True Genius: The Life and Science of John Bardeen: The Only Winner of Two Nobel Prizes in Physics by Vicki Daitch (PDF)

Description

What is genius? Define it. Now think of scientists who embody the concept of genius. Does the name John Bardeen spring to mind? Indeed, have you ever heard of him?

Like so much in modern life, immediate name recognition often rests on a cult of personality. We know Einstein, for example, not just for his tremendous contributions to science, but also because he was a character, who loved to mug for the camera. And our continuing fascination with Richard Feynman is not exclusively based on his body of work; it is in large measure tied to his flamboyant nature and offbeat sense of humor.

These men, and their outsize personalities, have come to erroneously symbolize the true nature of genius and creativity. We picture them born brilliant, instantly larger than life. But is that an accurate picture of genius? What of others who are equal in stature to these icons of science, but whom history has awarded only a nod because they did not readily engage the public? Could a person qualify as a bona fide genius if he was a regular Joe?

The answer may rest in the story of John Bardeen.

John Bardeen was the first person to have been awarded two Nobel Prizes in the same field. He shared one with William Shockley and Walter Brattain for the invention of the transistor. But it was the charismatic Shockley who garnered all the attention, primarily for his Hollywood ways and notorious views on race and intelligence.

Bardeen’s second Nobel Prize was awarded for the development of a theory of superconductivity, a feat that had eluded the best efforts of leading theorists—including Albert Einstein, Neils Bohr, Werner Heisenberg, and Richard Feynman. Arguably, Bardeen’s work changed the world in more ways than that of any other scientific genius of his time. Yet while every school child knows of Einstein, few people have heard of John Bardeen. Why is this the case?

Perhaps because Bardeen differs radically from the popular stereotype of genius. He was a modest, mumbling Midwesterner, an ordinary person who worked hard and had a knack for physics and mathematics. He liked to picnic with his family, collaborate quietly with colleagues, or play a round of golf. None of that was newsworthy, so the media, and consequently the public, ignored him.

John Bardeen simply fits a new profile of genius. Through an exploration of his science as well as his life, a fresh and thoroughly engaging portrait of genius and the nature of creativity emerges. This perspective will have readers looking anew at what it truly means to be a genius.

User’s Reviews

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

⭐I am a University of Illinois ECE alum who had the pleasure of a few lunches with John Bardeen while I was there….so I am probably not without my bias. That said…this is an incredibly well done book. Every aspect is well researched…references support every assertion and there is no speculation. This is in this respect very much unlike the Broken Genius by Joel N. Shurkin, a biography of William Shockley.Everything comes to life here…the excitement of the creation of the point contact transistor, the fury of the development of BCS theory. I had absolutely no doubt going into this book that John Bardeen was infinitely smarter than me…what was depressing was that he was also a much better human than me in every way…a better golfer, better father, more humble…His only flaw seems to be that his wife, Jane, wishes he had spent more time with her and perhaps slightly less passionate about physics. He even died the way I would like to die…suddenly at an advanced age.The authors mention that the BCS theory paper, which was the basis of his second Nobel Prize, is a masterpiece of modern physics. This prompted me to read that paper and I must agree…every property related to superconductivity was calculated. Were the paper done today by an untenured assistant professor, I would advise them to break it into 5 papers…for good reasons…it is all here.I thank the authors for taking such care with such an important figure of history.p.s. with regard to the suspected U of I bias of the authors, I would say this…WILLIAM SHOCKLEY, BY HIS OWN ADMISSION, HAD NOTHING TO DO WITH THE INVENTION OF THE TRANSISTOR!

⭐This is an important biography of the great American physicist, John Bardeen,who was awarded two Nobel Prizes in physics, the only one to receive two awards in the same field. Bardeen was my thesis advisor. Although a theoretician, he enjoyed working with experimentalists; daily he came into the laboratory to study my data and to help me solve experimental problems that may have arisen during the course of the work. John was greatly missed when he went on his visits as a consultant to the then Bell Labs., General Electric Research Lab., Xerox (then Haloid) Research Lab., and others.Though the authors are not scientists, early on Bardeen had asked Lillian Hoddeson to write his biography; whenever anyone offered to write his biography, he would mention that Hoddeson was working on one. In preparing the biography, Hoddison & Daitch had approached anyone across the planet who had had contact with John Bardeen.In writing to John from Vienna to congratulate him on his second award, I interjected that my concern had been that he might suffer the same fate as the physicists who first proposed that the electron has spin. Goudamit & Uhlenbeck had proposed that the electron has spin and a magnet moment but never did receivea Nobel Prize for this fundamental discovery. Goudsmit had mentioned more than oncethat people often assumed he had won a Nobel Prize. Apparently the Nobel Committee decided towait a dozen years until The Theory of Superconductivity had been sufficiently tested. It almost got to the point that if the data did not agree with the theory, it was the data that were spurious.

