Genius in the Shadows (eBook)

A Biography of Leo Szilard, the Man Behind the Bomb

William Lanouette (Autor)

eBook Download: EPUB

2013
604 Seiten
Skyhorse Publishing (Verlag)
978-1-62873-477-5 (ISBN)

Infos

Well-known names such as Albert Einstein, Enrico Fermi, J. Robert Oppenheimer, and Edward Teller are usually those that surround the creation of the atom bomb. One name that is rarely mentioned is Leo Szilard, known in scientific circles as father of the atom bomb. The man who first developed the idea of harnessing energy from nuclear chain reactions, he is curiously buried with barely a trace in the history of this well-known and controversial topic.Born in Hungary and educated in Berlin, he escaped Hitlers Germany in 1933 and that first year developed his concept of nuclear chain reactions. In order to prevent Nazi scientists from stealing his ideas, he kept his theories secret, until he and Albert Einstein pressed the US government to research atomic reactions and designed the first nuclear reactor. Though he started his career out lobbying for civilian control of atomic energy, he concluded it with founding, in 1962, the first political action committee for arms control, the Council for a Livable World.Besides his career in atomic energy, he also studied biology and sparked ideas that won others the Nobel Prize. The Salk Institute for Biological Studies in La Jolla, California, where Szilard spent his final days, was developed from his concepts to blend science and social issues.

Produkt-Details

• Erscheint lt. Verlag: 1.9.2013
• Co-Autor: Bela Silard
• Sprache: englisch
• Themenwelt: Literatur ► Biografien / Erfahrungsberichte
• Themenwelt: Literatur ► Romane / Erzählungen
• Themenwelt: Sachbuch/Ratgeber ► Geschichte / Politik
• Themenwelt: Sachbuch/Ratgeber ► Natur / Technik
• Themenwelt: Geschichte ► Allgemeine Geschichte ► 1918 bis 1945
• Themenwelt: Geschichte ► Teilgebiete der Geschichte ► Militärgeschichte
• Themenwelt: Naturwissenschaften ► Physik / Astronomie ► Atom- / Kern- / Molekularphysik
• Schlagworte: advanced studies • american hero • american prometheus • atom bombs • Atomic Age • Atomic Energy • Atomic Nucleus • Atomic physics • atomic power • atomic theory • Atomic Weapons • bomb project • brother frank • century physics • citizen scientists • Dark Sun • definitive history • energy commission • Enrico Fermi • famous letter • german scientists • hydrogen bomb • Iwo Jima • japanese cities • kai bird • kangaroo court • Leslie Groves • Manhatten Project • Military missions • modern nuclear ernest rutherford • nazi scientists • Neils Bohr • Niels Bohr • Nobel Laureates • Nobel prize • noble prize • Nuclear Age • nuclear chain • nuclear energy • nuclear fission • nuclear physics • nuclear reactor • nuclear research • nuclear scientists • oppenheimer's life • plutonium bombs • Political History • Robert Oppenheimer • school chemistry • science background • Science history • Scientific Development • scientific papers • scientific process • security clearance • theoretical physics 25th anniversary • thorou • thorough biography • trinity test • true genius • Von Neumann • Werner Heisenberg • WW II • wwii history
• ISBN-10: 1-62873-477-9 / 1628734779
• ISBN-13: 978-1-62873-477-5 / 9781628734775