Advanced Books
An American Genius: The Life of Ernest Orlando Lawrence, Herbert Childs, E. P. Dutton and Company, Inc., New York, 1968, 576 pp., $12.95. This well-written, scientifically accurate, and very interesting biography captures the excitement of Lawrence’s life. Ernest Lawrence was the inventor of the cyclotron, a major member of the wartime atomic energy development, and the director of the Lawrence Radiation Laboratory.
The Atom and Its Nucleus, George Gamow, Prentice-Hall, Inc., Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey, 1961, 153 pp., $1.25. A popular-level discussion of nuclear structure and the applications of nuclear energy.
Atomic Energy for Military Purposes, Henry D. Smyth, Princeton University Press, Princeton, New Jersey, 1945, 308 pp., $4.00. A complete account of the wartime project that developed the first nuclear weapons and of the considerations that prompted their use.
Atomic Quest, Arthur H. Compton, Oxford University Press, Inc., New York, 1956, 370 pp., $7.95. A personal narrative of the research that led to the release of atomic energy on a useful scale by a scientist who played a principal part in the atomic bomb project during World War II.
The Atomists (1805-1933), Basil Schonland, Oxford University Press, Inc., New York, 1968, 198 pp., $5.60. This book, which can be understood by anyone who has had a high school physics course, presents atomic theory development from Dalton through Bohr. It achieves a good balance between popular treatments and highly technical works without slighting the technical aspects.
Atoms in the Family: My Life with Enrico Fermi, Laura Fermi, Chicago University Press, Chicago, Illinois, 1954, 267 pp., $5.00 (hardback); $2.45 (paperback). Laura Fermi writes about her husband, Enrico Fermi, the physicist who led the group that built the first nuclear reactor.
The Born-Einstein Letters: The Correspondence Between Albert Einstein and Max and Hedwig Born from 1916 to 1955, commentaries by Max Born, translated by Irene Born, Walker and Company, 1971, 240 pp., $8.50. These interesting letters reveal the scientific and personal lives of these two atomic scientists.
Einstein: His Life and Times, Philipp Frank, Alfred A. Knopf, Inc., New York, 1953, 298 pp., $6.95. A brilliant biography that reveals the richness of Einstein’s life and work and the tremendous impact he made upon physics.
Enrico Fermi, Physicist, Emilio Segrè, Chicago University Press, Chicago, Illinois, 1970, 288 pp., $6.95. This biography tells of Enrico Fermi’s intellectual history, achievements, and his scientific style. The scientific problems faced or solved by Fermi are explained in layman’s terms. Emilio Segrè was a friend and scientific collaborator who worked with Fermi for many years.
An Introduction to Physical Science: The World of Atoms (second edition), John J. G. McCue, The Ronald Press Company, New York, 1963, 775 pp., $9.50. This textbook was written for college humanities students.
J. J. Thomson: Discoverer of the Electron, George Thomson, Doubleday and Company, Inc., New York, 1966, 240 pp., $1.45. This biography, written by J. J. Thomson’s son, describes his research at the famed Cavendish Laboratory in Cambridge, England.
John Dalton and the Atom, Frank Greenaway, Cornell University Press, Ithaca, New York, 1966, 256 pp., $7.50. A biography for the general reader and the high school science student. Dalton is famous for his development of chemical combinations based on atomic theory. This provided the basis for modern structural theories of chemistry.
John Dalton and the Atomic Theory: The Biography of a Natural Philosopher, Elizabeth C. Patterson, Doubleday and Company, Inc., New York, 1970, 320 pp., $6.95 (hardback); $1.95 (paperback). The drama of Dalton’s life—his rigorous self-teaching, scientific work, and struggle to overcome class barriers in 19th century England—is well presented. Quotations from letters, diaries, and published works give a clear picture of Dalton’s atomic theory research and his time.
Man-made Transuranium Elements, Glenn T. Seaborg, Prentice Hall, Inc., Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey, 1963, 120 pp., $6.95 (hardback); $2.95 (paperback). The discovery, properties, and applications of elements heavier than uranium are considered in this book, which is designed as an introduction to the subject. Glenn Seaborg was co-discoverer of nine of the twelve transuranium elements.
The Nature of Matter: Physical Theory from Thales to Fermi, Ginestra Amaldi, translated by Peter Astbury, Chicago University Press, Chicago, Illinois, 1966, 332 pp., $5.95. A nontechnical history of atomic energy.
Niels Bohr: His Life and Work as Seen by His Friends and Colleagues, S. Rozental (Editor), John Wiley and Sons, Inc., New York, 1967, 355 pp., $5.95. An articulate and scholarly biography by the friends and co-workers of this outstanding atomic pioneer.
Niels Bohr: The Man, His Science, and the World They Changed, Ruth Moore, Alfred A. Knopf, Inc., New York, 1966, 436 pp., $7.95. An interesting biography of one of the pioneers in the study of the internal structure of the atom.
Otto Hahn: My Life, Otto Hahn, translated by Ernest Kaiser and Eithne Wilkins, Herder and Herder, Inc., New York, 1970, 240 pp., $6.50. Autobiography of the man who discovered that the atom could be split.
Otto Hahn: A Scientific Autobiography, Otto Hahn, Willy Ley, editor and translator, Charles Scribner’s Sons, New York, 1966, 320 pp., $9.95. Otto Hahn, winner of the 1944 Nobel Prize for his work in atomic fission, reviews the pioneer days in which a new science was created, and the role he played in its development.
Physics and Beyond: Encounters and Conversations, Werner Heisenberg, translated by Arthur J. Pomerans, Harper and Row, Publishers, New York, 1970, 247 pp., $7.95. Werner Heisenberg, a Nobel Prize physicist, presents his autobiography in the form of conversations with such men as Max Planck, Albert Einstein, Niels Bohr, Ernest Rutherford, Otto Hahn, and Enrico Fermi.
Physics for Poets, Robert H. March, McGraw-Hill Book Company, New. York, 1970, 302 pp., $7.50. A physics textbook for nonscience students. The book covers certain developments of classical mechanics, relativity, and atomic and quantum physics. With this book the author won the 1971 American Institute of Physics—U. S. Steel Foundation Science Writing Award in Physics and Astronomy.
Sourcebook on Atomic Energy (third edition), Samuel Glasstone, Van Nostrand Reinhold Company, New York, 1967, 883 pp., $15.00. An excellent standard reference work, written for both scientists and the general public.
The Swift Years: The Robert Oppenheimer Story, Peter Michelmore, Dodd, Mead and Company, New York, 1969, 273 pp., $6.95. Oppenheimer’s complex personality is delineated in this well-written biography. In the bibliography is a list of books that Oppenheimer felt “had done the most to shape his vocational attitude and philosophy of life”.
The World of the Atom, 2 volumes, Henry A. Boorse and Lloyd Motz (Eds.), Basic Books, Inc., Publishers, New York, 1966, 1873 pp., $35.00. Contains the actual text of landmark documents in the history of atomic physics, each preceded by commentary that places it in the context of the discoverer’s personal life and in the conditions prevailing in science and in society in his time.