Family roots -- The Little Match (Il Piccolo Fiammifero) -- Leaning in: physics and Pisa -- Student days -- The young protégé -- The summer of 1924 -- Florence -- Quantum leaps -- Enrico and Laura -- The boys of Via Panisperna -- The Royal Academy -- Crossing the Atlantic -- Bombarding the neutron -- Decay -- The neutron comes to Rome -- The rise and fall of the boys -- Transitions -- Stockholm calls -- Fission -- News travels -- Chain reaction -- The race begins -- New Americans and the birth of the pile -- The sleeping giant -- Chicago bound -- Critical pile (CP-1) -- The day the atomic age was born -- The Manhattan project: a three-legged stool -- Signor Fermi becomes Mister Farmer -- Götterdämmerung -- The hill -- "No acceptable alternative" -- Aftershock -- Goodbye, Mr. Farmer -- Physicist with a capital 'F' -- The Fermi method -- The super -- Circling back -- Summer of '54 -- Farewell to the navigator.
Summary:
Enrico Fermi is unquestionably among the greats of the world’s physicists, the most famous Italian scientist since Galilo. 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. 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. --Publisher
This resource is supported by the Institute of Museum and Library Services under the provisions of the Library Services and Technology Act as administered by State Library of Iowa.