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Zwicky: The Outcast Genius Who Unmasked the Universe
From a prize-winning science writer, a riveting account of the life and work of the prodigiously original maverick who has been called "the most unrecognized genius of twentieth-century astronomy."
Fritz Zwicky was one of the most inventive and iconoclastic scientists of the twentieth century. He predicted the existence of neutron stars, and his research pointed the way toward the discovery of pulsars and black holes. He was the first to conceive of the existence of dark matter, the first to make a detailed catalog of thousands of galaxies, and the first to correctly suggest that cosmic rays originate from supernovas.
Not content to confine his discoveries to the heavens, Zwicky contributed to the US war against Japan with inventions in jet propulsion that enabled aircraft to launch from carriers in the Pacific. After the war, he was the first Western scientist to interview Wernher von Braun, the Nazi engineer who developed the V-2 rocket. Later he became an outspoken advocate for space exploration, but also tangled with almost every leading scientist of the time, from Edwin Hubble and Richard Feynman to J. Robert Oppenheimer and Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar.
In Zwicky, John Johnson Jr. brings this tempestuous maverick to life. Zwicky not only made groundbreaking contributions to science and engineering; he rose to fame as one of the most imaginative science popularizers of his day. Yet he became a pariah in the scientific community, denouncing his enemies, real and imagined, as "spherical bastards" and "horses' asses." Largely forgotten today, Zwicky deserves rediscovery for unleashing some of the most destructive forces in the universe, and as a reminder that genius obeys no rules and has no friends.
Fritz Zwicky was one of the most inventive and iconoclastic scientists of the twentieth century. He predicted the existence of neutron stars, and his research pointed the way toward the discovery of pulsars and black holes. He was the first to conceive of the existence of dark matter, the first to make a detailed catalog of thousands of galaxies, and the first to correctly suggest that cosmic rays originate from supernovas.
Not content to confine his discoveries to the heavens, Zwicky contributed to the US war against Japan with inventions in jet propulsion that enabled aircraft to launch from carriers in the Pacific. After the war, he was the first Western scientist to interview Wernher von Braun, the Nazi engineer who developed the V-2 rocket. Later he became an outspoken advocate for space exploration, but also tangled with almost every leading scientist of the time, from Edwin Hubble and Richard Feynman to J. Robert Oppenheimer and Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar.
In Zwicky, John Johnson Jr. brings this tempestuous maverick to life. Zwicky not only made groundbreaking contributions to science and engineering; he rose to fame as one of the most imaginative science popularizers of his day. Yet he became a pariah in the scientific community, denouncing his enemies, real and imagined, as "spherical bastards" and "horses' asses." Largely forgotten today, Zwicky deserves rediscovery for unleashing some of the most destructive forces in the universe, and as a reminder that genius obeys no rules and has no friends.
368 pages, Hardcover
Published September 10, 2019
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
November 9, 2022
This is a very good biography of astronomer Fritz Zwicky, a very eccentric scientist. I had heard stories about Zwicky and his conflicts with other scientists. I thought he'd be an interesting person to read about and he was. This book presents a balanced discussion of his scientific discoveries, his family life, and his battles with colleagues. The writing was good, but not exceptional - sometimes I thought the author was trying too hard to impress the reader. Nevertheless, I enjoyed the book and recommend it.
February 9, 2020
I very much enjoyed John Johnson, Jr.'s engaging profile of Fritz Zwicky. Zwicky was very much ahead of his time and abrasive so as to not get along well within the astronomical/scientific community. While there are many tall tales and legends about the man, Johnson brings it all together and highlights the amazing contributions from this often overlooked giant of 20th Century astronomy.
October 3, 2021
"For him [Zwicky], Oppenheimer and Compton were doubly guilty, first by neglecting to oppose Hitler and his allies, the Japanese, when they might have been stopped, and second, by recommending the use of the terrible weapon to win the war." (111)
December 23, 2020
This is a very good biography of an exceptional, but opinionated scientist.
