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Enrico Fermi. L'ultimo uomo che sapeva tutto
Poche figure nella storia della scienza moderna hanno il carisma di Enrico Fermi. E poche sono state altrettanto determinanti per gli sviluppi successivi della loro disciplina. Tuttavia, molti aspetti della sua biografia sono ancora poco indagati.
Il libro di David N. Schwartz colma questo vuoto, anche grazie a fonti inedite ed esclusive, ricostruendo una vita che fu investita in pieno – e in una posizione di primo piano – dalle drammatiche turbolenze della storia del Novecento.
La sua biografia si snoda attraverso due guerre mondiali in una parabola che va da Roma agli Stati Uniti passando per Stoccolma: il conferimento del Nobel nel 1938 fornisce a Fermi l’occasione per sfuggire alle leggi razziali, che avrebbero colpito la moglie Laura, ebrea.
Tre anni dopo, un team dell’università di Chicago ottiene per la prima volta nella storia una reazione a catena: alla guida dell’esperimento c’è lui, che legherà per sempre il suo nome al famigerato «Progetto Manhattan». Una genialità precocissima, una carriera accademica folgorante, una lista di scoperte che hanno rivoluzionato la fisica moderna corrispondono a una figura privata, di marito e di padre, assai più controversa.
Una biografia, la sua, fatta di luci e di ombre, che vanno dall’ambiguo rapporto con il fascismo all’altrettanto discussa adesione al progetto della bomba atomica. Senza cedere alle opposte tentazioni dell’apologia e dell’ipercritica, Schwartz delinea un personaggio enigmatico dai sensazionali meriti scientifici, che più di ogni altro riflette le complessità del suo tempo.
Il libro di David N. Schwartz colma questo vuoto, anche grazie a fonti inedite ed esclusive, ricostruendo una vita che fu investita in pieno – e in una posizione di primo piano – dalle drammatiche turbolenze della storia del Novecento.
La sua biografia si snoda attraverso due guerre mondiali in una parabola che va da Roma agli Stati Uniti passando per Stoccolma: il conferimento del Nobel nel 1938 fornisce a Fermi l’occasione per sfuggire alle leggi razziali, che avrebbero colpito la moglie Laura, ebrea.
Tre anni dopo, un team dell’università di Chicago ottiene per la prima volta nella storia una reazione a catena: alla guida dell’esperimento c’è lui, che legherà per sempre il suo nome al famigerato «Progetto Manhattan». Una genialità precocissima, una carriera accademica folgorante, una lista di scoperte che hanno rivoluzionato la fisica moderna corrispondono a una figura privata, di marito e di padre, assai più controversa.
Una biografia, la sua, fatta di luci e di ombre, che vanno dall’ambiguo rapporto con il fascismo all’altrettanto discussa adesione al progetto della bomba atomica. Senza cedere alle opposte tentazioni dell’apologia e dell’ipercritica, Schwartz delinea un personaggio enigmatico dai sensazionali meriti scientifici, che più di ogni altro riflette le complessità del suo tempo.
579 pages, Kindle Edition
First published December 5, 2017
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 126 reviews
May 23, 2020
I could read about Fermi over and over and never get tired of it. The Pope of Physics by Gino Segre ended up being one of my favorite books of all time because it went into the physics a lot more, while at the same time simplifying a lot of the concepts. If you are less interested in the science, I would recommend this book. If you want a more in depth but basic explanation of the science that Fermi contributed to society, I would suggest Segre's book.
February 1, 2018
Here are my thoughts, from the Literary Review:
In spite of its title, this is not another book about Thomas Young, the subject of Andrew Robinson’s The Last Man Who Knew Everything (2006). If anyone deserves that description, it is indeed Young, a linguist, classical scholar, translator of the Rosetta Stone, medical doctor and pioneering scientist at a time when scientists were very much generalists. The subject of David Schwartz’s book, Enrico Fermi (1901–54), might more accurately be described as the last man who knew nearly everything about physics, but that wouldn’t make such a catchy title.
Fermi’s name tends to crop up these days in connection with the Fermi paradox, his suggestion that if intelligent life exists elsewhere in the universe we ought to have been visited by now. This argument is more forceful than ever nowadays, in the light of the recent discovery of more planets than you can shake a stick at, but it gets disappointingly little attention from Schwartz. To historians, Fermi is better known as a pioneering nuclear physicist, responsible for the construction of the first controllable nuclear reactor (called an ‘atomic pile’ at the time) and for his contribution to the Manhattan Project. All this gets disappointingly too much attention from Schwartz, who goes into tedious detail. His background is in political science, and it shows.
One reason for this is spelled out in the author’s preface. There are no personal diaries to draw on and few personal letters in the archives. ‘One searches in vain for anything intimate,’ Schwartz says. So the biographer has to fall back on discussing the physics. Unfortunately, although his father was a Nobel Prize-winning physicist, Schwartz is in his own words ‘not a physicist’.
The worst of several infelicities occurs when Schwartz is describing Fermi’s most important contribution to theoretical nuclear physics: the suggestion that there is a force of nature, now known as the weak interaction, that is involved in the process of radioactive decay. He tells us that it gets its name ‘because it takes effect only when particles come into extremely close range of each other’. This is nonsense. Its weakness has nothing to do with its range. Indeed, another short-range force, known as the strong interaction, is the strongest of all the forces of nature, and the weakest force, gravity, has the longest range.
Fermi was also one of the discoverers – or inventors – of Fermi-Dirac statistics, which describe the behaviour of such particles as electrons, protons and neutrons (collectively known as fermions). Unusually for his time, he was a first-class experimenter as well as a first-class theorist. This was probably a factor in his early death. In the 1930s, Fermi briefly headed a world-leading group of nuclear physicists in Rome, before political events led it to break up. In one series of experiments, target materials had to be bombarded with neutrons to make them radioactive, then carried down a corridor for their radioactivity to be measured by apparatus kept in an area separate from the neutron source. Running down this corridor clutching the samples to his body, Fermi was repeatedly exposed to radiation. In 1954, at the age of fifty-three, he died of a heart attack, his body ravaged by cancer.
By 1938, Fermi, whose wife was Jewish, knew that it was time to leave Italy and move to America. Before departing, however, he received a unique enquiry. He was asked whether he would be able to accept the Nobel Prize in Physics if it were offered to him. Schwartz is on much surer ground in explaining the intriguing background to this approach, the only example of a recipient being approached in advance by the Nobel Committee. The Swedish Academy was concerned that, were Fermi to be awarded the prize, Mussolini might follow the lead of Hitler, who had been angry when Carl von Ossietzky received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1936 for revealing German rearmament the previous year and forbade any German from accepting an award from the Nobel Committee. There was also the question of how Italian currency restrictions might affect the prize money. Nevertheless, Fermi accepted the accolade. Following the ceremony in Stockholm, the Fermis went on to America with their prize money, equivalent to more than $500,000 today, which certainly eased the transition. And there he was roped into developing nuclear weapons technology, in spite of being, after December 1941, an enemy alien.
It was in the context of his work on the first atomic pile that Fermi famously remarked to a colleague that he could ‘calculate almost anything to an accuracy of ten per cent in less than a day, but to improve the accuracy by a factor of three might take him six months’. He applied a similar approach in his private life, where he enjoyed doing odd jobs and was happy as long as the end products worked, however they appeared. ‘Never make something more accurate than absolutely necessary,’ he once told his daughter.
This tiny glimpse into his mind exacerbates the frustration caused by the lack of more insights of this kind. Schwartz has probably done as good a job as possible with the available material about one of the most important scientists of the 20th century. But it is a pity he did not have the draft read by a physicist, who might have picked up the howlers. A special place in hell should, though, be reserved for the publicist, who tells us that the book ‘lays bare the colourful life and personality’ of Fermi. The author is at pains to point out that this is not the case, so clearly the publicist has not read even the preface. The Last Man Who Knew Everything is well worth reading, but not if you are looking for colour and personality.
In spite of its title, this is not another book about Thomas Young, the subject of Andrew Robinson’s The Last Man Who Knew Everything (2006). If anyone deserves that description, it is indeed Young, a linguist, classical scholar, translator of the Rosetta Stone, medical doctor and pioneering scientist at a time when scientists were very much generalists. The subject of David Schwartz’s book, Enrico Fermi (1901–54), might more accurately be described as the last man who knew nearly everything about physics, but that wouldn’t make such a catchy title.
Fermi’s name tends to crop up these days in connection with the Fermi paradox, his suggestion that if intelligent life exists elsewhere in the universe we ought to have been visited by now. This argument is more forceful than ever nowadays, in the light of the recent discovery of more planets than you can shake a stick at, but it gets disappointingly little attention from Schwartz. To historians, Fermi is better known as a pioneering nuclear physicist, responsible for the construction of the first controllable nuclear reactor (called an ‘atomic pile’ at the time) and for his contribution to the Manhattan Project. All this gets disappointingly too much attention from Schwartz, who goes into tedious detail. His background is in political science, and it shows.
One reason for this is spelled out in the author’s preface. There are no personal diaries to draw on and few personal letters in the archives. ‘One searches in vain for anything intimate,’ Schwartz says. So the biographer has to fall back on discussing the physics. Unfortunately, although his father was a Nobel Prize-winning physicist, Schwartz is in his own words ‘not a physicist’.
The worst of several infelicities occurs when Schwartz is describing Fermi’s most important contribution to theoretical nuclear physics: the suggestion that there is a force of nature, now known as the weak interaction, that is involved in the process of radioactive decay. He tells us that it gets its name ‘because it takes effect only when particles come into extremely close range of each other’. This is nonsense. Its weakness has nothing to do with its range. Indeed, another short-range force, known as the strong interaction, is the strongest of all the forces of nature, and the weakest force, gravity, has the longest range.
