Magellan: Conqueror of the Seas

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Author :
Publisher : Plunkett Lake Press
ISBN 13 :
Total Pages : 185 pages
Book Rating : 4./5 ( download)

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Book Synopsis Magellan: Conqueror of the Seas by : Stefan Zweig

Download or read book Magellan: Conqueror of the Seas written by Stefan Zweig and published by Plunkett Lake Press. This book was released on 2019-08-15 with total page 185 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan (1480-1521), the first to circumnavigate the globe, sailed on behalf of the Spanish monarch from the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean, and discovered the straights that now bear his name and the Philippines. “Magellan is written in a tone of astonished wonder... a persuasive and crisp portrait of Magellan... Stefan Zweig brings the story of Magellan to life.” — Charles Poore, The New York Times “[A]n extremely well-written narrative, fired by a keen sense of justice, and with its dramatic and emotional qualities well sustained... [Zweig’s] own passion for his subject carries the story well.” — R. L. Duffus, The New York Times “A superb piece of reconstruction, intensely interesting first as a record of one of the greatest achievements in human history, and second, as a live picture of a tragic figure, Magellan, lonely and misunderstood and cheated at the end of the reward in recognition of the stupendous and courageous task he had envisioned and achieved. Fascinating reading, and enlightening as a minutely detailed picture of the problems faced and met, from the first step to the last. A book which will last...” — Kirkus Review “Zweig’s story opens with a fascinating chapter on spices. He explains the reasons for Magellan’s sailing under a Spanish flag after a youth spent in the service of Portugal. Such matters as the making of Magellan’s will, the absurd circumstances of his death, the reception of the 18 who returned, the corruption at court, are told in the light of present-day psychology and with an understanding of human nature that makes this tale of an adventurer excellent and provocative reading.” — The English Journal “Zweig’s accumulated historical and cultural studies, whether in essay or monograph form, remain a body of achievement almost too impressive to take in... Full-sized books on Marie-Antoinette, Mary Stuart, and Magellan were international best sellers.” — Clive James, Cultural Amnesia

Conqueror of the Seas

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Author :
Publisher : New York : Viking Press
ISBN 13 :
Total Pages : 392 pages
Book Rating : 4.E/5 ( download)

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Book Synopsis Conqueror of the Seas by : Stefan Zweig

Download or read book Conqueror of the Seas written by Stefan Zweig and published by New York : Viking Press. This book was released on 1938 with total page 392 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Magellan

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Author :
Publisher : Pushkin Press
ISBN 13 : 1908968087
Total Pages : 353 pages
Book Rating : 4.9/5 (89 download)

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Book Synopsis Magellan by : Stefan Zweig

Download or read book Magellan written by Stefan Zweig and published by Pushkin Press. This book was released on 2011-09-20 with total page 353 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan (1480–1521) is one of the most famous navigators in history – he was the first man to sail from the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean, and led the first voyage to circumnavigate the globe, although he was killed en route in a battle in the Philippines. In this biography, Zweig brings to life the Age of Discovery by telling the tale of one of the era’s most daring adventurers. In typically flowing and elegant prose he takes us on a fascinating journey of discovery ourselves.

Montaigne

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Publisher : Pushkin Press
ISBN 13 : 1782271465
Total Pages : 161 pages
Book Rating : 4.7/5 (822 download)

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Book Synopsis Montaigne by : Stefan Zweig

Download or read book Montaigne written by Stefan Zweig and published by Pushkin Press. This book was released on 2015-11-10 with total page 161 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A brilliant and impassioned biography of one of the founding fathers of humanism, from one of its greatest defenders in the 20th century Written during the Second World War, Zweig's typically passionate and readable biography of Michel de Montaigne, is also a heartfelt argument for the importance of intellectual freedom, tolerance and humanism. Zweig draws strong parallels between Montaigne's age, when Europe was torn in two by conflict between Catholicism and Protestantism, and his own, in which the twin fanaticisms of Fascism and Communism were on the verge of destroying the pan-continental liberal culture he was born into, and loved dearly. Just as Montaigne sought to remain aloof from the factionalism of his day, so Zweig tried to the last to defend his freedom of thought, and argue for peace and compromise. One of the final works Zweig wrote before his suicide, this is both a brilliantly impassioned portrait of a great mind, and a moving plea for tolerance in a world ruled by cruelty.

Magellan

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Author :
Publisher : Macmillan + ORM
ISBN 13 : 1626721211
Total Pages : 225 pages
Book Rating : 4.6/5 (267 download)

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Book Synopsis Magellan by : Laurence Bergreen

Download or read book Magellan written by Laurence Bergreen and published by Macmillan + ORM. This book was released on 2017-05-23 with total page 225 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A middle-grade adaptation of Laurence Bergreen's adult bestseller, about Magellan's historic voyage around the globe. On September 6, 1522, a horribly battered ship manned by eighteen malnourished, scurvy-ridden sailors appeared on the horizon near a Spanish port. They were survivors of the first European expedition to circle the globe. Originally comprised of five ships and 260 sailors, the fleet's captain and most of its crew were dead. How did Ferdinand Magellan's voyage to circle the world—one of the largest and best-equipped expeditions ever mounted—turn into this ghost ship? The answer is provided in this thoroughly researched tale of mutiny and murder spanning the entire globe, marked equally by triumph and tragedy. Thrilling, grisly, and completely true, Magellan:Over the Edge of the World tells a story that not only marks a turning point in history, but also resonates powerfully with the present.

