What do you think?
Rate this book
Qualitative reasoning about physical systems
This new paperback edition celebrates the centennial of the birth of one of the major theoretical physicists of our time. It is an engrossing account of an exciting period in history and science as well as a good introduction to nuclear physics for the nonscientist.Moving from Bohr's first great contribution - a description of what is essentially the modern picture of the atom, in 1913, for which he won the Nobel Prize in 1922 - the book covers his creation of one of the most productive research institutes of the modern period. It also describes his less well known political work before and during World War II, when Bohr first helped colleagues escape from Italy and Germany, and then returned to Denmark to participate in the anti-Nazi movement; and at war's end, when he worked toward a vision of a world free from the dangers of nuclear war.Ruth Moore is a science feature writer for the Chicago Sunday Times. She is the author of several popular science books, including "Man, Time, and Fossils: The Story of Evolution" and "Charles Darwin: A Great Life in Brief."
495 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1966
1 person is currently reading
121 people want to read
About the author
Ruth Moore
8 booksRuth Moore Garbe, 80, an author on evolution and science and a former Chicago Sun-Times reporter, served on this city`s Commission on Historical and Architectural Landmarks. She also was chairman of the Prairie Avenue Historic Committee and was a key figure in the restoration of the once-plush South Side neighborhood.
``Although there have been many new discoveries of fossil man which support the theories that Ruth Moore (Garbe) wrote about, her many books convey to the average man the richness and understanding of human evolution,`` said Sherwood L. Washburn, a professor and scientist who co-authored ``Ape into Man`` with her in 1973.
Her first book on evolution was the best-selling ``Man, Time and Fossils: The Story of Evolution,`` written in 1953. It was followed by a biography of Charles Darwin, ``The Earth We Live On`` and ``The Coil of Life.`` ``Ape into Man`` was updated as ``Ape into Human`` in 1980.
Mrs. Garbe, a native of St. Louis, received a bachelor`s and master`s degree from Washington University there. She began as a reporter for the St. Louis Star-Times, covering everything, she said, ``from garbage to the American Medical Association.``
In 1943, she joined the Chicago Sun, predecessor to the Chicago Sun-Times. Later in the year, she was appointed to its Washington Bureau. She returned to Chicago in 1950 and covered urban affairs for the Sun-Times for the next 20 years.
Her writing for the paper was ``penetrating and enormously respected because of her integrity and accuracy,`` according to a friend, Julian Levi.
After she retired, she earned a reputation for her feisty battle for preservation of Chicago landmarks, once symbolically attempting to break the lock on Navy Pier, which she felt ought to be available to Chicagoans.
Mrs. Garbe served from 1974 to 1986 on the landmarks commission, from 1974 to 1982 on the Prairie Avenue District commission and as president of the Chicago Architectural Foundation from 1978 to 1980. She was honored in 1981 as ``Chicago Preservationist of the Year`` and was an honorary member of the American Institute of Architects.
From 1973 to 1977, she was president of the Women`s Board of the University of Chicago.
Her husband, Raymond, a prominent hospital architect, died in October.
She is credited with being a major force in bringing the King Tut exhibit to the Field Museum and, with her husband, donated $150,000 to the Art Institute for the purchase of American art.
Professorships have been endowed by her and her brother at Washington University and in her name at Harvard University to carry on her interest in urban problems and architectural design.
``Although there have been many new discoveries of fossil man which support the theories that Ruth Moore (Garbe) wrote about, her many books convey to the average man the richness and understanding of human evolution,`` said Sherwood L. Washburn, a professor and scientist who co-authored ``Ape into Man`` with her in 1973.
Her first book on evolution was the best-selling ``Man, Time and Fossils: The Story of Evolution,`` written in 1953. It was followed by a biography of Charles Darwin, ``The Earth We Live On`` and ``The Coil of Life.`` ``Ape into Man`` was updated as ``Ape into Human`` in 1980.
Mrs. Garbe, a native of St. Louis, received a bachelor`s and master`s degree from Washington University there. She began as a reporter for the St. Louis Star-Times, covering everything, she said, ``from garbage to the American Medical Association.``
In 1943, she joined the Chicago Sun, predecessor to the Chicago Sun-Times. Later in the year, she was appointed to its Washington Bureau. She returned to Chicago in 1950 and covered urban affairs for the Sun-Times for the next 20 years.
Her writing for the paper was ``penetrating and enormously respected because of her integrity and accuracy,`` according to a friend, Julian Levi.
After she retired, she earned a reputation for her feisty battle for preservation of Chicago landmarks, once symbolically attempting to break the lock on Navy Pier, which she felt ought to be available to Chicagoans.
Mrs. Garbe served from 1974 to 1986 on the landmarks commission, from 1974 to 1982 on the Prairie Avenue District commission and as president of the Chicago Architectural Foundation from 1978 to 1980. She was honored in 1981 as ``Chicago Preservationist of the Year`` and was an honorary member of the American Institute of Architects.
From 1973 to 1977, she was president of the Women`s Board of the University of Chicago.
Her husband, Raymond, a prominent hospital architect, died in October.
She is credited with being a major force in bringing the King Tut exhibit to the Field Museum and, with her husband, donated $150,000 to the Art Institute for the purchase of American art.
