|
The Strangest Man: The Hidden Life of Paul Dirac, Mystic of the Atom |  | Author: Graham Farmelo
Publisher: Basic Books
List Price: $29.95
Buy New: $18.00
as of 11/22/2009 21:24 CST details
You Save: $11.95 (40%)
New (24) Used (8) from $16.99
Seller: restonfriends
Rating:  15 reviews
Sales Rank: 1740
Media: Hardcover
Pages: 560
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.9
Dimensions (in): 9.3 x 6.2 x 1.9
ISBN: 0465018270
Dewey Decimal Number: 530.092
EAN: 9780465018277
ASIN: 0465018270
Publication Date: August 25, 2009
Shipping: Eligible for FREE Super Saver Shipping
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
| |
| Features:
|
| Also Available In:
|
| Similar Items:
| |
| Editorial Reviews:
Product Description
Paul Dirac was among the great scientific geniuses of the modern age. One of the discoverers of quantum mechanics, the most revolutionary theory of the past century, his contributions had a unique insight, eloquence, clarity, and mathematical power. His prediction of antimatter was one of the greatest triumphs in the history of physics. One of Einstein’s most admired colleagues, Dirac was in 1933 the youngest theoretician ever to win the Nobel Prize in physics. Dirac’s personality is legendary. He was an extraordinarily reserved loner, relentlessly literal-minded and appeared to have no empathy with most people. Yet he was a family man and was intensely loyal to his friends. His tastes in the arts ranged from Beethoven to Cher, from Rembrandt to Mickey Mouse. Based on previously undiscovered archives, The Strangest Man reveals the many facets of Dirac’s brilliantly original mind. A compelling human story, The Strangest Man also depicts a spectacularly exciting era in scientific history.
|
| Customer Reviews:
Showing reviews 1-5 of 15
 An Extraordinary Biography of a Perplexing Scientific Genius November 9, 2009
Paul Halpern (Philadelphia, PA)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Graham Farmelo's biography of Dirac is a grand accomplishment--a fascinating account of a brilliant physicist who said practically nothing about himself. While many biographers rely on extensive records of personal reflections by the subjects themselves to piece together their chronicles, Dirac was legendary for his economy of words. Thus it is amazing that Farmelo has produced such a complete, coherent and compelling work. Dirac's silent spirit drifts through the tale like aether, reacting to the events around him in strangely dispassionate ways (with regard to modern art, culture and philosophy, for example), but occasionally lights up with anger at injustices done to him and others. Throughout the tale, Dirac's accomplishments are clearly presented, and his regrets (such as the presence of infinities in quantum electrodynamics) discussed at length. In short, Farmelo's biography offers an intriguing glimpse into the workings of a highly unusual mind.
-Paul Halpern, author of Collider: The Search for the World's Smallest Particles
 Enjoyable biography November 9, 2009
J. Morris (North Alabama)
Currently 1/2 way through, very enjoyable + fascinating biography of a great era in science I doubt we'll ever see again.
A great scientist and unusual man gets a seemingly endless biography November 8, 2009
Jerry Saperstein (Evanston, IL USA)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
There is no doubt that Paul Dirac was one of the 20th Century's most significant physicists, one of a group who discovered quantum mechanics. There is also no doubt that Dirac was a very odd fellow indeed, taciturn and removed. Graham Farmelo provides an exhaustively detailed biography of the great scientist. The misfortune for me is that I found Farmelo's writing style and penchant for detail exhausting. It took me weeks to get through this book because I simply couldn't manage more than a few pages at a time without becoming drowsy. I finished a number of other books during the same period. It is not poor editing that rendered Farmelo such a drudge to read, but overly copious detail.
True, Farmelo gives us an incredibly detailed review about how Dirac spent his life, the environment of his family home, his lodgings at university, his penchant for long walks and their routes; interminable, exhausting detail that really, in my eyes, adds nothing to my understanding of Dirac.