John D. Rockefeller, Jr.: A Portrait

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Author :
Publisher : Plunkett Lake Press
ISBN 13 :
Total Pages : 440 pages
Book Rating : 4./5 ( download)

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Book Synopsis John D. Rockefeller, Jr.: A Portrait by : Raymond B. Fosdick

Download or read book John D. Rockefeller, Jr.: A Portrait written by Raymond B. Fosdick and published by Plunkett Lake Press. This book was released on 2019-07-31 with total page 440 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: “Mr. Fosdick has written a biography in its formal meaning — fully documented, chronologically precise — and not simply a personal tribute to a friend of more than forty years’ standing. The book, in consequence, is both biography and history, satisfying all the rigorous canons of personal and social analysis. It is to be read as part of the history of our time and as the record of a man of as much consequence to us as have been those other leaders and creators among his contemporaries who have affected public conduct. What we have here, then, is the narrative of a rich man who overcame the almost impossible handicaps of great wealth, limited religious upbringing, and a narrow and protective family circle. He might have become defensive and suspicious, or a recluse cultivating private and expensive hobbies, or a popular leader and therefore a demagogue (such patterns of the behavior of men of inherited fortunes are familiar throughout history), but instead he was able to grow and to assume great, national obligations. What might have been a puzzle slowly disappears under Mr. Fosdick’s skillful scholarship and his deep regard for his friend. The young Rockefeller (he is called throughout the book ‘JDR Jr.’), as early as 1910, when he was 36, severed his direct connections with business: did he do so because of a real or unconscious rejection of his father? Quite the contrary; father and son early forged strong bonds of mutual affection and respect, but while there never was hostility on the part of the son, neither was there subservience. JDR Jr. continued to support the philanthropies founded by the older man, the Rockefeller Institute for Medical Research, the General Education Board, and the Rockefeller Foundation, and to expand them; did he do this because he, like other men in public life — like Theodore Roosevelt, Woodrow Wilson, Louis D. Brandeis — was inevitably swept up in the ‘reform movement’ of the day? That was only a part, and possibly a minor one, of his development. For as his tastes became surer and his vocation clearer, he ranged wider and wider until his interests were as large as those of his country and his world. As one goes over the catalogue of his benefactions and interests — none ever representing a perfunctory concern, most requiring long years of careful planning with a devotion to exact detail that only the truly outstanding seem to possess — one grasps the sweep and boldness of JDR Jr.’s mind. Williamsburg; the Cloisters; Rockefeller Center; the Museum of Modern Art; the restoration of the Athenian Agora; Rheims, Versailles, Fontainebleau; Negro education; the four International Houses; Jackson Hole and the Jersey Palisades; the Library of the League of Nations at Geneva, and the site of the U.N. at New York; the interdenominational movement; the long battle to achieve industrial understanding in two decades marked by bitter strife between management and labor: this is only a partial list. Mr. Fosdick seeks the key to the Rockefellers in some observations made by Frederick T. Gates, that restless and fascinating man who had such a great influence on the lives of both father and son. In 1905, Gates wrote to the father: ‘Two courses are open to you. One is that you and your children while living should make final disposition of this great fortune in the form of permanent corporate philanthropies for the good of mankind... or at the close of a few lives now in being it must simply pass into the unknown, like some other great fortunes, with unmeasured and perhaps sinister possibilities.’ In 1929, Gates was satisfied, for he put down in a private document these remarks concerning JDR Jr.: ‘I have known no man who entered life more absolutely dominated by his sense of duty, more diligent in the quest of the right path, more eager to follow it at any sacrifice.’” — Louis M. Hacker, The New York Times “The central theme of Raymond B. Fosdick’s book is its subject’s career as a philanthropist... This is not an impartial book and was not so intended. Mr. Fosdick is an admiring friend and associate of the man of whom he writes. But if the book is understandably friendly to John D. Rockefeller, Jr., it is also an honest book.” — John D. Hicks, The Saturday Review

The Biography Book

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Author :
Publisher : Bloomsbury Publishing USA
ISBN 13 : 0313017263
Total Pages : 636 pages
Book Rating : 4.3/5 (13 download)

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Book Synopsis The Biography Book by : Daniel S. Burt

Download or read book The Biography Book written by Daniel S. Burt and published by Bloomsbury Publishing USA. This book was released on 2001-02-28 with total page 636 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: From Marilyn to Mussolini, people captivate people. A&E's Biography, best-selling autobiographies, and biographical novels testify to the popularity of the genre. But where does one begin? Collected here are descriptions and evaluations of over 10,000 biographical works, including books of fact and fiction, biographies for young readers, and documentaries and movies, all based on the lives of over 500 historical figures from scientists and writers, to political and military leaders, to artists and musicians. Each entry includes a brief profile, autobiographical and primary sources, and recommended works. Short reviews describe the pertinent biographical works and offer insight into the qualities and special features of each title, helping readers to find the best biographical material available on hundreds of fascinating individuals.

