The Martians of Science: Five Physicists Who Changed the Twentieth Century 1st Edition by Istvan Hargittai (PDF)

Description

If science has the equivalent of a Bloomsbury group, it is the five men born at the turn of the twentieth century in Budapest: Theodore von K�rm�n, Leo Szilard, Eugene Wigner, John von Neumann, and Edward Teller. From Hungary to Germany to the United States, they remained friends and continued to work together and influence each other throughout their lives. As a result, their work was integral to some of the most important scientific and political developments of the twentieth century.They were an extraordinary group of talents: Wigner won a Nobel Prize in theoretical physics; Szilard was the first to see that a chain reaction based on neutrons was possible, initiated the Manhattan Project, but left physics to try to restrict nuclear arms; von Neumann could solve difficult problems in his head and developed the modern computer for more complex problems; von K�rm�n became the first director of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, providing the scientific basis for the U.S. Air Force; and Teller was the father of the hydrogen bomb, whose name is now synonymous with the controversial “Star Wars” initiative of the 1980s. Each was fiercely opinionated, politically active, and fought against all forms of totalitarianism. Istv�n Hargittai, as a young Hungarian physical chemist, was able to get to know some of these great men in their later years, and the depth of information and human interest in The Martians of Science is the result of his personal relationships with the subjects, their families, and their contemporaries.

User’s Reviews

Reviews from Amazon users which were colected at the time this book was published on the website:

⭐As the daughter of the book’s author, I bring an unusual perspective to this piece, one that will give you some background on how this book came about and why you will be in for a treat when reading it.My father knew two of the five Martians discussed in this volume (Wigner and Teller) and had expressed a great interest in the work and lives of all five (Szilard, von Neumann, von Karman in addition to the above two) throughout his life. Curiously, however, despite having written numerous books about scientists, he never intended to write a book about these five until Oxford University Press approached him about it. When he finally took up this project, he threw himself into it with zest. When the book was near completion, he met with almost all of the surviving children of the Martians, not to change anything but to get an additional impression of their personalities. A byproduct of the book was a play he wrote about Teller, which surprised even me despite being used to his occasional unusual ideas.Looking back, the Martians were always on my father’s mind, and he cherished his long-lasting personal acquaintance with Eugene P. Wigner. (Even as a child, I remember seeing the picture of the two of them taken upon their encounter at the University of Texas at Austin in 1969.) The family legend had it that we might be distant relatives, but there was never any hard evidence for that. My father started correspondence with Wigner when he was still a student, well before I was born. Actually, Wigner wrote him first after my father had published an article in a Hungarian literary magazine soon after Wigner’s Nobel Prize. My father’s acquaintance with Teller came much later, when he and my mother visited the Tellers in their home in Stanford in 1996.Having read The Martians of Science, I feel as if I had become personally acquainted with all five of the people discussed in the volume. It is fascinating to see that such incredible people emerge from just one country to contribute so much to science and to the defense of the United States. It is sad that they were forced out of Hungary, where even today – while their achievements are being recognized – the reasons of their departures are often covered up. This book puts these things into proper perspective.For an engaging, detailed, and passionate account of the lives of five incredibly important figures (regarding both science and history), I highly recommend this book.

⭐Book had a different cover than what is shown in the picture, but overall it was a in a good condition.

⭐This is an excellent book, about Jewish Hungarian scientists.

⭐I will not repeat the report of the book content others have covered well. I thoroughly enjoyed learning much more about the individuals and both the many common elements and the differences in their backgrounds, educations and careers. The author does not go into detail about their scientific works so those of us without expertise are not lost. While reading I thought often of the expertise these men possessed and if we are developing scientists of similar ability today. The only reason I give it 4 stars rather than 5 is that my Kindle edition had problems. It did not link to footnotes so those could only be reached using the go to location function. The back button in some cases returned to unexpected places. And the previous page button also sometimes went back somewhere other than a page. I had to be constantly checking the location where I was reading so if I ended up somewhere unexpected I could get back quickly. This was distracting. The current Kindle price is over 50% higher than I paid in early June so I wonder if there is an updated Kindle edition? Obviously for those buying the hard or paperback editions this reduction of a star would be irrelevant.

⭐”The Martians of Science: Five Physicists Who Changed the Twentieth Century”, by Istavan Hargittai, Oxford Univ. Press, NY 2006. ISBN 13 978-0-19-517845-6. HC 314/240 pages includes Preface, Contents, Intro., Appendix 12 pgs., Notes 36 pgs., Biblio. 6 pgs., Chronologies 7 pgs., & Index 12 pgs. 9.5″ x 6.5″A cleverly devised treatise details five of the Worlds’ most notable theoretical physicists – all began as Jewish Hungarian citizens of Budapest who, in time, migrated to the U.S., toiled collectively and separately to develop strategic defense systems including the atomic & hydrogen bombs, computers, modernized Airforce, and establishing or working at the AEC, NASA, JPL, Manhattan Project, Livermore, Los Alamos, Oak Ridge, etc.Convenient attribute of this writing is its apportionment into six chapters to reveal their progressive transition from early childhood into figures of greatness and thence onto their waning years. It reflects their family influences, societal environs, politico-economic conditions, scholastic opportunities, and acceptance into American cultural institutions as Princeton, Harvard, Berkeley, Caltech and the U.S. military.The plethora of B & W photographs contributes enormously to the book’s value as does appendix of “Sampler of Quotable Martians”. Perhaps most importantly are descriptors of personal interactions amongst the Martians themselves. This book embraces exciting history, racism, psychological ploys of embattled nations & bureaucracies, and the search for peace amidst glorious and sometimes inglorious purlieus. That the author is an acclaimed writer, recognized scientist, Professor of chemistry, authored several dozen books and is personally acquainted with and interviewed several of the ‘Martians’ is a plus. Its a good read and the price is right.

⭐Well researched and well written, inevitably focussed somewhat excessively or repeatedly on the US atomic program. I would have preferred greater detail of the individuals’ scientific contributions but recommended nevertheless for the historic role and the future impact of a small group of people. Quite an engrossing read given the subject matter

⭐I was very impressed with this well researched book about these gifted Hungarian physicists who helped save our democratic world. Every page was a pleasure to read. Enjoy!

⭐I Bought this book for a friend who likes this sort of thing – he was very happy with it.

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