"In December 1942, a team at the University of Chicago achieved a milestone in human history: a nuclear chain reaction. At the forefront of this breakthrough stood Enrico Fermi, the father of the nuclear age. But Fermi's impact goes well beyond this epochal event. With his theory of beta decay and his development of quantum statistics, Fermi revolutionized modern physics. Straddling the classical and quantum ages, equally at ease with elegant mathematics and grubby experiments, Fermi truly was the last man who knew everything, at least about physics. Schwartz reveals the complex figure behind these historic contributions. A reluctant member of the Italian Fascist party, Fermi escaped to New York when Mussolini promulgated a series of anti-Semitic laws that put his wife, Laura, at risk. A citizen of an Axis power at the heart of the US government's most secret war effort, the Manhattan Project, he became one of its leading lights. A less-than-ideal father and husband, he was nevertheless one of history's greatest scientific mentors and teachers. He was also a deep thinker, as perspicacious about extraterrestrial life as he was about quantum field theory. The author brings Fermi's brilliant, complex genius to life in a profound and consuming read"--Provided by publisher.

2018-06

Part one: Becoming Fermi. Prodigy ; Pisa ; Germany and Holland ; Quantum breakthroughs ; Of geckos and men -- Part two: The Rome years. Family life ; The Rome School ; Beta rays ; Goldfish ; Physics as soma ; The Nobel Prize -- Part three: The Manhattan Project. The New World ; Splitting the atom ; Fermi meets the Navy ; Piles of graphite ; The move to Chicago ; "We're cookin'!" ; Xenon-135 ; On a mesa ; An unholy Trinity -- Part four: The Chicago years. Return to Chicago ; In the public eye ; A patent fight ; Brilliant teacher, beloved mentor ; Travels abroad ; Home to die ; Fermi's legacy.