⭐As a person trained in Physics and Mathematics, I have long known (heard of) John Bardeen and really enjoyed reading this book. One can only aspire to emulate him in his human as well as scientific qualities. Such people are rare and it’s a great pity that relatively few have heard of him compared to movies stars and other celebrities. His contributions have shaped the modern world immensely and touch the lives of so many people.Revathi Ananthakrishnan

⭐Very readable. While the topic is quite technical, there are many insights into the academic and mentoring path taken by Nobel Prize winners. It has a great focus on the period which I believe was the most scientifically productive especially in physics and mathematics; the 1920’s and 1930’s. Well worth the read.

⭐John Bardeen was certainly a remarkable man on both the intellectual and human levels. Despite having to his credit such groundbreaking achievements as the invention of the transistor and the explanation of superconductivity, certainly more than most scientists can claim, he is scarcely known. The aim of this book is to shed light on the life, environment, work and persona of this gentle giant. The book starts at the root of Bardeen’s ancestry, a bit of US history involved, and moves chronologically with his life. The book succeeds in drawing a portrait of Bardeen as a successful family man, athlete, colleague and of course scientist. A remarkable thing to take home from reading this book is the authors’ description of Bardeen’s method of tackling problems i.e. thorough investigation of previous work, breaking the problem into smaller pieces and struggling through till the end. An impressive trait of Bardeen’s that is made very clear is his kind, helpful and encouraging attitude towards his students and younger colleagues. The first few chapters of the book are very engrossing, e.g. problems with Shockley, but the later chapters discussing Bardeen’s industrial and government contribution were a bit boring. I found myself skipping through them. Being nonscientisits, the authors explanation of Bardeen’s scientific work is not as good as it should be but it still gives the reader a feeling of the problems. All said, this is one book I definitely enjoyed and would recommend to anyone. Physicists and electronics engineers will love this book.

⭐Libro que divaga demasiado. Apenas habla de la vida de Bardeen.

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⭐Der Inhalt des Buches ist überraschenderweise interessant als ich erwartet habe. Definitiv zu empfehlen, nicht nur für Physiker sonder auch allgemein!

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⭐最終章で表題のように真の天才とは何かを問うが、全巻を挙げて故John Bardeen教授の一生を追う。Bardeen教授は、その道ではEinsteinに劣らぬ評価の人だが、一般にはあまり知られていない。能力は天才だが人柄は平凡で一般人には面白くない人だったからかも知れないと本書はいう。Bardeen教授はTransistorの発明で1956年に、超伝導（超低温で電気抵抗がゼロ）理論で1972年に、２つもNobel物理学賞を受けた。雑誌Lifeは「20世紀に最も影響を与えた米人100名」に数えている。 俺の一生記は彼女に書かせると教授が言っていた親交の著者が、教授を偲ぶ席上で出席者から促され、教授に関する公私の資料を徹底的に収集し10年かけて書き上げた大冊だ。数学に滅法強く飛び級していた子供時代から、83歳で亡くなる直前まで現役の研究者だった晩年まで、資料に基づいて生涯を詳述している。 Transistorの発明や超伝導理論の臨場感あふれる詳しい経緯が面白い。結果的に教授が間違っていた論争や研究の経緯も余さず描いている。教授の結婚生活・家庭生活など私生活にも詳しい。それらを通じて、真の天才とは教授のような人だと結論づけている。 467頁の大冊だ。文献紹介の頁が多いとはいえ本文だけでも329頁ある。しかし意外に飽きさせないのは資料に基づく臨場感のおかげであろう。また一節ごとによく纏まっているので、部分的な通読・精読の切り替えも容易である。理論物理に土地勘のある読者には比類なく面白い本だと思うが、そうでなくても理科系に興味があり多読を厭わない人には、読む時間を投資して惜しくない本だ。

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