Fermi was also one of the discoverers – or inventors – of Fermi-Dirac statistics, which describe the behaviour of such particles as electrons, protons and neutrons (collectively known as fermions). Unusually for his time, he was a first-class experimenter as well as a first-class theorist. This was probably a factor in his early death. In the 1930s, Fermi briefly headed a world-leading group of nuclear physicists in Rome, before political events led it to break up. In one series of experiments, target materials had to be bombarded with neutrons to make them radioactive, then carried down a corridor for their radioactivity to be measured by apparatus kept in an area separate from the neutron source. Running down this corridor clutching the samples to his body, Fermi was repeatedly exposed to radiation. In 1954, at the age of fifty-three, he died of a heart attack, his body ravaged by cancer.
By 1938, Fermi, whose wife was Jewish, knew that it was time to leave Italy and move to America. Before departing, however, he received a unique enquiry. He was asked whether he would be able to accept the Nobel Prize in Physics if it were offered to him. Schwartz is on much surer ground in explaining the intriguing background to this approach, the only example of a recipient being approached in advance by the Nobel Committee. The Swedish Academy was concerned that, were Fermi to be awarded the prize, Mussolini might follow the lead of Hitler, who had been angry when Carl von Ossietzky received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1936 for revealing German rearmament the previous year and forbade any German from accepting an award from the Nobel Committee. There was also the question of how Italian currency restrictions might affect the prize money. Nevertheless, Fermi accepted the accolade. Following the ceremony in Stockholm, the Fermis went on to America with their prize money, equivalent to more than $500,000 today, which certainly eased the transition. And there he was roped into developing nuclear weapons technology, in spite of being, after December 1941, an enemy alien.
It was in the context of his work on the first atomic pile that Fermi famously remarked to a colleague that he could ‘calculate almost anything to an accuracy of ten per cent in less than a day, but to improve the accuracy by a factor of three might take him six months’. He applied a similar approach in his private life, where he enjoyed doing odd jobs and was happy as long as the end products worked, however they appeared. ‘Never make something more accurate than absolutely necessary,’ he once told his daughter.
This tiny glimpse into his mind exacerbates the frustration caused by the lack of more insights of this kind. Schwartz has probably done as good a job as possible with the available material about one of the most important scientists of the 20th century. But it is a pity he did not have the draft read by a physicist, who might have picked up the howlers. A special place in hell should, though, be reserved for the publicist, who tells us that the book ‘lays bare the colourful life and personality’ of Fermi. The author is at pains to point out that this is not the case, so clearly the publicist has not read even the preface. The Last Man Who Knew Everything is well worth reading, but not if you are looking for colour and personality.
February 12, 2018
I learned a lot I didnt know about this amazing scientist, who died in his early 50s but influenced so mn\any, including my other physics hero Dick Feynman
January 20, 2020
An interesting biography of the last man who excelled at both theoretical and applied (experimental) physics. The physics content in the book can be a little daunting -- I took notes and made numerous digressions in an attempt to better understand such terms as neutrionos, beta decay, and quantum theory -- but these are all still a bit fuzzy and would probably require a lot more work on my part to really understand. One bit of knowledge I did walk away with is that nuclear physics is really about probabilities. When I studied Newtonian physics in high school, eons ago, I liked the "absoluteness" of the relationships we learned about, such as F = M x A. At the nuclear level, things are messier.
The biggest takeaway for me, however, was a sense of Enrico Fermi's humanity. On at least two occasions documented in this book, a younger colleague invited Fermi to be a co-author on a paper because the colleague felt that the work could not have advanced without the discussions they'd had with Fermi. But Fermi politely declined, saying that if his name appeared as a co-author, people would assume he was primarily responsible for the findings. He didn't want to overshadow his young colleagues or stymie their professional progress. I found this to be very generous and humane. It was clear that Fermi took great joy in teaching and was good at it (something that doesn't always go hand-in-hand with being a great researcher). All in all, an enlightening and satisfying read.
The biggest takeaway for me, however, was a sense of Enrico Fermi's humanity. On at least two occasions documented in this book, a younger colleague invited Fermi to be a co-author on a paper because the colleague felt that the work could not have advanced without the discussions they'd had with Fermi. But Fermi politely declined, saying that if his name appeared as a co-author, people would assume he was primarily responsible for the findings. He didn't want to overshadow his young colleagues or stymie their professional progress. I found this to be very generous and humane. It was clear that Fermi took great joy in teaching and was good at it (something that doesn't always go hand-in-hand with being a great researcher). All in all, an enlightening and satisfying read.
April 21, 2018
One of Enrico Fermi’s colleagues once referred to the eminent nuclear physicist and Nobel Prize winner by using the words of the book’s title.
Fermi grew up in Rome in the early 1900s and showed brilliance as a child prodigy. Just prior to the start of WWII, he escaped Italy’s Mussolini with his family for America and soon found himself working on the Manhattan Project. He played a key role in the development of the atomic bomb which hastened the end of the war in 1945. He was also a brilliant teacher and nurtured the scientific education of his younger associates, many of whom would go on to win Nobel Prizes themselves. Author David Schwartz’s father was also a Nobel Prize winner, a coincidence which surely helped him write this book.