The Hunting of the Quark: A True Story of Modern Physics

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Author :
Publisher : Plunkett Lake Press
ISBN 13 :
Total Pages : 312 pages
Book Rating : 4./5 ( download)

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Book Synopsis The Hunting of the Quark: A True Story of Modern Physics by : Michael Riordan

Download or read book The Hunting of the Quark: A True Story of Modern Physics written by Michael Riordan and published by Plunkett Lake Press. This book was released on 2019-07-31 with total page 312 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This is the absorbing account of one of the twentieth century’s most revolutionary discoveries — our first encounter with an essential mystery of the universe. Told by an active participant in this discovery, it is the saga of the search for quarks, the elementary particles lurking within the protons and neutrons of atomic nuclei, which constitute the fundamental basis of matter. Michael Riordan, physicist and author, was present at the key moments in this story. He brings to life the personalities, triumphs and failures of this true-life scientific detective story, vividly portraying the soaring ambitions and clashing egos of modern physicists at work, vying for the coveted Nobel Prize. The Hunting of the Quark gives readers an insider’s perspective on how frontier science actually occurs — the great leaps of imagination, the blind alleys followed, and the final resolution of the mysteries that had to be overcome on the road to unity. Like James Watson’s famous accountThe Double Helix, it has the immediacy and excitement of being on the trail of a monumental discovery — leading to a striking new scientific paradigm, the Standard Model of particle physics. “Many books on the 20th-century revolution in particle physics focus on the startling new notions introduced. Not as much attention is paid to those who dirtied their hands, nursing crotchety accelerator instruments, in order to prove the conjectures. Mr. Riordan, a physicist affiliated with the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center, presents an authoritative account of this less-told tale. A veteran quark-stalker himself, he deftly combines his technical expertise with a journalistic flair, personally acquainting us with many of the men and women who joined in the hunt... Mr. Riordan enables us to behold exactly how physicists work and the tortuous paths that experimentalists must travel to gain just a scrap of insight into the puzzling laws of nature.” — Marcia Bartusiak, The New York Times “A great book that I couldn’t put down even though I knew the plot.” — Sheldon Glashow, Eugene Higgins Professor of Physics, Emeritus, Harvard University, Nobel prize in physics (1979) “Machines two miles long, pieces of matter elusive as lost souls, the likes of Richard Feynman ‘snooping around,’ reputations made and lost on the contumacious front lines of science — what a wonderful mix for a book. Particle physics has seemed arcane, the quark business most of all. Michael Riordan, who lives the story he tells, makes it lively, literate and accessible.” — Richard Rhodes, author of The Making of the Atomic Bomb “Mr. Riordan... understands the physics, but he also has an eye for the human comedy associated with the work. The result is a fine book on elementary particle physics.” — Jeremy Bernstein, The New Yorker “Riordan was an active participant in the search for the enigmatic quark, and his story reflects the excitement, passion and revelation of peeking into nature’s most elusive realm.” — Rudy Rucker, San Francisco Chronicle “An enjoyable book with enough good explanations and clear discussions to make it well worth reading both for the expert in modern high-energy physics and for the general reader.” — Alexander Firestone, Physics Today “A physicist with first-hand experience chasing quarks at the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center (SLAC) relates the high points of the search for those elusive subatomic particles... Riordan builds a suspenseful tale around the neck-and-neck race between MIT/Brookhaven (Sam Ting) and Stanford (Burton Richter) in discovering the J/psi particle... Riordan’s epilogue is eloquent... Readers will... turn to Riordan for a close-in view and astute commentary on a pivotal period in 20th-century physics.” —Kirkus

Edison: A Biography

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Author :
Publisher : Plunkett Lake Press
ISBN 13 :
Total Pages : 493 pages
Book Rating : 4./5 ( download)

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Book Synopsis Edison: A Biography by : Matthew Josephson

Download or read book Edison: A Biography written by Matthew Josephson and published by Plunkett Lake Press. This book was released on 2019-07-31 with total page 493 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A great folk hero in American history, Edison is viewed by the public as a facile inventor, the electrical wizard and the perfect symbol of the self-made and practical creator. But he was also a paradoxical figure: deaf, impoverished and with no formal education as a youngster, Edison nevertheless became a fertile and versatile inventor, accumulated fortunes for himself and others but remained indifferent to wealth except as a means towards more inventions. Edison’s key contributions include the carbon microphone, the electric light bulb, electricity distribution systems, the phonograph and the motion-picture camera. Edison’s methods were also remarkable: halfway between the craftsman-tinkerer of the early 19th century and the scientist of today, he established and ran pioneering research laboratories with large staffs, yet lacked training in mathematics or the basic sciences. Matthew Josephson’s Edison: A Biography won the Society of American Historians’Francis Parkman Prize in 1960. “This is an outstanding biography... [Josephson] establishes the developing relationship between finance and invention which constitutes the basis for Edison’s success... [He] has mastered the substance of Edison’s inventive activity and has written of it quite authoritatively and vividly.” — Thomas P. Hughes, Technology and Culture “... It is clear that there is reason to welcome yet another book about a man of whom so much has been written. It must have been precisely because so much in the Edison record is myth, fostered by adulators and by Edison himself that Mr. Josephson turned his skillful, corrective hand to a saga that may have seemed more familiar than it actually is. From his well-presented, well-written findings emerges a giant without whom much of life as we live it would simply not exist. It is a first-rate job that needed doing.” — John K. Hutchens, New York Herald Tribune “A well-researched account of the life of one of America’s authentic folk heroes--Thomas Alva Edison--an original creator with a genius for strategic invention... Thoroughly absorbing, this significant volume is a competent contribution to the history of American science, and gives not only a sharply drawn picture of this self-educated giant of invention, but also of the beginnings of the telegraph, electrical, record, motion picture and automobile industries, as well as the sociological changes that were wrought by Edison’s practical discoveries.” — Kirkus Review “A biography that is dignified, detailed, and objective, sprinkled with moments of humor, pathos, and drama... One of the chief virtues of this book is the care taken by the author to build up a realistic picture of Edison the man.” — F. Garvin Davenport,The American Historical Review

The Land Divided: A History of the Panama Canal and Other Isthmian Canal Projects

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Author :
Publisher : Plunkett Lake Press
ISBN 13 :
Total Pages : 840 pages
Book Rating : 4./5 ( download)

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Book Synopsis The Land Divided: A History of the Panama Canal and Other Isthmian Canal Projects by : Gerstle Mack

Download or read book The Land Divided: A History of the Panama Canal and Other Isthmian Canal Projects written by Gerstle Mack and published by Plunkett Lake Press. This book was released on 2024-04-04 with total page 840 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: “Over the last four centuries there has accumulated a vast literature relating to scores of projects for linking the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans in the American tropics... Mr. Mack has undertaken, in the volume under review, to combine these numerous and varied sources into a history of all interoceanic canal projects in the Western Hemisphere from the discovery of America to the present day. The result is a work of unparalleled comprehensiveness in this field, based upon extensive research, and presented in a well-organized and exceptionally readable form... [of] superior merit.” — The American Historical Review “[This] book is important. It is the first definitive history of the Panama Canal, richly complete with colorful details of the explorations, conquests, intrigues, crackpot theories and engineering genius that went into the making of it... The Land Divided is an important book.” — The New York Times “A history of the Panama Canal which should provide for study and reference the definitive book on that project. From the 16th century explorers, the search for the ‘doubtful strait’, the first conception of an artificial canal in 1529, this outlines the adventures and aggressions in Spanish waters down to the 19th century and the French revival of the project of a canal. Meticulous tracing of the controversy, of local affairs in Panama, of political and international claims and disputes, of private interests vying with government interests, innumerable surveys, accelerated interest as the gold discoveries in California emphasized the need. Then de Lesseps, and the grandiose scheme and tragic failure, the bankruptcy of the Panama Canal Company and the ensuing scandals. The formation of a new international company, rivalry between Nicaragua and Panama, the U.S. purchase of the concession, the decision for the lock canal, and the amazing achievement with Gorgas and Goethals responsible. A history which is history, politics, finance, science, and which ignores no phase and no detail of the accomplishment that was to unite the world.” — Kirkus “[A]n exhaustive history of the Panama Canal... The author has achieved splendid success in his five years of careful research, compilation, and presentation of a full-length history of all the elements present in the creation of the canal... the author deserves recognition for his painstaking effort and ability in writing this scholarly volume.” — Proceedings of the US Naval Institute “The economic historian will find this book interesting and useful. It covers the whole history of the isthmian route — the search for a strait, the transit business, the abortive canal projects, the construction of the Panama Canal.” — The Journal of Economic History “Of prime interest to the historian and economist perhaps, this book should be a welcome addition to any serious geographical library. It is a systematic and well documented history of the Panama Canal and other isthmian canal projects... Mr. Mack has produced a most useful and readable account.” — The Geographical Journal “[A] book written with knowledge and insight.” — Geographical Review “[A] useful work of reference.” — Political Science Quarterly

The Wind and Beyond: Theodore von Kármán, Pioneer in Aviation and Pathfinder in Space

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Author :
Publisher : Plunkett Lake Press
ISBN 13 :
Total Pages : 345 pages
Book Rating : 4./5 ( download)

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Book Synopsis The Wind and Beyond: Theodore von Kármán, Pioneer in Aviation and Pathfinder in Space by : Theodore von Kármán

Download or read book The Wind and Beyond: Theodore von Kármán, Pioneer in Aviation and Pathfinder in Space written by Theodore von Kármán and published by Plunkett Lake Press. This book was released on 2022-05-22 with total page 345 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: “[A]n autobiography that, happily, is an engrossing, full-bodied reflection of the man, a neatly balanced combination of technical insights and always pertinent, often irreverent anecdotes... an upbeat tale of a man who had a great love of life and a well-merited sense of achievement, told with genuine gusto and fascinating detail.” — Richard Witkin, The New York Times “It is the triumph of this book that it manages to combine a chatty, anecdotal, and highly readable tale of a distinguished scientist’s everyday life with a substantial number of penetrating insights into the creative process.” — I. B. Holley, Jr., Science “The present biography is eminently readable, sometimes puckish, and von Karman himself is rather inspiring in his faith in science.” — Kirkus “Every paragraph grips the reader’s attention... a book almost impossible to put down until it is read.” — Aerospace Historian “This account of von Kármán’s life and his contributions to the science of aerodynamics is most fascinating reading.” — The Science Teacher “Every page of this superb classic is infused with von Karman’s humanity. As his narrative makes clear, he was not simply a clever technician but a man of character whose vision advanced the aerospace sciences and fostered international cooperation.” — Aviation History

A Mind Always in Motion: The Autobiography of Emilio Segrè

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Author :
Publisher : Plunkett Lake Press
ISBN 13 :
Total Pages : 252 pages
Book Rating : 4./5 ( download)

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Book Synopsis A Mind Always in Motion: The Autobiography of Emilio Segrè by : Emilio Segrè

Download or read book A Mind Always in Motion: The Autobiography of Emilio Segrè written by Emilio Segrè and published by Plunkett Lake Press. This book was released on 2019-08-17 with total page 252 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Born in Italy to a well-to-do Jewish family, Emilio Segrè (1905-1989) became Enrico Fermi’s first graduate student in 1928, contributed to the discovery of slow neutrons and was appointed director of the University of Palermo’s physics laboratory in 1936. While visiting the Radiation Laboratory in Berkeley, California in 1938, he learned that he had been dismissed from his Palermo post by Mussolini’s Fascist regime. Ernest O. Lawrence hired him to work on the cyclotron at Berkeley with Luis Alvarez, Edwin McMillan, and Glenn Seaborg. Segrè was one of the first to join Oppenheimer at Los Alamos, where he became a group leader on the Manhattan Project. In 1959, he won the Nobel Prize in physics for the discovery of the antiproton. He was a professor of physics at UC Berkeley from 1946 until 1972. “[A] readable, absorbing, interesting autobiography... A valuable contribution by a person who witnessed the development of much of modern nuclear physics. Segrè’s description of the historic neutron experiments performed in Rome during the mid-1930s by Enrico Fermi’s group, of which Segrè was a member, is of inestimable worth.” — Glenn T. Seaborg, Physics Today “A Mind Always in Motion is Emilio Segrè’s account — published four years after his death in 1989 — of his personal life and his life in physics... It is absorbing, moving in places and frequently revealing. Segrè noted in his preface, ‘I have not sought to display manners and tact I never had, and I have tried to treat myself no better than any one else.’ He ably succeeded in these purposes.” — Daniel J. Kevles, Nature “For general readers with an interest in the history of nuclear physics, Segrè... is among the most personable witnesses.” — Publishers Weekly

An American Genius: The Life of Ernest Orlando Lawrence, Father of the Cyclotron

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Author :
Publisher : Plunkett Lake Press
ISBN 13 :
Total Pages : 457 pages
Book Rating : 4./5 ( download)

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Book Synopsis An American Genius: The Life of Ernest Orlando Lawrence, Father of the Cyclotron by : Herbert Childs