Professorships have been endowed by her and her brother at Washington University and in her name at Harvard University to carry on her interest in urban problems and architectural design.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
September 14, 2016
Einstein is generally reputed as the greatest theoretical physicist of the 20th century. This biography has convinced me that Bohr might have been the most influential. Like Einstein, Bohr helped pioneer quantum mechanics, and like Einstein was awarded a Nobel prize for it. (In fact, Bohr won the year after Einstein.) The two were matched intellectually. In one of the more celebrated moments in the rise of quantum mechanics, they had a series of debates about the uncertainty principle at the Solvay conferences. Bohr was able to refute Einstein's (clever) thought experiments in near-real-time; at least once, Einstein had a clever proposal that seemed to defy the uncertainty principle, and Bohr was able to use Einstein's own General Relativity to refute him the next day.
Unlike Einstein, Bohr had a dominant social influence on physics. Bohr made Copenhagen into *the* place for physics. Just about everybody who was anybody in theoretical physics between 1925 and 1940 spent time at the Institute for Physics in Copenhagen. He was an inspired administrator, a wise, gentle, and pleasant leader, and a superb research advisor. Just about everybody knew Bohr, and he was a key node in the informal network that disseminated discoveries. He knew more or less everything that was happening, and was in a position to evaluate, compare, and synthesize.
This book is a general one-volume biography of Bohr. The author clearly approves of her subject, but just about everybody in physics approved of Bohr. The technical details are sufficient that I learned things, but the particular emphasis is on Bohr's involvement in politics. We hear a lot about Bohr's decision to stay in Denmark in the run-up to the war and the occupation and his later decision to flee to Sweden. We hear about his involvement in the Manhattan Project, and his (failed) efforts towards international control over nuclear weapons.
My sense is that the author is much too deferential to these efforts. In her telling, Bohr was the wise sage, Churchill an old reactionary, and if only Roosevelt would have lived, the Cold War might never have happened. But the possibility of nuclear cooperation with the Russians is one where Churchill, not Bohr, was the expert. The historical record available since this book was written seems to confirm the hawks here. There was no possibility of a deal that Stalin would agree to that would have preserved the liberty of Western Europe.
Overall, I consider this a good biography of a fascinating subject. I would have enjoyed a longer book; there was a great deal that could have been covered and wasn't. I might also have enjoyed a more recent book. Niels' son Aage Bohr won the Nobel Prize for physics in 1975, after this biography was written. I imagine a more recent writer would have talked more about the father-son relationship. Having a child win a Nobel Prize is perhaps not quite as impressive as inventing quantum mechanics, but it's a considerable achievement and it would be nice to hear more about what Niels was like as a father.
Unlike Einstein, Bohr had a dominant social influence on physics. Bohr made Copenhagen into *the* place for physics. Just about everybody who was anybody in theoretical physics between 1925 and 1940 spent time at the Institute for Physics in Copenhagen. He was an inspired administrator, a wise, gentle, and pleasant leader, and a superb research advisor. Just about everybody knew Bohr, and he was a key node in the informal network that disseminated discoveries. He knew more or less everything that was happening, and was in a position to evaluate, compare, and synthesize.
This book is a general one-volume biography of Bohr. The author clearly approves of her subject, but just about everybody in physics approved of Bohr. The technical details are sufficient that I learned things, but the particular emphasis is on Bohr's involvement in politics. We hear a lot about Bohr's decision to stay in Denmark in the run-up to the war and the occupation and his later decision to flee to Sweden. We hear about his involvement in the Manhattan Project, and his (failed) efforts towards international control over nuclear weapons.
My sense is that the author is much too deferential to these efforts. In her telling, Bohr was the wise sage, Churchill an old reactionary, and if only Roosevelt would have lived, the Cold War might never have happened. But the possibility of nuclear cooperation with the Russians is one where Churchill, not Bohr, was the expert. The historical record available since this book was written seems to confirm the hawks here. There was no possibility of a deal that Stalin would agree to that would have preserved the liberty of Western Europe.
Overall, I consider this a good biography of a fascinating subject. I would have enjoyed a longer book; there was a great deal that could have been covered and wasn't. I might also have enjoyed a more recent book. Niels' son Aage Bohr won the Nobel Prize for physics in 1975, after this biography was written. I imagine a more recent writer would have talked more about the father-son relationship. Having a child win a Nobel Prize is perhaps not quite as impressive as inventing quantum mechanics, but it's a considerable achievement and it would be nice to hear more about what Niels was like as a father.
August 6, 2011
What a fantastic book. Ruth Moore really has a talent for catching the mood. This book wonderfully explores the life of Niels Bohr from a perspective that makes you feel like you knew him, or at least it makes you feel like she knew him. Niels Bohr was an amazing man. He was the only person that beat Einstein in a game of thinking, and was the man that unlocked the power of the atom. Whereas the characters that furnish this tail all crave the power of the bomb, Bohr seemed to be the only person not blinded by its power. I couldn’t help thinking about Lord of the rings as I read this. Books like this always show how much of a life it is possible to lead and show how a person in power can strive to use his power to benefit humankind. Probably the best book I’ve read this year.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews