Author

Publication

2007 - Viking, New York, New York (State)

Language

English

Word Count

77,500 words, Guess

Page Count

310 pages

Identifiers

and 3 more
  • Library of Congress Control Number2006052807
  • Goodreads1223568
  • LibraryThing2786369

Classifications

  • LCCQC15 .S427 2007

Description

Known to physicists as the "miracle year," 1932 saw the discovery of the neutron and the first artificially induced nuclear transmutation. However, while physicists celebrated these momentous discoveries--which presaged the era of big science and nuclear bombs--Europe was moving inexorably toward totalitarianism and war. In April of that year, about forty of the world's leading physicists--including Werner Heisenberg, Lise Meitner, and Paul Dirac--came to Niels Bohr's Copenhagen Institute for their annual informal meeting about the frontiers of physics. Physicist Gino Segrè brings to life this historic gathering, which ended with a humorous skit based on Goethe's Faust--little knowing the Faustian bargains they would face in the near future. Capturing the interplay between the great scientists as well as the discoveries they discussed and debated, Segrè evokes the moment when physics--and the world--was about to lose its innocence.--From publisher description

Subjects

Topics

HistoryPsychologyPhysicistsQuantum theoryIntellectual lifeQuantum theory, historyPhysicists -- Psychology

Times

Other Editions

  • Faust in CopenhagenViking2007

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