December 14, 2019
John Johnson Jr.'s Zwicky: The Outcast Genius Who Unmasked the Universe is the long-due biography of astronomer and problem-solver Fritz Zwicky, theoretizer of dark matter and black holes decades before they became posh, and one who thought innovation can come out of method. Good writing, good read. Recommended to anyone who is interested in science.
What I liked
1 Fine characterization of a commonly misunderstood, almost tragic figure of science. Zwicky appears to be the upright, merit-first scientist unable to bend when not convinced that bending is the only logical outcome. He would have been a nightmare to today's HR department.
2 Good description of his fight with the 'gray hairs' of academe around the world. Zwicky would take scientific disputes to the extreme, often attacking personally, and as a consequence he paid the academic price: articles rejected with no good reason, discoveries credited to others, removal of access rights to instruments necessary for further discovery. Consequently, his contributions to science and technology were possibly not as big as they could be, and surely they got less recognition in his lifetime than they should.
3 Very good description of Zwicky's key discoveries and inventions. Despite the controversy and permanent fighting, he found creative ways to get on with his research, and left a full treasure to humanity (but this is not described enough in this work, see negative point 2.)
4 Excellent characterization of Zwicky's human side, and especially of his family life. This is where the book shines, and where the author shows his journalistic experience. It helps that Zwicky left a trove of correspondence and was a constant presence in newspapers. It also helps the author talked directly to Fritz Zwicky's family, especially his two daughters.
5 By and large, a timely book. The transformation of academia into a factory-like system needs counter-examples of excellent researchers of a different mold. Zwicky is an excellent example.
What I didn't like
1 In general, the writing when it gets technical. The astrophysics and high-energy physics were not very useful to the story, and too dense to be readable for anyone not familiar with the topics. WIMPs ahoy!
2 In particular, the descriptions of the key contributions of Zwicky to science and technology. Morphological analysis could have received longer and deeper treatment, and a layman prologue to make the whole material accessible; this method for systematic investigation is a long-lasting contribution of Zwicky across all fields of human activity. The ideas preceding core work in dark matter, black holes, high-energy (astro)physics, jet aircraft, etc. deserved better explanations too.
3 Too much fan-boy elements, making the book a bit lightweight in analysis and understanding. But I can understand the bias.
What I liked
1 Fine characterization of a commonly misunderstood, almost tragic figure of science. Zwicky appears to be the upright, merit-first scientist unable to bend when not convinced that bending is the only logical outcome. He would have been a nightmare to today's HR department.
2 Good description of his fight with the 'gray hairs' of academe around the world. Zwicky would take scientific disputes to the extreme, often attacking personally, and as a consequence he paid the academic price: articles rejected with no good reason, discoveries credited to others, removal of access rights to instruments necessary for further discovery. Consequently, his contributions to science and technology were possibly not as big as they could be, and surely they got less recognition in his lifetime than they should.
3 Very good description of Zwicky's key discoveries and inventions. Despite the controversy and permanent fighting, he found creative ways to get on with his research, and left a full treasure to humanity (but this is not described enough in this work, see negative point 2.)
4 Excellent characterization of Zwicky's human side, and especially of his family life. This is where the book shines, and where the author shows his journalistic experience. It helps that Zwicky left a trove of correspondence and was a constant presence in newspapers. It also helps the author talked directly to Fritz Zwicky's family, especially his two daughters.
5 By and large, a timely book. The transformation of academia into a factory-like system needs counter-examples of excellent researchers of a different mold. Zwicky is an excellent example.
What I didn't like
1 In general, the writing when it gets technical. The astrophysics and high-energy physics were not very useful to the story, and too dense to be readable for anyone not familiar with the topics. WIMPs ahoy!
2 In particular, the descriptions of the key contributions of Zwicky to science and technology. Morphological analysis could have received longer and deeper treatment, and a layman prologue to make the whole material accessible; this method for systematic investigation is a long-lasting contribution of Zwicky across all fields of human activity. The ideas preceding core work in dark matter, black holes, high-energy (astro)physics, jet aircraft, etc. deserved better explanations too.
3 Too much fan-boy elements, making the book a bit lightweight in analysis and understanding. But I can understand the bias.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews