Big Science: Ernest Lawrence and the Invention that Launched the Military-Industrial Complex
Language: English
Published by Simon & Schuster, 2015
- Hardcover
- Used
Seller: World of Books (was SecondSale), Montgomery, IL, U.S.A.World of Books (was SecondSale)
AbeBooks seller since December 20, 2007
Condition: Used - Good
£ 3.46
Quantity: 5 available
Add to basketItem description from seller
The epic story of how science went big and the forgotten genius who started it all--entertaining, thoroughly researched.partly a biography, partly an account of the influence of Ernest Lawrence's great idea, partly a short history of nuclear physics and the Bomb (The Wall Street Journal). Since the 1930s, the scale of scientific endeavor has grown exponentially. The first particle accelerator could be held in its creator's lap, while its successor grew to seventeen miles in circumference and cost ten billion dollars. We have invented the atomic bomb, put man on the moon, and probed the inner workings of nature at the scale of subatomic particles--all the result of Big Science, the model of industrial-scale research paid for by governments, departments of defense, and corporations that has driven the great scientific projects of our time. The birth of Big Science can be traced nearly nine decades ago in Berkeley, California, when a young scientist with a talent for physics declared, I'm going to be famous His name was Ernest Orlando Lawrence. His invention, the cyclotron, would revolutionize nuclear physics, but that was only the beginning of its impact, which would be felt in academia, industry, and international politics. It was the beginning of Big Science. An exciting book.A bright narrative that captures the wonder of nuclear physics without flying off into a physics Neverland.Big Science is an excellent summary of how physics became nuclear and changed the world (The Plain Dealer, Cleveland). This is the absorbing and expansive (Los Angeles Times) story that is important for understanding how science and politics entwine in the United States.with striking details and revealing quotations (The New York Times Book Review).…
Seller Inventory # 00100214303
- Title
- Big Science: Ernest Lawrence and the Invention that Launched the Military-Industrial Complex
- Author
- Michael Hiltzik
- Publisher
- Simon & Schuster
- Publication year
- 2015
- Condition
- Good
- Binding
- Hardback
- Language
- English
- ISBN 10
- 1451675755
- ISBN 13
- 9781451675757
Since the 1930s, the scale of scientific endeavors has grown exponentially. Machines have become larger, ambitions bolder. The first particle accelerator cost less than one hundred dollars and could be held in its creator’s palm, while its descendant, the Large Hadron Collider, cost ten billion dollars and is seventeen miles in circumference. Scientists have invented nuclear weapons, put a man on the moon, and examined nature at the subatomic scale—all through Big Science, the industrial-scale research paid for by governments and corporations that have driven the great scientific projects of our time.
The birth of Big Science can be traced to Berkeley, California, nearly nine decades ago, when a resourceful young scientist with a talent for physics and an even greater talent for promotion pondered his new invention and declared, “I’m going to be famous!” Ernest Orlando Lawrence’s cyclotron would revolutionize nuclear physics, but that was only the beginning of its impact. It would change our understanding of the basic building blocks of nature. It would help win World War II. Its influence would be felt in academia and international politics. It was the beginning of Big Science.
This is the incredible story of how one invention changed the world and of the man principally responsible for it all. Michael Hiltzik tells the riveting full story here for the first time.
"Synopsis" may belong to another edition of this title.
Review
"Michael Hiltzik tells an epic story, one with arenas of tragedy as well as triumph, and he tells it well."--Richard Rhodes, Pulitzer Prize-winning historian
"20th-century science delivered a series of revolutions, none more instantaneous than the microseconds it took to explode the first atomic bomb. By framing this story--and the development of the cyclotron that made it possible--from the Lawrence/Livermore perspective rather than the Oppenheimer/Los Alamos perspective that has dominated most accounts, Michael Hiltzik sheds fresh light on the transition from small science to big science that we take for granted today. Especially timely is a fascinating account of Lawrence's attempt to return to small science: how do you encourage a small group of scientists to produce big results, rather than the other way around?"--George Dyson, author of Turing's Cathedral: The Origins of the Digital Universe
"An astonishing story. . . . Compelling characters abound."--Jon Butterworth "Nature "
"The author of several books on the interplay of society and technology, Hiltzik is best at making the science of Lawrence's lab accessible to the reader."--Gregg Herken "The Washington Post "
"Lucidly written. . . . Hiltzik's tale is important for understanding how science and politics entwine in the United States, and he moves it along efficiently, with striking details and revealing quotations."--Robert P. Crease "The New York Times Book Review "
"This is an astonishing story: US physicist Ernest Lawrence is at its core, but its scope is broad and full of context and characters."--Jon Butterworth "Nature "
"Absorbing and expansive. . . . Beyond the sheer thrill of the story, Hiltzik's delightful book is invaluable as a basis for reckoning how Big Science can persevere and evolve."--Jonathon Keats "The Los Angeles Times "
"As Michael Hiltzik's commanding new analysis argues, Lawrence was far more than just another scientist tinkering with another machine. . . . Hiltzik has written not so much a biography as a study of Lawrence's role in broader questions involving postwar science and politics."--Alexandra Witze "Dallas Morning News "
Lucidly written. . . . Hiltzik s tale is important for understanding how science and politics entwine in the United States, and he moves it along efficiently, with striking details and revealing quotations. --Robert P. Crease "The New York Times Book Review ""
"About the title" may belong to another edition of this title.
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