Alvarez: Adventures of a Physicist

by Luis Walter Alvarez

During World War II, Luis W. Alvarez participated in the Allies’ development of radar at the MIT Radiation Laboratory, and of the atomic bomb at Los Alamos. He then worked as an experimental physicist on cyclotrons, particle accelerators and bubble chambers at UC-Berkeley with Ernest Lawrence. Later in life, he used cosmic rays to “X ray” an Egyptian pyramid, developed a new theory about the extinction of the dinosaurs, and won the 1968 Nobel prize in physics for his work on elementary particles. In this autobiography, Alvarez shares insights on the process of scientific discovery, risk-taking in science and how theoretical and experimental physics interact.

“[A] delightful autobiography... [A] fascinating book... It should be read by everyone who is interested in science and adventure, or who just wants to meet one of our most fascinating contemporaries.” — James Trefil, New York Times Book Review

“Beyond its self-portrait, Alvarez provides an exceptionally clear view of the world of science.” — Alan Lightman, Washington Post Book World

“This is a richly absorbing autobiography... Personally as well as scientifically forthright and plainspoken, [Alvarez] holds the reader with the story of his life as a scientist, much of the time at Berkeley, Calif., working with such men as Robert Oppenheimer, Ernest Lawrence and Enrico Fermi.” — Publishers Weekly

“A gripping book. It succeeds well in making the scientific experience and the excitement of discovery accessible to the general reader.” — Richard L. Garwin, Physics Today

“A fascinating life.” — Elena Brunet, Los Angeles Times

“One of the best popular books on science to emerge from the laboratory in years.” — Henry Kisor, Chicago Sun-Times

“Luis W. Alvarez has an unsurpassed reputation among scientists for a lifelong record of crucial participation in important discoveries in pure and applied science. In this book he performs an additional service by revealing his thought processes.” — Philip Abelson, Science Advisor, American Association for the Advancement of Science

Genres: Science, Biography, Physics, Nonfiction

210 pages, Kindle Edition

First published March 1, 1987

About the author

The development of the first bomb also involved American physicist Luis Walter Alvarez, who won a Nobel Prize of 1968 for his study of subatomic particles.

People awarded Luis Walter Alvarez, an experimental inventor. The American Journal of Physics commented, "Luis Alvarez was one of the most brilliant and productive experimental physicists of the twentieth century."

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luis_Wa...

Reviews

[cardulelia carduelis · Rating 5 out of 5]

Let me preface this review by saying that at this time I am employed in experimental, high energy particle physics detector based work and so much of the contents of Alvarez's detailed accounts meant something to me that the average reader might not enjoy.
However, as Alvarez himself notes, you can skip the technical details and still enjoy the anecdotes - of which there are plenty!

This is an often-times hilarious and swiftly moving account of Alvarez's career in science: I say science rather than simply physics because he touched on technical engineering projects, nuclear/atomic/particle/astro physics, geology, ballistics, the list goes on.



There are some wild stories about researcher's approaches to hazardous chemicals and how they began to discover the effects of radiation. There are some incredible stories from the war and post-war America. There are his incredible forays, late in his career, into the extinction of the dinosaurs (pictured above), pyramid tomb-hunting, and searching for Nemesis!

Some notable things I took from this book: science moved fast in the last half-century. The amount that Alvarez and co. accomplished in a lifetime would be completely unfeasible today which personally I believe is due to the frontier of new discovery being so much less physically attainable than it was in Berkeley's glory days.
As such a lot of Alvarez's opinions on early '90's science feel very dated: in particular his attitude to large collaborations and peer review.

Despite this the autobiography is a refreshing read and if you have previously enjoyed Feynman's collected tales then you will most certainly enjoy the same period as seen through the eyes of the archetypal experimentalist.

[Abirkel · Rating 5 out of 5]

As an experimental physicist, this was pure pleasure reading... every word.

This book has great detail, and at times it felt like I had my feet kicked up in the lab talking to an old Emeratus professor telling me some story from his past. It was a delight to share this mans perspective and experience. And my god, I never realized how their vacuum chambers were held together! Copper gaskets and knife edge stainless for days in my lab, I can only imagine if we had to use their methods to keep our vacuum stable :D

[Federico Lucifredi · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fascinating scientific autobiography — from on-board physicist for the Hiroshima shot, to creating ever-larger cyclotrons and new instruments, the creation of instrument landing systems, scanning the great pyramids with muons looking for hidden chambers, to the impact theory of dinosaur extinction, Luis Alvarez has been everywhere a government scientist has the right to be — and a few he doesn't.

Perphaps because an experimentalist, or perhaps because he was a modest man who avoided the limelight, Luis Alvarez is not as famous as he out to be. This book stands alongside Feynman's self-effacing biography as my favorite life of a scientist. Two thumbs up!

[Mahlon Wilson · Rating 3 out of 5]

If only all managers would read this book.

This should be required reading for prospective science students. Be aggressive. There are too many smart people who have spent their whole careers doing nothing original.

[Jamie · Rating 3 out of 5]

An amazing individual that could apply himself in so many capacities, from nuclear physics and radar, to seeing inside pyramids and helping to understand how dinosaurs became extinct.

[Bill Meade · Rating 5 out of 5]

GREAT¡!!!!!!!¡

Slowly making my way across nuclear physics auto/biographies from Einstein, Rutherford, Szilliard, and Alvarez closed a gap between Rutherford and WWII. No reservations on recommending this book.

[Mike Garrity · Rating 3 out of 5]

It seems like theoretical physicists get all the press, but Luis Alvarez’s autobiography might convince you that experimental physicists have all the fun. It’s hard to think of anything that happened in the 20th century that he wasn’t in the middle of. He started out helped Lawrence build and operate some of his first cyclotrons. When the war started, he went to the rad lab at MIT to help develop radar. He was the designer of the first radar system for landing aircraft in bad weather. He left the rad lab and traveled to wartime Britain to help deploy the new systems. From there he went to Chicago to help Fermi with the first nuclear reactor. Then it was off to Los Alamos to help develop the implosion bomb. He went to the South Pacific and flew in one of the observation planes during the Hiroshima bombing. He didn’t seem to slow down much after the war. The stories include bigger accelerators, trips to Vietnam during the early days of the war, flying in an F-104 Starfighter, one of the first scientific trips to the Soviet Union, studying pyramids and the Zapruder film, and, oh yeah, the Nobel prize too. But in the long he’ll probably be best known for one of his last projects. Working with his son (a geologist), he proved that the extinction of the dinosaurs was caused by an asteroid impact. Quite a life, a lot of great stories, and he tells them all with a great sense of humor.

[James Christensen · Rating 4 out of 5]

(non-fiction) Developed GCA (ground control approach) radar for assisted landing of planes and radar for planes themselves and key components of 1st A-Bombs (watched 1st one detonated). Big into particle physics; the development of the particle accelerator cyclotron, electron linear, hydrogen bubble chamber (for which he got a Nobel Prize in 1968). Also key to the discovery of the Iridium laced clay layer at the K/T boundary which established that dinosaurs died due to asteroid impact. Very interesting read.

[Mike · Rating 4 out of 5]

This guy's amazing accomplishments are enough for several lifetimes of success. It's one one my kicks to read local historical accounts. I read most of this book in the same Berkeley hills that he worked and played in. When he experimented with ballistics testing for Kennedy assassination it was at the San leandro shooting range.

[Henry Le Nav · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read this a long time ago. Don't remember much other than it was a very good book, and this quote about government funded nuclear research:

"Why use lead when gold will do?"