the reading experience of the year! Reading it after Wheeler and Feynman made me miss so many things I could have thought more about......more