There are many references to scientific subjects including atomic fission, Schrodinger Waves, the Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle, and Fermi-Dirac statistics. Don’t let all these items deter you from reading this book; you don’t have to have a degree in physics because the author makes sure that he gives you a basic understanding and relevance to the point he’s making.
Fermi grew up in Rome in the early 1900s and showed brilliance as a child prodigy. Just prior to the start of WWII, he escaped Italy’s Mussolini with his family for America and soon found himself working on the Manhattan Project. He played a key role in the development of the atomic bomb which hastened the end of the war in 1945. He was also a brilliant teacher and nurtured the scientific education of his younger associates, many of whom would go on to win Nobel Prizes themselves. Author David Schwartz’s father was also a Nobel Prize winner, a coincidence which surely helped him write this book.
There are many references to scientific subjects including atomic fission, Schrodinger Waves, the Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle, and Fermi-Dirac statistics. Don’t let all these items deter you from reading this book; you don’t have to have a degree in physics because the author makes sure that he gives you a basic understanding and relevance to the point he’s making.
August 25, 2024
A fascinating account of the short but full life of one of the most brilliant minds of the modern age.
As the author states in the beginning, this is not a technical book, but it definitely sparked my curiosity about nuclear physics, nuclear reactions, and reactors. I ended up learning a lot from crossing the book with some YouTube videos on these topics.
It is awesome to think about this golden age of physics and how everything seemed to evolve so fast. However, it is even more interesting to learn about the human side of these greater-than-life personalities and understand how normal they were, while at the same time being unique.
As the author states in the beginning, this is not a technical book, but it definitely sparked my curiosity about nuclear physics, nuclear reactions, and reactors. I ended up learning a lot from crossing the book with some YouTube videos on these topics.
It is awesome to think about this golden age of physics and how everything seemed to evolve so fast. However, it is even more interesting to learn about the human side of these greater-than-life personalities and understand how normal they were, while at the same time being unique.
January 28, 2018
Enrico Fermi was an amazing man, not only in the depth and breadth of his knowledge of physics and his accomplishments, but also in his ability to convey that information as a teacher. Schwartz does an excellent job of giving us not only the details of Fermi's life, but of his science as well. It is clearly written and accessible to the lay reader.
April 15, 2020
Actually after starting study in Italy I saw Italian edition of the book. I had not brought biographies as I read beside of studies, sci fi and some other favorite subjects. So It seemed a good idea to have it since it was more recent, based on previous books and documents, writers research and interviews, plus his father's note (Nobel Literature of 1988 Melvin Schwartz worked with professor Rabi and on the same main subject Fermi was working: Neutrinos)
For me that try to find the best books in this kind due to not having time if it is not a project to work on, this book seemed reasonable and I recognized it is. Introduction of Schwartz was little bit odd to me but fortunately the main part was what I wanted.
An issue probably is struggling:
The title: I am sure it is chosen by the publisher as they always do regarding to their business and unfortunately many times they prefer stereotype names similar to successful names, exactly like Hollywood for movies, no matter how cheap the movies or the previous ones were. So The real title can be: the last dual (Theoretical/Experimental) master in physics. It is almost true.
I do not care about ads and recommendations by media or web pages exaggerating always even for the worst books (if we call them book and not waste of time, paper and money for both sides), this book and its references and notes at the end of the book and also the book written by Laura Fermi (Atoms in the family) are readable each in one specific point of view.
Of course there were colleagues of Fermi who wrote same biography about him in another point of views they spent time and had some common projects with him. Overall for readers who want just read one book to get familiar with a famous scientist, it can be the one about Fermi since the author reviewed all previous works and even used them as a source if it was needed. The standard of the book in many ways have high quality. Physics described very well when it was needed.
About Fermi: He enjoyed show-off in his own way and in another way he was the Feynman before Feynman and same naughty guy as Feynman was. Actually aside from Dirac, Fermi was a role model for Feynman as I have found. Fermi was a typical Italian and cared about money (why not) and focused deeply on his works. Something I have to say about the book: in two or three middle chapters, Schwartz tries to justify Fermi about something. I can not agree with him totally. Readers maybe find what I mean after reading the book.
Fermi did not like media and media did not like him due to their stereotype yellow articles with those exaggerated and false titles which try to attract people to sell more. That's why many people do not know many big names even much bigger than Fermi in Science. It was and is media unfortunately.
For me that try to find the best books in this kind due to not having time if it is not a project to work on, this book seemed reasonable and I recognized it is. Introduction of Schwartz was little bit odd to me but fortunately the main part was what I wanted.
An issue probably is struggling:
The title: I am sure it is chosen by the publisher as they always do regarding to their business and unfortunately many times they prefer stereotype names similar to successful names, exactly like Hollywood for movies, no matter how cheap the movies or the previous ones were. So The real title can be: the last dual (Theoretical/Experimental) master in physics. It is almost true.
