Synopses & Reviews
A fascinating look at the landmark 1932 gathering of the biggest names in physics
Known by physicists as the miracle year, 1932 saw the discovery of the neutron and the first artificially induced nuclear transmutation. However, while physicists celebrated these momentous discoverieswhich presaged the era of big science and nuclear bombsEurope was moving inexorably toward totalitarianism and war. In April of that year, about forty of the worlds leading physicistsincluding Werner Heisenberg, Lise Meitner, and Paul Diraccame to Niels Bohrs Copenhagen Institute for their annual informal meeting about the frontiers of physics.
Physicist Gino Segr brings to life this historic gathering, which ended with a humorous skit based on Goethes Fausta skit that eerily foreshadowed events that would soon unfold. Little did the scientists know the Faustian bargains they would face in the near future. Capturing the interplay between the great scientists as well as the discoveries they discussed and debated, Segr evokes the moment when physicsand the worldwas about to lose its innocence.
Review
[A] fascinating story, insightfully told and consistently engaging . . . Segrè speaks to the reader with enthusiasm, at times unable to conceal his excitement about the fascinating story hes sharing, yet his telling is deftly and dramatically structured, providing necessary historical and scientific context, clearly and concisely.
San Francisco Chronicle
Cracking good narrative history.
Time
Review
andnbsp;Segrandegrave; spins a rousing tale of scientific thought and adventure. And like his subjects, he makes a convincing case for approaching new problems with a sense of wonder.--Publisherandrsquo;s Weekly
An exuberant dual biography that integrates developments in quantum physics, cosmology and genetics since the 1920s with the lives of these two scientists.--Kirkus Reviews
Gino Segrandegrave;andrsquo;s fascinating dual biography of George Gamow and Max Delbranduuml;ck, andldquo;Ordinary Geniuses.andrdquo; Gamow was a theoretical physicist who made an interesting foray into the biology of protein synthesis, while Delbranduuml;ck was a theoretical physicist who became a biologist and then won the Nobel Prize for his work in genetics.--Wall Street Journal
In parallel chapters Segrandegrave; has sensitively and insightfully narrated chronologically Delbranduuml;ck and Gamowandrsquo;s personal and professional lives. And while doing so, he has clearly presented and explained their scientific contributions; the prior works on which they were based; and their present day importance and relevance.--American Scientist
Segrandegrave; convincingly shows how the pairandrsquo;s maverick personalities led to their discoveries, while their restlessness often stopped them seeing their ideas to maturity.--New Scientist
Review
Segrand#232; spins a rousing tale of scientific thought and adventure. And like his subjects, he makes a convincing case for approaching new problems with a sense of wonder. --Publisherand#8217;s Weekly
An exuberant dual biography that integrates developments in quantum physics, cosmology and genetics since the 1920s with the lives of these two scientists. --Kirkus Reviews
Gino Segrand#232;and#8217;s fascinating dual biography of George Gamow and Max Delbrand#252;ck, and#8220;Ordinary Geniuses.and#8221; Gamow was a theoretical physicist who made an interesting foray into the biology of protein synthesis, while Delbrand#252;ck was a theoretical physicist who became a biologist and then won the Nobel Prize for his work in genetics. --Wall Street Journal
In parallel chapters Segrand#232; has sensitively and insightfully narrated chronologically Delbrand#252;ck and Gamowand#8217;s personal and professional lives. And while doing so, he has clearly presented and explained their scientific contributions; the prior works on which they were based; and their present day importance and relevance. --American Scientist
Segrand#232; convincingly shows how the pairand#8217;s maverick personalities led to their discoveries, while their restlessness often stopped them seeing their ideas to maturity. --New Scientist
and#8220;Ordinary Geniuses makes me wistfully wonder if the world will ever again witness the coming together of such fun-loving intellectual brilliance.and#8221;
and#8212;James D. Watson, author of The Double Helix
and#160;
and#8220;George Gamow and Max Delbrand#252;ck were free spirits and practical jokers. They broke away from the mainstream of science in the 1930s and found new ways of thinking that opened the way to new sciences in the 1950s. George invented Big Bang cosmology, and Max invented molecular biology. This book brings them magnificently to life. It gives us a fresh view of the way new sciences are born.and#8221;
and#8212;Dr. Freeman Dyson, Princeton Institute for Advanced Study
and#160;
and#160;
and#8220;Ordinary Geniuses is no ordinary book. Gino Segrand#232;, a masterly storyteller, takes us off the beaten path to view two revolutions in twentieth-century science from a novel perspective. By chronicling the lives of two renegade scientists, Max Delbrand#252;ck and George Gamow, Segrand#232; puts the birth of both molecular biology and modern cosmology in a whole new light. An engaging read.and#8221;
and#8212;Marcia Bartusiak, author of The Day We Found the Universe
and#160;
and#8220;Gino Segrand#232; is an accomplished scientist, a gifted writer, and a meticulous scholar. His talents come together in this wonderful book, the story of the intertwining careers of two quite amazing scientists. But it is more. It is a loving ode to twentieth-century science and will enthrall as it instructs.and#8221;
and#8212;Kenneth W. Ford, author of 101 Quantum Questions: What You Need to Know About the World You Can't See; former director, American Institute of Physics
and#160;
and#8220;A marvelous book. Segre describes vividly how Delbruck helped to establish the new science of molecular biology while Gamow went into cosmology and originated our current view of the Big Bang. They both left major impressions on science as might be expected from and#8220;ordinary geniuses.and#8221;and#8221;
and#8212;Alex Rich, Sedgwick Professor of Biophysics at M.I.T.
Synopsis
Segre brings to life the momentous 1932 gathering of 40 of the worlds leading physicists, which ended with a humorous skit based on Goethes Faust--a skit that eerily foreshadowed events that would soon unfold as Europe was moving ever closer to war.
Synopsis
A physicist himself, Gino Segrè writes about what scientists do?and why they do it?with intimacy, clarity, and passion. In
Faust in Copenhagen, he evokes the fleeting, magical moment when physics?and the world?was about to lose its innocence forever. Known by physicists as the miracle year, 1932 saw the discovery of the neutron and antimatter, as well as the first artificially induced nuclear transmutations. However, while scientists celebrated these momentous discoveries?which presaged the nuclear era and the emergence of big science?during a meeting at Niels Bohr?s Copenhagen Institute, Europe was moving inexorably toward totalitarianism and war.
Synopsis
A physicist himself, Gino Segrand#232; writes about what scientists do?and why they do it?with intimacy, clarity, and passion. In
Faust in Copenhagen, he evokes the fleeting, magical moment when physics?and the world?was about to lose its innocence forever. Known by physicists as the miracle year, 1932 saw the discovery of the neutron and antimatter, as well as the first artificially induced nuclear transmutations. However, while scientists celebrated these momentous discoveries?which presaged the nuclear era and the emergence of big science?during a meeting at Niels Bohr?s Copenhagen Institute, Europe was moving inexorably toward totalitarianism and war.
Synopsis
A fascinating tribute to the forefathers of two of todayand#8217;s most exciting scientific fields Thanks to Max Delbruck and George Gamow, today we have mapped the human genome and understand the ramifications of the Big Bang. In his characteristically inviting and elegant style, Gino Segre brings to life the story of these two great scientists and their long friendship and offers an accessible inside look the people behind the scenes of scienceand#151;the collaboration and competition, the quirks and failures, the role of intuition and luck, and the sense of wonder and curiosity that keeps these extraordinary minds going.
About the Author
Gino Segrè is professor of physics and astronomy at the University of Pennsylvania. An internationally renowned expert in high-energy elementary-particle theoretical physics, Segrè has served as director of Theoretical Physics at the National Science Foundation and received awards from the National Science Foundation, the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, and the Guggenheim Foundation. This is his first book.