Genius in the Shadows: A Biography of Leo Szilard, the Man Behind the Bomb
- ISBN-10
- 1626360235
- ISBN-13
- 9781626360235
- Category
- Biography & Autobiography
- Pages
- 658
- Language
- English
- Published
- 2013-09-03
- Publisher
- Skyhorse
- Author
- William Lanouette
Description
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 Hitler’s 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.
Get the book
Other editions
Similar books
-
The Shadow of the Torturer: Urth: Book of the New Sun Book 1
By Gene WolfeCouple this with an original and unique, highly imaginative and complex worldbuilding and the high praise is warranted' Goodreads reviewer, ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ 'This is a picaresque fantasy with a difference, for our hero Severian is no ...
-
In the Shadow of Genius: The Brooklyn Bridge and Its Creators
Named a Gift Book for the Discerning New Yorker by The New York Times In the Shadow of Genius is the newest book by photographer and author Barbara Mensch. The author combines her striking photographs with a powerful first-person narrative.
-
Shadows: A Novel
By John SaulA plan so horrifying, no one will believe it. No one but the children. And for them it is already too late. Too late, unless one young student can resist the seductive invitation that will lead... into the Shadows.
-
Singer in the Shadows: The Strange Story of Patience Worth
By Irving LitvagThe story of one of the world’s strangest psychic phenomena: a St. Louis housewife dictated seven books and thousands of poems purporting to come from the spirit of a 17th century Englishwoman.
-
All Shadows Fled: The Shadow of the Avatar
By Ed GreenwoodAt last, the chaos of spilled blood, lawless strife, monsters unleashed, and avatars roaming Faerûn is reaching an end. However, this is not the case for Those Who Walk in Shadow.
-
The Book of Air and Shadows: A Novel
By Michael GRUBERA fire destroys a New York City rare bookstore—and reveals clues to a treasure worth killing for.
-
The Book of Blood and Shadow
By Robin WassermanWhen Nora Kane discovers her best friend murdered and her boyfriend the apparent killer, she is caught up in a web of secret societies and conspirators, all searching for a device purported to allow direct communication with God.
-
Complicated Shadows: The Life And Music Of Elvis Costello
By Graham Thomsoncomposer Richard Harvey, scheduled for transmission on Channel Four in the summer of 1991. Elvis had acted for Bleasdale before, and the two shared similar, left-wing values. 'They have an enormous amount of respect for each other,' ...
-
Shadow and Bone
By Leigh BardugoOrphaned by the Border Wars, Alina Starkov is taken to become the protegâe of the mysterious Darkling, who trains her to join the magical elite in the belief that she is the Sun Summoner, who can destroy the monsters of the Fold.
-
Blair Witch: Book of Shadows
By D. A. SternIn October 1994, three student filmmakers disappeared in the woods near Burkittsville, Maryland, while shooting a documentary.