Memoirs Of A Physicist In The Atomic Age

This is the autobiography of Walter Maurice Elsasser (1904-1991), a Johns Hopkins University geophysicist who won a National Medal of Science in 1987 for his research in planetary magnetism, the movement of the earth's crust and other fields. A refugee from Nazi Germany, he came to the United States in 1936. He taught and did research at various institutions, joining the Johns Hopkins faculty in 1975. He is one of the first to recognize that fluid motions within the earth's iron core arising from its cooling might be responsible for the earth's magnetic field. He is also known for work in quantum physics, theory of radioactive nuclei, theoretical biology, logical classes in mathematical biology and systems biology.

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 Segré 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.

The story of Edward Teller is the story of the twentieth century. Born in Hungary in 1908, Teller witnessed the rise of Nazism and anti-Semitism, two world wars, the McCarthy era, and the changing face of big science. A brilliant and controversial figure, Teller brings to these events a perspective that is at once surprising and insightful.

This is the autobiography of Walter Maurice Elsasser (1904-1991), a Johns Hopkins University geophysicist who won a National Medal of Science in 1987 for his research in planetary magnetism, the movement of the earth's crust and other fields. A refugee from Nazi Germany, he came to the United States in 1936. He taught and did research at various institutions, joining the Johns Hopkins faculty in 1975. He is one of the first to recognize that fluid motions within the earth's iron core arising from its cooling might be responsible for the earth's magnetic field. He is also known for work in quantum physics, theory of radioactive nuclei, theoretical biology, logical classes in mathematical biology and systems biology.

The book is an expanded autobiography of the famous theoretical physicist Isaak Khalatnikov. He worked together with L.D. Landau at the Institute for Physical Problems lead by P.L. Kapitza. He is the co-author of L.D. Landau in a number of important works. They worked together in the frame of the so-called Nuclear Bomb Project. After the death of L.D. Landau, I.M. Khalatnikov initiated the establishment of the Institute for Theoretical Physics, named in honour of L.D. Landau, within the USSR Academy of Sciences. He headed this institute from the beginning as its Director. The institute inherited almost all traditions of the Landau scientific school and played a prominent role in the development of theoretical physics. So, this is a story about how the institute was created, how it worked, and about the life of the physicists in the "golden age" of the Soviet science. A separate chapter is devoted to today ́s life of the institute and the young generation of physicists working now in science. It is an historically interesting book on the development of Soviet and Russian science and presents the background of the Soviet nuclear bomb program in the cold war age. In war times, Khalatnikov was a chief of the military staff of nuclear research. He writes about the internal conditions of Soviet society, the way of operating of the Soviet authorities and ways for scientists to interact with them. It gives many interesting insights into the development of superconductivity and superfluidity. The book is written by the most experienced and best informed person among the few living Russian scientists in the environment of Landau. Many stories of the book were never published before and considered as "top secret".

2004 marked the centennial of the birth of J Robert Oppenheimer, and brought historians and scholars, former students, nuclear physicists, and politicians together to celebrate this event. Oppenheimer's life and work became central to 20th century history as he spearheaded the development of the atomic bomb that ended World War II. This book provides a spectrum of interpretations of Oppenheimer's life and scientific achievements. It approaches the extraordinary scientist and teacher from many perspectives, chronicling the years from his boyhood through his role as director of the Los Alamos National Laboratory and afterwards. The book also discusses Oppenheimer's connection to New Mexico, which hosted two of the Manhattan Project's most crucial sites, and addresses his lasting impact on contemporary science, international politics, and the postwar age.

"The memoir of a prominent member of the Manhattan Project, and an intimate friend of J. Robert Oppenheimer."--Jacket.

Offers a variety of newer perspectives on information processing associated with real and artificial neural networks. The eight contributions comprise a coherent narrative treatment, progressing through nonlinear and informatic aspects of fuzzy neural activity, the dynamics of neural learning in the information-theoretic plane, informatic perspecti.

Follows the life and career of the physicist known as the "Father of the Atomic Bomb".

The renowned physicist describes his Nobel Prize-winning career, his work with the Manhattan Project, his discovery of the element that makes atomic bombs explode, and his term as chairman of the Atomic Energy Commission.