Download or read book An American Genius: The Life of Ernest Orlando Lawrence, Father of the Cyclotron written by Herbert Childs and published by Plunkett Lake Press. This book was released on 2019-08-09 with total page 457 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Born and raised in a small South Dakota prairie town, Ernest Orlando Lawrence (1901-1958), the grandson of Norwegian immigrants, was educated in country schools and attended the universities of South Dakota, Minnesota, and Chicago before obtaining his PhD at Yale in 1925. At age 29, he became the youngest full professor in the history of the University of California at Berkeley. He received the Nobel prize in 1939 for his invention of the cyclotron which became an essential tool during the Manhattan project to enrich uranium via electromagnetic separation at Oak Ridge, Tennessee. Lawrence founded and directed Berkeley’s Radiation Laboratory, where ever more powerful cyclotrons were built for basic research and to produce radioisotopes for medical and industrial uses. With Edward Teller, he advocated for the creation in 1952 of the Livermore National Laboratory to spur innovation, provide competition to Los Alamos and focus on the development of thermonuclear weapons. Lawrence had a lasting influence on American physics as the mentor and inspiration of a whole new generation of scientists, and through his role advising the top echelons of American government, research, and industry. When he died, at the age of 57, President Eisenhower said that, in a real sense, Lawrence had given his life for his country. “A remarkable book... must reading for anyone in the scientific or engineering development fields, whether he be a scientist, a researcher, a developer, or even a student still full of dreams of achievement... Throughout the book, the author has constantly brought out the qualities that made Ernest great...” — General Leslie R. Groves, former head of the Manhattan project “A detailed record of the life of an extraordinary man... The author was able to draw on vivid recollections of some 800 people who had known Lawrence and could provide what amounts to a series of detailed eyewitness accounts of important events in Lawrence’s life... a unique and valuable biography... those who have some memory of [Lawrence] will find this book fascinating, and historians will find it a rich source.” — Philip H. Abelson, Science “No other biography portrays so well the atmosphere of scientific research in America during the transition from small laboratories [...] to gigantic institutions... Herbert Childs has made the story of Lawrence’s life, and of his many accomplishments, into a story that can be appreciated by any intelligent reader, and is at the same time a most valuable addition to the scholarly history of science... Herbert Childs’ inspiring story of a great and generous pioneer and leader of modern physics, is a definitive account of an era that was, and will remain, unique in the history of science.” — Mark L. Oliphant,Physics Today “This is an extraordinary book about an extraordinary man... it provides a picture almost without parallel of the life and actions of a great man of science.” — Ralph E. Oesper, Journal of Chemical Education

The Neutron and the Bomb: A Biography of Sir James Chadwick

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Author :
Publisher : Plunkett Lake Press
ISBN 13 :
Total Pages : 403 pages
Book Rating : 4./5 ( download)

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Book Synopsis The Neutron and the Bomb: A Biography of Sir James Chadwick by : Andrew Brown

Download or read book The Neutron and the Bomb: A Biography of Sir James Chadwick written by Andrew Brown and published by Plunkett Lake Press. This book was released on 2019-08-15 with total page 403 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: James Chadwick (1891-1974) came from a humble background: his father was a cotton spinner. He was accepted in the physics department of Sir Ernest Rutherford at Manchester University in 1908 on a scholarship, and soon started publishing new findings about radioactivity. This led to a traveling scholarship to Berlin, where he made the important discovery of the continuous spectrum of β-particles. When the World War I broke out, Chadwick was interned by the Germans as an enemy alien for the next four years, but continued experiments in the prison camp. On his return to England in broken health, Rutherford invited Chadwick to join the Cavendish Laboratory in Cambridge where he became Rutherford’s deputy and oversaw much groundbreaking physics research over the next 15 years. Chadwick concentrated on finding evidence for the neutron, an uncharged nuclear particle whose existence was first proposed by Rutherford in 1920. Having noticed anomalous results from the Curie laboratory in Paris in 1932, Chadwick used simple bench-top apparatus to convince himself, after weeks of intense observations, that he had definite evidence for the existence of the neutron. The Nobel Prize for physics followed in 1935; that year he moved to Liverpool University to head his own department. At the outbreak of World War II, the feasibility of atomic bombs of unprecedented explosive power was already being discussed. Chadwick drafted the British MAUD committee's historic reports in the summer of 1941 which concluded that atomic bombs were indeed feasible with sufficient industrial capacity. In wartime Britain this was impossible, but in 1943 Chadwick moved to the US as head of the British scientists working on the Manhattan Project. He formed an unlikely alliance with its leader, General Leslie Groves, and became an adroit scientist-diplomat. Witnessing the first explosion of a plutonium-fueled device at the Trinity Test shattered him. Chadwick believed that dropping atomic bombs on Japanese cities was justified but the development of nuclear weapons as an unintended consequence of his discovery of the neutron caused him deep personal anguish. “Until this excellent book by Andrew Brown, [Chadwick] has remained the most shadowy of the atomic scientists who, for better or worse, gave the human species mastery over nuclear energy.” — Nigel Calder, New Scientist “Andrew Brown’s biography beautifully reveals [Chadwick’s] scientific, diplomatic and personal achievements.” — Roger H Stuewer, Physics Today “I can warmly recommend this book to all interested in the life of a remarkable scientist who played a crucial role in a formative period of the modern world.” — Hermann Bondi, Times Higher Education Supplement “This is the biography of a physicist who made one of the most important discoveries in nuclear physics, but retained to his old age the shyness of a young lad... Andrew Brown takes us through Chadwick’s life as an adventure... I found it a very good read.” — Hans Bethe, American Journal of Physics “The tale of so sterling a character, even when told as well as in this book, may be a little short on light moments, but any reader interested in the evolution of physics from an academic passion to a leading role on the world stage will find it a fascinating story and a worthy tribute to a great scientist.” — Brian Pippard, Nature “... makes absorbing reading... more than the life story of a remarkable man... unfolds the tremendous transformation that science underwent in the 20th century.” —Joseph Rotblat “… avidly researched and artfully written... This biography... blends elegantly direct scientific descriptions with often witty episodes and character summaries.” — William Lanouette, Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists

Atomic Quest: A Personal Narrative

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Publisher : Plunkett Lake Press
ISBN 13 :
Total Pages : 252 pages
Book Rating : 4./5 ( download)

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Book Synopsis Atomic Quest: A Personal Narrative by : Arthur Holly Compton

Download or read book Atomic Quest: A Personal Narrative written by Arthur Holly Compton and published by Plunkett Lake Press. This book was released on 2019-08-09 with total page 252 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: As director of the Metallurgical Laboratory of the Manhattan Project at the University of Chicago, Arthur Holly Compton was a major participant in the research, production and testing of the first atomic bombs. In this memoir, he tells the story of the bomb’s development from the presentation of the project to President Roosevelt, through its planning, research, and building phases, to its use against Japan. From the perspective of the key position he held during World War II, Compton describes the project as a large-scale group effort leveraging the knowledge and talents of numerous scientists, industrialists and administrators all working as part of their nation’s war effort. “An absorbing and eminently readable account... packed with new information, enlivened with precious detail and illuminating insights into the minds and personalities of the chief actors in the drama... Mr. Compton tells, and tells well, the story of how, with his unflagging encouragement, the brilliant team under the late Enrico Fermi brought about the first nuclear chain reaction... [an] important book.” — Henry Guerlac, The New York Times Book Review “This book... is without doubt the most authoritative source available on many aspects of the atomic bomb project... Better than in most histories the real factors underlying one of mankind’s most important developments are set forth in this work... The story is a personal one, which... gives the book a Churchillian authenticity... No historian will ever dare to neglect this volume in writing the history of World War II. It is beautifully written, carefully documented, and thoroughly interesting from cover to cover.” — W.F. Libby, Science “For those who were in the project, it will mean many recollections. For those who were not, it should give an inkling of the character and capacity of many of the individuals, including Arthur Compton, who made success possible.” — Lieutenant General Leslie R. Groves, U.S. Army (Retired) “Atomic Quest is an absorbingly interesting story of the people who blazed the trail into the atomic frontier... In a lifetime filled with brilliant accomplishments, Arthur Compton’s four-year leadership in the quest for the atomic bomb was his grandest achievement... It is fortunate indeed that he returned to the fold long enough to set down in Atomic Quest a story that only he could tell.” — Richard L. Doan, American Journal of Physics “Dr. Compton is a thinking man whose reflections range far beyond the confines of his scientific work: indeed, the distinctive quality of his book lies in his ability to reconcile the atomic bomb and similar operations with his belief as a practicing Christian.” — John Barkham, Saturday Review Syndicate “It should be required reading for every American, for the free world... The narrative alone makes the book worth reading; its hopeful philosophy makes it mandatory reading.” — Robert S. Kleckner, Chicago Sunday Tribune “As... director of the Metallurgical Laboratory of the Manhattan Project, Dr. Compton has an important record to add to the annals of the beginning of the Atomic Age, for his was a personal and intimate connection with it.” — Kirkus “A leading physicist’s personal account of the wartime developments in atomic energy, culminating in the production of the atomic bomb.” — Henry L. Roberts, Foreign Affairs “Informal, anecdotal, packed with behind-the-scenes incidents and impressions... arrestingly interesting.” — George W. Gray, The Saturday Review “The most controversial part of the book is that which endeavors to foresee the future of a world faced with the threat of war with nuclear weapons and the inevitable widespread destruction that will accompany their use. Compton is convinced that war has actually thereby become obsolescent.” — Robert Bruce Lindsay, Physics Today “This book... is written for the layman, in clear, everyday English... it answers the questions that have arisen in the minds of all intelligent people concerning the physical, moral, social and religious implications of the Atomic Age which was so brutally and vividly thrust upon the world in 1945.” — Paul Jordan-Smith, Los Angeles Times

Atoms, Bombs and Eskimo Kisses: A Memoir of Father and Son

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Publisher : Plunkett Lake Press
ISBN 13 :
Total Pages : 207 pages
Book Rating : 4./5 ( download)

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Book Synopsis Atoms, Bombs and Eskimo Kisses: A Memoir of Father and Son by : Claudio G. Segrè

