The Pope of Physics

A New York Times Book Review Editors' Choice Named a Best Book of the Year by Bloomberg (Chosen by Philip Tetlock), Booklist's Top 10 Science Books of the Year, and Shortlisted for Physics World's Book of the Year A Major Biography of the Nobel Prize-Winning Physicist, Enrico Fermi, a Leading Architect of the Atomic Age Enrico Fermi is unquestionably among the greats of the world's physicists, the most famous Italian scientist since Galileo. Called "the Pope" by his peers, he was regarded as infallible in his instincts and research. His discoveries changed our world; they led to weapons of mass destruction and conversely to life-saving medical interventions. This unassuming man struggled with issues relevant today, such as the threat of nuclear annihilation and the relationship of science to politics. Fleeing Fascism and anti-Semitism, Fermi became a leading figure in America's most secret project: building the atomic bomb. An examination of the human dramas that touched Fermi's life as well as a thrilling history of scientific innovation in the twentieth century, this is the comprehensive biography that Fermi deserves.

Gino Segrè and Bettina Hoerlin

CONTENTS Prologue: Trinity 1 PART 1: ITALY, BEGINNINGS 1. Family Roots 7 2. The Little Match (Il Piccolo Fiammifero) 13 3. Leaning In: Physics and Pisa 18 4. Student Days 24 5. The Young Protégé 28 6. The Summer of 1924 35 7. Florence 41 8. Quantum Leaps 49 9. Enrico and Laura 56 PART 2: PASSAGES 10. The Boys of Via Panisperna 65 11. The Royal Acad emy 70 12. Crossing the Atlantic 76 13. Bombarding the Nucleus 81 14. Decay 87 15. The Neutron Comes to Rome 93 16. The Rise and Fall of the Boys 102 17. Transitions 110 18. Stockholm Calls 116 PART 3: HELLO, AMERICA 19. Fission 127 20. News Travels 135 21. Chain Reaction 144 22. The Race Begins 151 23. New Americans 159 24. The Sleeping Giant 167 25. Chicago Bound 176 26. Critical Pile (CP-1) 184 27. The Day the Atomic Age Was Born 193 PART 4: THE ATOMIC CITY 28. The Manhattan Project: A Three-Legged Stool 201 29. Signor Fermi Becomes Mister Farmer 209 30. Götterdämmerung 219 31. The Hill 226 32. "No Acceptable Alternative" 234 33. Aftershock 244 34. Goodbye, Mr. Farmer 253 PART 5: HOME 35. Physicist with a Capital F 261 36. The Fermi Method 268 37. The Super 275 38. Circling Back 283 39. Last Gift to Italy (Ultimo Regalo all'Italia) 291 40. Farewell to the Navigator 296 Afterword 303 Notes 309 Bibliography 326 Acknowledgments 334 Index 337