However, when he isn't preoccupied with the route of one of Dirac's long walks, Farmelo does explain in terms a layperson can understand Dirac's accomplishments, his collaborations, the fights and rows within the scientific community, the importance of his discoveries and work and much else. This makes Farmelo's contribution invaluable and interesting as well.
I was barely aware of Dirac when I started this book and, having finished it, now have a far greater comprehension of his importance to the 20th Century science and the making of the world we live in with its technology, much of which stems from Dirac's discoveries.
Overall a truly excellent biography even if I found many parts of it sleep inducing.
Jerry
A Humane Biography November 4, 2009
Jebediah Springfield (Plainsboro, NJ)
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
This is a biography of Paul Dirac, one of the founders of quantum mechanics, whose contributions to fundamental physics in the first half of the twentieth century are among the finest gems of human thought. It is important to emphasize from the very start that this is not really a scientific biography of Dirac. Instead, it is a wonderfully humane and personal biography of the man. Dirac's science is certainly mentioned, but the author is careful to remain brief and unassuming in his descriptions of the science which are smoothly incorporated into the main story line. This is one of the many merits of this beautiful narrative as it allows even those among us with no scientific background to enjoy the work without any sense of loss.
The biography follows Dirac throughout his life from his early childhood in Bristol to his final years in Florida. The most striking thing one notes early on are the extremely detailed descriptions, evidence to the tremendous amount of work Farmelo must have devoted to researching his subject. But, the details are never allowed to coagulate into an unswallowable mix. Instead, they are masterfully laid out and serve to create a vivid picture of the era and environment. Whether it is the family dinners in Dirac's childhood or his years in Cambridge as a college Don, the narrative is lively and animated to the point that we almost feel as if we are present there with Dirac through his pains, efforts, and triumphs. In this regard, the biography is an absolute success.
While I believe many would enjoy this book, this is especially true for anyone who dabbled in physics, even if only through popular books. Dirac is a household name for physicists, but so far no authoritative biography was available. "Dirac" stories and anecdotes surface in conversations here and there and form a "physics" folklore of sorts. This book is certain to be to "Dirac" folklore what the Grimm brothers have become to german folk tales. It contains a myriad of new "Dirac" stories to relish and memorize and be told over (otherwise boring) dinners with colleagues.
I strongly recommend this book to physicists, who might care for the subject more than others, but also to anyone else who is interested to peer into the life and works of a great mind.
Fascinating October 26, 2009
William R. Franklin (Timonium, MD USA)
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
Paul Dirac possessed one of the most profound intellects in history, virtually single handedly creating the fields of relativistic quantum mechanics and quantum field theory. But his extraordinarily introverted personality and complete lack of interest in anything outside theoretical physics have left him essentially invisible to the public eye. Even physicists familiar with his stunning achievements know almost nothing about his private life. Hence, Graham Farmelo's wonderful new biography is most welcome indeed.
Carefully researched and very well written with an engaging style, the text flows like a well crafted novel. Not only does this work provide valuable insights into the nature and, often tragic, life of "the strangest man" (as Bohr was said to have called him) but conveys something of the atmosphere in the academic centres (Cambridge, Göttingen, Copenhagen) where the dramatic events in the early history of quantum mechanics took place.
Perhaps inevitably in a work of this length, Mr. Farmelo occasionally stumbles. He asserts that the great Pakistani physicist Abdus Salam was a student of Dirac when, in fact, Salam did his Ph.D. under Paul Matthews and Nicolas Kemmer. And he incorrectly attributes the first explanation of the Lamb shift to Richard Feynman and Julian Schwinger when the honour belongs to Hans Bethe. Such errors, however, do not adversely impact the significance and enjoyment of the book. Indeed, if a genuine criticism can be applied, it is in the uselessness of attempting to explain Dirac's scientific contributions to laymen. This is hardly the fault of Mr. Farmelo. It is simply that quantum field theory cannot be understood without the requisite higher mathematics. Fortunately, such diversions are mercifully few and do not affect the flow.
This book is heartily recommended to anyone interested in the history of science and the development of a great mind.
Showing reviews 1-5 of 15
|
|
|
|
Return to Math.com | |