Download or read book Atoms, Bombs and Eskimo Kisses: A Memoir of Father and Son written by Claudio G. Segrè and published by Plunkett Lake Press. This book was released on 2019-08-09 with total page 207 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: “There are few books that explore the complex relations between famous parents and their children. I knew Claudio and his Nobel-laureate father, Emilio Segrè; in this honest, angry, loving memoir I hear their voices again, speaking across the gulf that all families struggle to bridge.” — Richard Rhodes, author of Dark Sun: The Making of the Hydrogen Bomb “This is a warm and openhearted book. Claudio Segrè shows that all the traditional tensions between fathers and sons can still exist even in the extraordinary milieu he grew up in. He evokes that experience with grace and a fine eye for the telling details.” — Adam Hochschild, author of Half the Way Home “It’s a wonderful book, a coming-of-age story in the atomic era, the struggle of a son for the love and respect of a famous father. It is also a perceptive insight into the pursuit of science, the price of fame, and how families bridge differences between generations and cultures to find age-old connections, and ultimately love and understanding.” — James Kunetka, author of City of Fire: Los Alamos and the Atomic Age and Oppenheimer: The Years of Risk “The Nobel Prize-winning physicist Emilio Segrè gave an account of his own life in the posthumously published A Mind Always in Motion. In the present book Segrè’s only son (now himself deceased) gives an account of his growing up with such a father. The experience as he describes it was not an easy one. Transported in infancy from Italy to the United States, Claudio was required to negotiate his way between his family’s persistent conviction of European cultural superiority and the danger of being perceived as ‘not one of us’ by his new compatriots. Admiring his father, he was conscious of himself as ‘Son of Superman,’ alternatively feeling eclipsed by and relishing the position. Academically he was beset by a ‘joyless desire to achieve’ and only seldom gained the praise or sympathy he longed for from his exacting and often sarcastic father. But he discovered the delights of hot dogs, comic hooks, and baseball and forged ahead on his own by choosing the reputedly ‘Red’ Reed College over his family’s preferred Berkeley. After graduation, in search of work to which he could ‘be as devoted... as my father was to physics,’ he spent some years as a journalist before ultimately making a creditable academic career as a historian, along the way establishing an apparently satisfactory family life of his own. The book ends with an account of his relations with his father as an adult, including a disappointing attempt at a therapeutic confrontation.” — Katherine Livingston, Science “How does a son emerge from his father’s shadow when it is the size of a mushroom cloud? Such was the plight of Claudio G. Segrè, whose father, Emilio, won the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1959 and helped to create the atomic bomb... [He] recounts his lifelong quest to establish an independent identity. He also tells of his hope that his own success would earn him the respect and acceptance of his difficult father... Segrè alternately describes his father as Superman, a mighty king and a basilisk, a mythical reptile whose very look is fatal. Nevertheless, his father emerges as a good, caring man, unsure how to handle the fame that separates him from his son. It is tragic, therefore, that no true reconciliation occurs, and that Segrè’s only moment of catharsis takes place when it is already too late, in 1989, when he delivers his father’s eulogy.” — Douglas A. Sylva, The New York Times “In this heartfelt counterpart to his father’s... autobiography, A Mind Always in Motion, journalist and professor [Claudio] Segrè... attempts to shed some thawing light on the cold peace between father and son that lasted until Emilio Segrè’s death in 1989, despite the affectionate nose-rubbings of the title.” — Publishers Weekly “The son of a Nobel laureate and Manhattan Project collaborator meditates on the inspirations and disappointments of a difficult relationship... In 1959, [the author’s father] shared the Nobel Prize for his work on antimatter. But fatherhood isn’t as precise a science as physics, and young Claudio mixed pride in his father’s ‘superman’ achievements with frustration and rage at the impossible standards and criticisms that so outweighed the occasional moment of affection between them... Segrè’s memoir of an immigrant childhood is often poignant... at bottom a thoughtful account of life with a father who found the behavior of atomic particles far easier to comprehend than the emotional life of his son.” — Kirkus Reviews

The Schlumberger Adventure

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Publisher : Plunkett Lake Press
ISBN 13 :
Total Pages : 126 pages
Book Rating : 4./5 ( download)

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Book Synopsis The Schlumberger Adventure by : Anne Gruner Schlumberger

Download or read book The Schlumberger Adventure written by Anne Gruner Schlumberger and published by Plunkett Lake Press. This book was released on 2019-08-15 with total page 126 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: “My purpose in writing the present book is to give the ‘human side’ of the story of the men whose achievements spread the Schlumberger method to the four corners of the globe.” — from the Preface by Anne Gruner Schlumberger The author, whose father Conrad Schlumberger and uncle Marcel Schlumberger invented “electrical prospecting” and founded what became Schlumberger Ltd., now a worldwide leader in oilfield services, describes the travails of the early days of the company. What began in the basement of the Ecole des Mines in Paris with a “black box” (the potentiometer), was further developed at the family home of Val-Richer, and perfected at Péchelbronn, France’s only oil field where “coring” (logging) was born, eventually became known to the entire world. Anne Gruner Schlumberger tells what that journey was like for her father and uncle and other geological researchers and engineers whose resourcefulness and perseverance were tested in remote areas of the world where they toiled under harsh conditions to convince skeptics of the validity of their new exploration methods. The little enterprise the two brothers started in 1919 has become in 1982 when The Schlumberger Adventure first appeared a multinational corporation employing 85,000 people in some 78 countries and listed on the stock exchanges of New York, Paris, London and Amsterdam.