Enrico Fermi, Physicist

by Emilio Segrè

Student, collaborator and lifelong friend of Enrico Fermi, Emilio Segrè presents a rich, well-rounded portrait of the scientist, his methods, intellectual history, and achievements. Explaining in nontechnical terms the scientific problems Fermi faced or solved, Enrico Fermi, Physicist contains illuminating material concerning Fermi's youth in Italy and the development of his scientific style.

Emilio Segre was awarded the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1959.

Genres: Biography, Science, Physics, History Of Science, History

276 pages, Paperback

First published October 19, 1970

About the author

Emilio Gino Segrè physicist and Nobel laureate in physics. Won the Nobel Prize in Physics (1959) along with Owen Chamberlain for thier discovery of the antiproton.

Reviews

[Mariella Rinaldi · Rating 5 out of 5]

A wonderful memoir by one of his first students of the Roman period, his friend and colleague Emilio Segrè, one of the Physicists of the Panisperna group.

[Rudradeep Mukherjee · Rating 5 out of 5]

It takes incredible intellect to master both theoretical and experimental physics. Enrico Fermi was undisputedly, the last person to do so. The author was a friend and pupil of Fermi. So, this book is mostly on scientific aspects of Fermi's journey. The book highlighted Fermi's immense discipline and vigour, with which he approached physics. Though Fermi had exceptional memory, he supplemented it by indexing incredible amount of information and calculation in form of notebooks. He loved teaching and liked to lecture randomly on subjects, his students asked questions about. Through his own example, he taught many about how physics should be done.

It is very humbling experience to read the story of such a person. Highly recommended to anyone with an interest in physics or science as a whole.

[Gaurav EVHS Desale · Rating 4 out of 5]

In this absorbing account of life with the great atomic scientist Enrico Fermi, Laura Fermi tells the story of their emigration to the United States in the 1930s—part of the widespread movement of scientists from Europe to the New World that was so important to the development of the first atomic bomb. Combining intellectual biography and social history, Laura Fermi traces her husband's career from his childhood, when he taught himself physics, through his rise in the Italian university system concurrent with the rise of fascism, to his receipt of the Nobel Prize, which offered a perfect opportunity to flee the country without arousing official suspicion, and his odyssey to the United States.

[Andres Romero-Wolf · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a biography of Enrico Fermi written by Emilio Segre, a physicist who worked with Fermi and knew him personally. Reading about Fermi's dedication and enthusiasm for physics is very motivating. However, I found it slightly depressing that no matter how much of my time I put into physics, I will never be at his level. I found it very worthwhile to learn about his personality and initiative. His qualities as a human being are admirable and inspiring.