I do not care about ads and recommendations by media or web pages exaggerating always even for the worst books (if we call them book and not waste of time, paper and money for both sides), this book and its references and notes at the end of the book and also the book written by Laura Fermi (Atoms in the family) are readable each in one specific point of view.
Of course there were colleagues of Fermi who wrote same biography about him in another point of views they spent time and had some common projects with him. Overall for readers who want just read one book to get familiar with a famous scientist, it can be the one about Fermi since the author reviewed all previous works and even used them as a source if it was needed. The standard of the book in many ways have high quality. Physics described very well when it was needed.
About Fermi: He enjoyed show-off in his own way and in another way he was the Feynman before Feynman and same naughty guy as Feynman was. Actually aside from Dirac, Fermi was a role model for Feynman as I have found. Fermi was a typical Italian and cared about money (why not) and focused deeply on his works. Something I have to say about the book: in two or three middle chapters, Schwartz tries to justify Fermi about something. I can not agree with him totally. Readers maybe find what I mean after reading the book.
Fermi did not like media and media did not like him due to their stereotype yellow articles with those exaggerated and false titles which try to attract people to sell more. That's why many people do not know many big names even much bigger than Fermi in Science. It was and is media unfortunately.
January 26, 2018
Two fellow physicists described Fermi as "the last man who knew everything" because from the 1920s until his death in 1954, he was the master genius of nuclear physics and understood all of that field as it was then known, found solutions to problems, could suggest solutions to other problems, even quickly calculate equations rather that look them up in a reference. He was a theorist and a practical experimenter, one such experiment possibly contributing to his cancer death at a relatively young age of 53. He was so familiar with the theory, that he could "intuit" practical responses to snags and problems, such as impurities in graphite and the necessary design of the first reactor "pile." Since then most fields of human endeavor have become increasingly specialized and no one person can have such a spotlight. The book shows again how interlocking knowledge is, how one work builds on another. I really enjoyed knowing what a great teacher Fermi was--universally loved and respected, how clear his explanations that a textbook he wrote in Italian for high school students is still used today, and how kind and respectful he was of all students--even beginners and slow students in undergraduate classes. (I probably would have loved him too, even though I would have flunked even a simple class). In his later career, after so many accomplishments, he was happy just to mentor and make suggestions to brilliant young students and allow them to take publishing credit when his answer to their mental "wall" really untangled their study. Schwartz offers plausible insights into Fermi's private thoughts. As the man behind the first nuclear fission reactor and with a huge problem-solving role in the development of the first atomic bomb, he was also a very private man not interested in philosophy, politics or literary reflection. However, his written contributions to science and the memories of his wife. students, peers and friends make for a full portrait of this legend.
April 18, 2018
Schwartz read a lot about Fermi before he realized that there was no definitive biography on the man. After reading countless books and papers written about Fermi by his friends, loved ones, and acquaintances, he decided to write one himself. The result is fascinating--and not to dense for physics neophytes such as myself.
February 19, 2019
great book - i bit too detailed at times, but it really describes de character of Fermi in all its dimensions.
February 4, 2024
The quest to understand the landscape of nuclear physicists continues! Man, I love Fermi. I don't think I fully understood just how singular being both a theoretician and experimentalist was until reading this book. Fun read.
Read
February 28, 2019Excellent summary of the life and times of Enrico Fermi. Much of the physics is explained in a 10,000 foot view approach - so as not to bog down the reader in too much detail - but enough detail to show the brilliance of Enrico Fermi and some of his collaborators . Great book.
December 25, 2021
A nice book about a very very intelligent man not much is known about fermi's personal life so the author had to speculate a lot. Much of the book covers physics although everything is explained in a simplified manner. Anyone interested in the quantum revolution and the making of the atomic bomb will not be disappointed reading this book.
February 18, 2023
Un risultato è statisticamente significativo «difficilmente dovuto al caso» o non rientra nel limite dell’errore di misurazione se la differenza dei due risultati è maggiore della radice quadrata della somma dei due risultati.
January 17, 2018
A very readable biography of a physicist--something that is hard to produce. A lot of the book is spent on the history of the production of the atomic bomb, but there is much more to Enrico Fermi's life and contribution to physics than that. This biography gives a picture of a real person. He is interesting even without the physics. He lived in interesting times. He enjoyed life, loved solving problems, and struggled with obstacles and decisions. The story is told well with some detail about the physics which is given in a way such that not understanding does not pop you out of the story. I guess understanding it all would make it that much better.
October 10, 2025
Non è un libro particolarmente memorabile, ma racconta in modo chiaro la vita di Fermi e le sue principali scoperte. La ricostruzione storica è accurata e l'esposizione scorrevole.
L'unica pecca imputabile all'autore è quella di non aver scovato fonti originali in italiano. Il racconto della giovinezza romana di Fermi è basato su una manciata di testi in inglese, come la biografia "Atoms in the family" scritta dalla moglie Laura. Gli anni americani, invece, sono ricostruiti tramite un numero molto maggiore di fonti, incluse interviste originali a parenti e studenti di Fermi. Non conoscendo l'italiano, l'autore ha dovuto utilizzare quasi solo fonti in inglese. Tale limite spiega perché certi periodi della vita di Fermi siano trattati meglio di altri.
