Big Science: Ernest Lawrence and the Invention that Launched the Military-Industrial Complex
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | 4.22 (653 Votes) |
| Asin | : | 1451675763 |
| Format Type | : | paperback |
| Number of Pages | : | 528 Pages |
| Publish Date | : | 2014-02-05 |
| Language | : | English |
DESCRIPTION:
At times very technical but still an essential read Popeye Doyle I thought I knew a lot about the atomic bomb, having read a few books on the topic. But to be honest I knew or remembered little of Ernest Lawrence. Oppenheimer and Leslie Groves were the names that stuck with me. Now Lawrence will top the list. In that sense, it is an essential book for all those interested in the topic. The title Big Science is deceivingly plebeian. At times - especially in the early chapters - the subject matter gets very technical, almost discouragingly so.. R. Albin said Decent; Decent; 3.5 Stars A generally well written book about the career of the great American physicist Ernest Lawrence. This book is not primarily about Lawrence's scientific achievements per se, but rather about Lawrence's leadership in developing what is now called "Big Science." Large research groups built around major, and very expensive, instruments funded primarily by national governments are a prominent feature of modern physics, particularly high energy physics. These features exist also in ot. .5 Stars. A generally well written book about the career of the great American physicist Ernest Lawrence. This book is not primarily about Lawrence's scientific achievements per se, but rather about Lawrence's leadership in developing what is now called "Big Science." Large research groups built around major, and very expensive, instruments funded primarily by national governments are a prominent feature of modern physics, particularly high energy physics. These features exist also in ot. "Clearly written history of how scientific study morphed in large-scale endeavors with a military bent" according to S. Yates. Very good historical book about Ernest Lawrence, the inventor of the cyclotron, alongside a wider exploration of how Lawrence and the events of the day (WWII) led to the birth of big science. This story is wound up with the creation of the atomic bomb and the military-industrial complex, but where many books concentrate specifically on the bomb and those most directly involved (including the charismatic and sometimes controversial figure of J. Robert Oppenheimer), this book shi
Michael Hiltzik is a Pulitzer Prize–winning journalist and author who has covered business, technology, and public policy for the Los Angeles Times for three decades. Hiltzik received the 1999 Pulitzer Prize for articles exposing corruption in the entertainment industry. He lives in Southern California with his wife and two children. He currently serves as the Times’s busine
It was the beginning of Big Science.“An exciting book….A bright narrative that captures the wonder of nuclear physics without flying off into a physics Neverland….Big Science is an excellent summary of how physics became nuclear and changed the world” (The Plain Dealer, Cleveland). The epic story of how science went “big” and the forgotten genius who started it all—“entertaining, thoroughly researched…partly a biography, partly an account of the influence of Ernest Lawrence’s great idea, partly a short history of nuclear physics and the Bomb” (The Wall Street Journal).Since the 1930s, the scale of scientific endeavor has grown exponentially. The first particle accelerator could be held in its creator’s lap, while its successor grew to seventeen miles in circumference and cost ten billion dollars. His invention, the cyclotron, would revolutionize nuclear physics, but that was only the beginning of its impact, which would be felt in academia, industry, and international politics. We have invented the a
Big Science is an excellent summary of how physics became nuclear and changed the world.” (Jules Wagman Cleveland Plain-Dealer)“20th-century science delivered a series of revolutions, none more instantaneous than the microseconds it took to explode the first atomic bomb. Today, many endeavors in fundamental research require large budgets, elaborate facilities, and huge staffs. This is a gripping biography of Big Science and of the people who originated it.” (Mario Livio, Astrophysicist, and author of Brilliant Blunders)"An informative and thou