Gino Segrè is a professor of Physics and Astronomy at the University of Pennsylvania. He has been a visiting professor at M.I.T. and Oxford University, chair of the Department of Physics and Astronomy at the University of Pennsylvania, and director of theoretical physics at the National Science Foundation. He is the author of several books of scientific history, Ordinary Geniuses, Faust in Copenhagen, and A Matter of Degrees.
Bettina Hoerlin taught healthcare disparities at the University of Pennsylvania for sixteen years. She also has been a visiting lecturer at Haverford College and Oxford University. Her career in health policy and administration included serving as Health Commissioner of Philadelphia. The author of Steps of Courage: My Parents' Journey from Nazi Germany to America, she grew up in the Atomic City of Los Alamos.
Selected by Philip Tetlock as one of Bloomberg's Best Books of
2016
Shortlisted for Physics World's Book of the Year
One of Booklist's Top 10 Science Books
Editor's Choice, New York Times Book Review, November 27, 2016: THE
POPE OF PHYSICS: Enrico Fermi and the Birth of the Atomic Age. An
assured and informative biography of the pioneering nuclear
scientist."[A] superb biography. . .[the authors] have produced a
definitive study of Fermi's life and work."--Andrew Crumey, The
Wall Street Journal"[The Pope of Physics is] the first popular
cradle-to-grave biography in English of the most famous Italian
scientific investigator since Galileo Galilei...[The authors]
quickly hit their stride with a lucid account of how Fermi was born
in 1901 to a middle-class family in Rome and became one of the very
few physicists to be in the front rank in both theory and
experiment." --Nature "[An] impressive new biography...[Segrè and
Hoerlin] have combined sophisticated understanding of Fermi's
scientific achievements with intimate, often charming stories of
the famed physicist's personal life, to create a book that's both
intelligent and extremely engaging...a story filled with drama,
creativity, adventure."--The Washington Post"There are many reasons
to love The Pope of Physics: Enrico Fermi and the Birth of the
Atomic Age, a new biography of the celebrated Italian physicist. It
is humane, scientifically astute, and beautifully written. And what
a life it chronicles!....Authors Gino Segrè, the nephew of Fermi's
colleague Emilio Segrè, and Bettina Hoerlin, whose father Hermann
Hoerlin was an industrial physicist and group leader at Los Alamos
National Laboratory, are wonderful writers with a deep sense of the
personalities, science, historical backdrop, and locales of Fermi's
story. Although the book told a familiar tale, I literally could
not put it down once I started it....lively and charming
first-person narrative....I strongly recommend The Pope of Physics
for anyone who wants to know more about Fermi or to use his example
in teaching."--Physics Today"Had Fermi turned his intuition to the
problem it is likely that fission would have been discovered in
Italy in early 1935, and not nearly four years later in Germany.
Were that the case, Segrè and Hoerlin point out, it is possible
that Hitler would have had an atomic bomb to use during the Second
World War."--Gregg Herken, New York Times Book Review "[A]n
informative biography of Fermi that also manages to deepen the
sense of quiet mystery surrounding the legendary physicist...The
authors...are to be thanked for deftly fleshing out a young Fermi
through the pages of history." --The Wire"A valuable new
biography"--Albuquerque Journal"Few writers are better positioned
than that duo to bring Fermi's story to light....Combining family
lore with intensive research, Segrè and Hoerlin offer unique
insights into Fermi's life and work, set against the background of
politics and the early years of the Atomic Age."--Dallas Morning
News"Fermi, who excelled in so many areas . . . resists simple
iconization . . .a quick-paced and highly readable account that
manages to distill Fermi's rich and productive life into a little
over 300 pages....[a] welcome and admirable biography."--Natural
History magazine"Authors Segrè and Hoerlin keep the reader riveted
with detail. Want to see the world's most heinous war through a
lens of emerging technology? Give Pope a try. An enjoyable read for
scientist and historian alike."--Edge Media Network
"By placing stunning scientific advances into historical context,
this engaging biography of Nobel Prize-winning Italian physicist
Enrico Fermi (1901-1954) captures the life and times of one of the
20th century's most creative and hard-working scientists...fans of
pop science and history will thoroughly enjoy this entertaining and
accessible biography of a scientist who deserves to be better
understood." --Publishers Weekly, starred and boxed review"[An]
illuminating biography of the immigrant genius who earned a prime
place among the elite scientists who watched the planet's first
mushroom cloud rise above New Mexico sands...By exploring Fermi's
friendships, his marriage and family life, and his postwar concerns
about morality in an atomic age, the authors also give readers
glimpses into something of Fermi's personal, nonscientific
attributes. A balanced portrait, rich in revealing anecdotes."
--Booklist, starred review "Given his role in ushering in the
Atomic Age, it is surprising that, until now, there has been no
major biography of Fermi in English; The Pope of Physics: Enrico
Fermi and the Birth of the Atomic Age... does an excellent job of
filling that gap... Happily, the authors' clear explanations ensure
that the reader is not only able to follow Fermi's contributions to
science, but also understand their impact on his life story... this
comprehensive and enjoyable biography is a valuable introduction to
the life of Fermi." --BookPage "The authors use this biography of
Fermi's life--beginning with his university days, when he immersed
himself in the new field of quantum physics, and culminating in his
own groundbreaking accomplishments--to engagingly chronicle the
major developments in nuclear physics that were the focus of his
life's work. . . . A vivid retelling of events that still shape our
lives today." --Kirkus Reviews"Readers of history and physics will
enjoy learning about this theoretical and experimental physicist,
whose name lives on in the fermion particles, the element fermium,
and the national accelerator lab near Chicago." --Library
Journal"Superbly written. This will set the gold standard for books
on Enrico Fermi."--MICHIO KAKU, theoretical physicist and author of
Physics of the Future and The Future of the Mind"A delightful and
compelling history of Enrico Fermi--a hero to anyone who knows
about physics...With its detailed scholarship combined with
insightful analysis, this book was clearly a labor of love for
Segrè and Hoerlin, whose personal and scientific connections to
Fermi make them the ideal biographers of this great man."--LAWRENCE
M. KRAUSS, author of The Physics of Star Trek and A Universe from
Nothing"In The Pope of Physics, the first in-depth biography of
Enrico Fermi, Segrè and Hoerlin bring the man and his work to life
with exhaustive research and authoritative prose."--SYLVIA NASAR,
author of A Beautiful Mind"This beautifully written biography of
Enrico Fermi brings us the whole man--the circumstances that molded
him, his genius, his central contributions to the coming of the
atomic age, and his very human qualities."--JEROME FRIEDMAN, Nobel
Prize-winner and former graduate student of Enrico Fermi "Segrè and
Hoerlin have artfully incorporated a personal backdrop shedding
light on the behaviors that drove the decisions and motivations of
Enrico Fermi, a 20th century one-of-a-kind genius--a compelling
story."--NIGEL LOCKYER, experimental particle physicist and
director of Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory "In the hands of
Segrè and Hoerlin, enriched with fresh material from his inner
circle, Fermi's life becomes a brilliant--and true--historical
novel."--FRANK WILCZEK, Nobel Prize-winning physicist,
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and author of A Beautiful
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