A parte questo, la biografia scritta da David N. Schwartz risulta istruttiva e godibile, anche grazie ai vari aneddoti sparsi tra le pagine. Non serve essere esperti di fisica per poterla apprezzare.
L'unica pecca imputabile all'autore è quella di non aver scovato fonti originali in italiano. Il racconto della giovinezza romana di Fermi è basato su una manciata di testi in inglese, come la biografia "Atoms in the family" scritta dalla moglie Laura. Gli anni americani, invece, sono ricostruiti tramite un numero molto maggiore di fonti, incluse interviste originali a parenti e studenti di Fermi. Non conoscendo l'italiano, l'autore ha dovuto utilizzare quasi solo fonti in inglese. Tale limite spiega perché certi periodi della vita di Fermi siano trattati meglio di altri.
A parte questo, la biografia scritta da David N. Schwartz risulta istruttiva e godibile, anche grazie ai vari aneddoti sparsi tra le pagine. Non serve essere esperti di fisica per poterla apprezzare.
April 8, 2024
Really interesting story about Enrico Fermi. I thought it was written from a neat perspective. I was surprised how much it seems isn't super known about Fermi. And the author did a good job getting enough details to keep the story moving and interesting. That being said, it painted a really good picture and I would have loved to meet Fermi. And it got me interested in potentially dipping my toes back into academia.
April 6, 2023
Brilliant Itialian scientist who became an American due to fleeing Italy with his Jewish wife because of WWII. He deserves to be ranked alongside some of the greatest of the mid-twentieth century. His accomplishments are not less deserving of recognition compared to Einstein but he always was less famous.
January 8, 2018
This was a good read. At times a bit slow when discussing theory, but it was an interesting read about a man I knew little of. A few places I thought were a little scary as when it talked about what would happen if they ever used a hydrogen bomb.
April 17, 2020
It was with some foreboding that I started this comprehensive biography of a man whose fame is based on being one of the smartest physicists ever and spent his life making discoveries that even most other scientists could not understand. But you don't have to be a science geek to appreciate this book because the author David Schwartz spends much time on the non science side of Fermi's life and when he does write of Fermi's breakthroughs in physics he prefaces the technical discussion with explanations that a layperson can understand.
Fermi was born in Italy and quickly became a physics prodigy, making discoveries about the atom at an early age. He cultivated other physicists and led them not only in research and theoretical discussions but also on hikes, soccer games and ski trips. His regular trips to the United States to speak and study made him want to move there but his wife could not bear the thought of leaving Rome. However, as Mussolini became increasingly under the influence of Hitler, his half Jewish wife finally agreed to move to the United States, but it is a mistake to think that Fermi's move was a political anti-Mussolini act, his attitude toward Mussolini had been ambivalent, his overwhelming obsession with his science overshadowed everything else. Still, when he left Italy, a close friend, the wife of his best friend chastised him for leaving Italy and leaving the young scientists who depended on him to fend for themselves as World War II came to consume everything there.
The biography details Fermi's work on the Manhattan project which led to him being known as the father of the nuclear age. He of course was at Chicago for the first chain reaction and later he supervised the B reactor in Hanford going critical. The biography's discussion of B reactor's initial failures to go critical is different than many I've read, here Schwartz argues that the initial shutdowns were not mysteries that Fermi's team cleverly solved, but a failure of Fermi to anticipate and test the effect of Xenon-135 in absorbing neutrons. Schwartz argues that it is one of the two major mistakes Fermi made in his lifetime. The other was his research in the 1930s that led him to winning the Nobel Prize based. While Fermi's experiments led to greater understanding of the atom, it was other scientists who later reviewed his work and pointed out that Fermi had actually split the atom.
After Hanford, Fermi went to Los Alamos and eventually witnessed the Trinity test. Schwartz points out that Fermi did not share the philosophical and political thoughts about the Atomic Bomb as many other scientists who helped develop the Atomic Bomb. However, he did defend Oppenheimer against Fermi's long time friend Edward Teller during the hearing that stripped Oppenheimer of his security clearance.
Again, this is a highly readable account of a remarkable man that appeals to both the scientist and non scientist
Fermi was born in Italy and quickly became a physics prodigy, making discoveries about the atom at an early age. He cultivated other physicists and led them not only in research and theoretical discussions but also on hikes, soccer games and ski trips. His regular trips to the United States to speak and study made him want to move there but his wife could not bear the thought of leaving Rome. However, as Mussolini became increasingly under the influence of Hitler, his half Jewish wife finally agreed to move to the United States, but it is a mistake to think that Fermi's move was a political anti-Mussolini act, his attitude toward Mussolini had been ambivalent, his overwhelming obsession with his science overshadowed everything else. Still, when he left Italy, a close friend, the wife of his best friend chastised him for leaving Italy and leaving the young scientists who depended on him to fend for themselves as World War II came to consume everything there.
