Overview

Here is a lively history of modern physics, as seen through the lives of thirty men and women from the pantheon of physics. William H. Cropper vividly portrays the life and accomplishments of such giants as Galileo and Isaac Newton, Marie Curie and Ernest Rutherford, Albert Einstein and Niels Bohr, right up to contemporary figures such as Richard Feynman, Murray Gell-Mann, and Stephen Hawking. We meet scientists--all geniuses--who could be gregarious, aloof, unpretentious, friendly, dogged, imperious, generous to colleagues or contentious rivals. As Cropper captures their personalities, he also offers vivid portraits of their great moments of discovery, their bitter feuds, their relations with family and friends, their religious beliefs and education. In addition, Cropper has grouped these biographies by discipline--mechanics, thermodynamics, particle physics, and others--each section beginning with a historical overview. Thus in the section on quantum mechanics, readers can see how the work of Max Planck influenced Niels Bohr, and how Bohr in turn influenced Werner Heisenberg. Our understanding of the physical world has increased dramatically in the last four centuries. With Great Physicists, readers can retrace the footsteps of the men and women who led the way.

Full Product Details

9780195173246

Table of Contents

Reviews

This book provides encapsulated histories of 30 physicists who have made major contributions to the development of physics over the last five centuries, from Galileo to Hawking. ... This has the wonderful effect of laying out the development of physics in an exciting continuous stream, interweaving the social and scientific lives of all the scientists very effectively. The individual chapters are scholarly yet brief, concise and to the point, focusing on the crucial life events and the major scientific breakthroughs. ... We need something like this for mathematics now! -Mathematical Reviews

This book provides encapsulated histories of 30 physicists who have made major contributions to the development of physics over the last five centuries, from Galileo to Hawking. ... This has the wonderful effect of laying out the development of physics in an exciting continuous stream, interweaving the social and scientific lives of all the scientists very effectively. The individual chapters are scholarly yet brief, concise and to the point, focusing on the crucial life events and the major scientific breakthroughs. ... We need something like this for mathematics now! -Mathematical Reviews

Thirty renowned figures are put under the spotlight by Prof Cropper and their genius is explored to show how they have changed our understanding of life and the universe. The physicists range from Galileo with his discoveries that were considered blasphemous, right through to Stephen Hawking who has pioneered new research into and understanding of black holes and cosmology. Cropper's skill is in putting a human face to people who blazed trails while largely remaining anonymous in terms of their personal qualities. He reveals that they were a pretty eccentric bunch though not without their winning ways. Some could be friendly and affable, others would happily filch the work of underlings and put their own names to it. The book reads like a Who's Who of greatness but it has the benefit of the sort of depth and substance not normally found when looking only at the achievements of Einstein and so on.(Kirkus UK)

Author Information

William H. Cropper is Professor Emeritus of Chemistry at St. Lawrence University. He lives in Saugerties, New York.

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