The Pope of Physics: Enrico Fermi and the Birth of the Atomic Age

Gino Segre · Bettina Hoerlin

Feb 2017 · Tantor Media Inc · Narrated by Tim Campbell

About this audiobook

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. The last physicist who mastered all branches of the discipline, Fermi was a rare mixture of theorist and experimentalist. His rich legacy encompasses key advances in fields as diverse as comic rays, nuclear technology, and early computers. In their revealing book, The Pope of Physics, Gino Segre and Bettina Hoerlin bring this scientific visionary to life. 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.

About the author

Gino Segre has a bachelor's degree in physics from Harvard, attended the Massachusetts Institute of Technology for graduate school, and spent time in Europe for postdoctoral work. He began teaching at the University of Pennsylvania in 1967. A long-term interest in history led him to begin writing about science history.

Bettina Hoerlin holds a doctorate in policy sciences and taught at the University of Pennsylvania for seventeen years, having previously served as health commissioner of Philadelphia. She was also a visiting professor at Haverford College. She lives with her husband, physicist Gino Segre, in Philadelphia.

Tim Campbell is the Audie and AudioFile Earphones Award-winning voice of hundreds of audiobook titles in almost every literary genre.