The biography details Fermi's work on the Manhattan project which led to him being known as the father of the nuclear age. He of course was at Chicago for the first chain reaction and later he supervised the B reactor in Hanford going critical. The biography's discussion of B reactor's initial failures to go critical is different than many I've read, here Schwartz argues that the initial shutdowns were not mysteries that Fermi's team cleverly solved, but a failure of Fermi to anticipate and test the effect of Xenon-135 in absorbing neutrons. Schwartz argues that it is one of the two major mistakes Fermi made in his lifetime. The other was his research in the 1930s that led him to winning the Nobel Prize based. While Fermi's experiments led to greater understanding of the atom, it was other scientists who later reviewed his work and pointed out that Fermi had actually split the atom.
After Hanford, Fermi went to Los Alamos and eventually witnessed the Trinity test. Schwartz points out that Fermi did not share the philosophical and political thoughts about the Atomic Bomb as many other scientists who helped develop the Atomic Bomb. However, he did defend Oppenheimer against Fermi's long time friend Edward Teller during the hearing that stripped Oppenheimer of his security clearance.
Again, this is a highly readable account of a remarkable man that appeals to both the scientist and non scientist
March 6, 2022
From the perspective of someone who had difficulty with basic mechanics in Physics 1 in college, this book is very readable. The author, who is also a physicist, does a wonderful job of portraying the life works and also the man, of Enrico Fermi.
There may be a tad of over assumption, as many biographies fall prey to, but it does not distort the facts of his physics, his life, or his passions. Fermi was an amazing genius, and also it seems, an amazing man. Very humble and not very worried about his standing in the scientific community, even before he became famous. Much can be learned by the fact that maybe he was so successful in some part because of his lack of intellectual competitiveness, and coming from someone who was so competitive in many other ways in his life.
Three of my five daily goals involve: learn something, teach someone, help someone, and Fermi seems to have held himself to a similar standard. That is one of my takeaways - or maybe I'm only manufacturing that to suit my own purposes. Either way, it is a lesson for all of us to try to learn by questioning our assumptions, teach by not being in an ivory tower and think you are above such mundane pursuits, and also help others when you will get nothing (at least not directly) from it in return.
I have read in other books about the "Fermi Problem" and his problem solving (see the "how many piano tuners in Chicago" question on Google). Here we actually go into this aspect of Fermi's life much lighter than the question of the Fermi Problem as he illustrated so many times in his collaborations with many other scientists - laureates and simple grad students. But, that is a quick insight to how his brilliance is actually manifested. It is not a savant manner, but a cognitive & processing system. Check it out, it is worth it.
There may be a tad of over assumption, as many biographies fall prey to, but it does not distort the facts of his physics, his life, or his passions. Fermi was an amazing genius, and also it seems, an amazing man. Very humble and not very worried about his standing in the scientific community, even before he became famous. Much can be learned by the fact that maybe he was so successful in some part because of his lack of intellectual competitiveness, and coming from someone who was so competitive in many other ways in his life.
Three of my five daily goals involve: learn something, teach someone, help someone, and Fermi seems to have held himself to a similar standard. That is one of my takeaways - or maybe I'm only manufacturing that to suit my own purposes. Either way, it is a lesson for all of us to try to learn by questioning our assumptions, teach by not being in an ivory tower and think you are above such mundane pursuits, and also help others when you will get nothing (at least not directly) from it in return.
I have read in other books about the "Fermi Problem" and his problem solving (see the "how many piano tuners in Chicago" question on Google). Here we actually go into this aspect of Fermi's life much lighter than the question of the Fermi Problem as he illustrated so many times in his collaborations with many other scientists - laureates and simple grad students. But, that is a quick insight to how his brilliance is actually manifested. It is not a savant manner, but a cognitive & processing system. Check it out, it is worth it.
November 2, 2023
Biografia di recente pubblicazione del famoso fisico italiano, completa di note conclusive e rimandi a documenti di archivio conservati tra l'Italia e gli Stati Uniti.
Lettura noiosa, che descrive in terza persona la vita ordinaria di una mente straordinaria. In moltissimi punti, specialmente dopo la metà del libro, si insiste molto nei dettagli del suo lavoro scientifico, mentre alcuni importanti passaggi della vita personale sono descritti sommariamente. Un esempio ne è la lunga digressione conclusiva, circa 20 pagine in cui riecheggia più volte la domanda (pleonastica a mio modo di pensare) "chissà cosa penserebbe di questa importante scoperta?", mentre si dedica lo spazio di una sola frase al difficile rapporto con il figlio, che arriverà a tentare un gesto estremo sventato proprio dal pronto intervento del padre.
Quello che rimane della lettura è un quadro dell' immagine che Fermi ha trasmesso a chi ha avuto la fortuna di incontrarlo. La sua introspezione, i suoi dubbi, i rapporti con la famiglia e con la nazione che ha lasciato negli anni Venti, sono appena accennati. La profondità del suo pensiero (in ambito extra lavorativo) non riesce ad emergere, mentre si sostiene l'idea che avesse pochi o nessuno interesse per le discipline diverse da quella cui si è dedicato tutta la vita. Sinceramente stento a credere che una mente capace come la sua, peraltro coinvolta nel Progetto Manhattan, non abbia avuto pensieri metafisici o interrogativi morali su cui confrontarsi. Mi sembra plausibile, invece, che abbia mantenuto una maschera pubblica piuttosto rigida ed un assoluto riserbo sulla sua vita personale.
Magari, però, per l' approfondimento di questi aspetti dovrò aspettare la prossima biografia.
Lettura noiosa, che descrive in terza persona la vita ordinaria di una mente straordinaria. In moltissimi punti, specialmente dopo la metà del libro, si insiste molto nei dettagli del suo lavoro scientifico, mentre alcuni importanti passaggi della vita personale sono descritti sommariamente. Un esempio ne è la lunga digressione conclusiva, circa 20 pagine in cui riecheggia più volte la domanda (pleonastica a mio modo di pensare) "chissà cosa penserebbe di questa importante scoperta?", mentre si dedica lo spazio di una sola frase al difficile rapporto con il figlio, che arriverà a tentare un gesto estremo sventato proprio dal pronto intervento del padre.
Quello che rimane della lettura è un quadro dell' immagine che Fermi ha trasmesso a chi ha avuto la fortuna di incontrarlo. La sua introspezione, i suoi dubbi, i rapporti con la famiglia e con la nazione che ha lasciato negli anni Venti, sono appena accennati. La profondità del suo pensiero (in ambito extra lavorativo) non riesce ad emergere, mentre si sostiene l'idea che avesse pochi o nessuno interesse per le discipline diverse da quella cui si è dedicato tutta la vita. Sinceramente stento a credere che una mente capace come la sua, peraltro coinvolta nel Progetto Manhattan, non abbia avuto pensieri metafisici o interrogativi morali su cui confrontarsi. Mi sembra plausibile, invece, che abbia mantenuto una maschera pubblica piuttosto rigida ed un assoluto riserbo sulla sua vita personale.
Magari, però, per l' approfondimento di questi aspetti dovrò aspettare la prossima biografia.
February 3, 2018
A very good biography of one of the many IMMIGRANTS to the U.S. whose knowledge and work enabled the U.S. to develop the atomic bomb before the Nazis could. Imagine the horror if Hitler had that as a weapon. Yes, our use of it on Japan is controversial, and that is addressed in the book. Here is a view from another source: "One of the ironies of Hitler's desire for racial purity was that it drove out of continental Europe or into the camps many individuals who would have been extremely useful to the Axis war effort. Nowhere was this more evident than in the effort to produce an atomic bomb. A startling proportion of the most famous names on the project belonged to scientists who came to England or America to flee from the Axis. The large number of refugees and immigrants working on the Manhattan Project gave the American nuclear program an international character unusual in such a top-secret program—and unique amongst the nuclear programs that followed in other countries—and helped give life in Los Alamos, NM during the war its unique character."
Thanks you Enrico and all the other brave men and women involved. May MANY IMMIGRANTS continue to be welcomed in to the U.S. to lead us forward.
Thanks you Enrico and all the other brave men and women involved. May MANY IMMIGRANTS continue to be welcomed in to the U.S. to lead us forward.
December 27, 2022
Interesting book about an important area of physics history and the man behind it. Well written book and I was able to learn about the 'derivation' and process of nuclear physics. I find the process to get somewhere is most often the interesting part. I had never heard of this man so it was a good learning curve for me in both physics and a pretty important part of world history.
December 16, 2022
I really enjoyed the book. I thought is was assessable and informative, but mostly enjoyed learning more about Fermi. Just appeared to be a very committed physicist that hit his peak during the golden age of particle physics. Was the first one to split the atom but did not know he did it. Moved from Italy to USA to escape the WW2 regime in Italy. In US he was the first to show that fission is a chain reaction that lead to the atomic bomb/nuclear reactor. In the US he contributed to the Manhattan Project as a US national.
October 27, 2022
Another treasure of readership. I knew about the man at the most superficial level. After reading the book, I understood him a bit better. A fascinating foray by the author into the very difficult topic of what genius looks like.
Accessible to anyone. No need to understand physics or math. Just get onboard, enjoy the ride, and marvel at the discoveries that you will make along the journey.
Accessible to anyone. No need to understand physics or math. Just get onboard, enjoy the ride, and marvel at the discoveries that you will make along the journey.
June 8, 2025
An amazing biography of an amazing man. I regret to say that until I read this I had no idea of the vast contribution that Fermi made to the world of physics. This is a clear and accessible description of Fermi's life and work - giving an appreciation of how important his work was to a non-specialist like me.
April 20, 2025
Molto interessante, un grande omaggio ad uno dei fisici più importanti della storia. Tuttavia, l'ho trovato a tratti troppo lento e pedante. Alcuni argomenti sono trattati sufficientemente a fondo per confondere un lettore non del settore, ma non tecnici abbastanza per un esperto.
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