The Master of Light: A Biography of Albert A. Michelson


Book Description

In this biography of Albert A. Michelson (1852-1931), his daughter shares personal reminiscences, describes her father’s family life — two wives, six children, and a strong temperament — and follows Michelson from his birth in Poland to Jewish parents to the United States where his parents brought him at the age of three, settling in a gold-rush town in Nevada and then in San Francisco. Michelson graduated from the US Naval Academy in 1873, studied in Europe, taught at Clark University, and was head of the department of physics at the University of Chicago from 1894 to 1929. Michelson’s passion was the accurate measurement of the speed of light. In his first experiment, he found it to be 186,320 miles per second, which remained the best value available for a generation, until Michelson himself bettered it. He also invented the interferometer to measure distances using the length of light waves; he measured the meter using the wavelength of cadmium light for the International Bureau of Weights and Measures in Paris; and he used light interference to determine the size of stars. With E. W. Morley, he showed that the absolute motion of the earth through the ether is not measurable, contributing to the development of the theory of relativity. The first American to receive a Nobel prize in science, Michelson received the Nobel prize in physics in 1907 for his optical precision instruments and for the spectroscopic and metrological investigations he made with them. “This work of a devoted daughter who is not herself a scientist catches the humanity of a complex, brilliant man through anecdotes and informed detail.” — The New York Times “From personal recollection, from much reading, and from interviews, Mrs. Livingston has written a well-organized scientific biography of her father... In this book the author has attempted not only to discuss his scientific achievements, but also to portray Michelson the man — his personality and character, strengths and foibles. He was dedicated but demanding and could be arrogant, strict, and severe... This book portrays Michelson not as a legend, but as a real, believable person.” — John N. Howard, Science “[A] beautiful family portrait of Albert Abraham Michelson, America’s first Nobel laureate for science. This biography is more than an intellectual exercise, more than merely of academic or scientific or historical interest. It is almost a religious work that begins with a ‘quest for my father’ and ends with a ‘postscript’ on Michelson’s honors and continuing influence... an intelligently organized, emotionally motivated, intellectually controlled search for meaning in the life and works of a great man of science... Michelson’s youngest daughter by his second marriage, has presented a sensitive, artful, honest, and superbly readable portrait of her father... [which] paints the full life, personal relations, and human figure of Michelson in a form that is a worthy monument to his memory... We learn to know much more intimately where Michelson originated, how he matured, who recognized and helped him, what personal influences shaped his life, when and where his own exertions were influential in shaping the life of physics in the United States and the world... the author has been remarkably judicious and meticulous in handling her material.” — Loyd S. Swenson, Jr., Isis “A non-physicist herself, [the author] has relied heavily on physicists who were familiar with her father’s work and with the field of optics in general, as well as archivists, historians of science, writers and editors. Thus, this thorough biography is the fortunate combination of the efforts of many people, resulting in a valuable reference work as well as a very readable story about one of America’s greatest scientists... Its merit lies in the masterful way the author has melded voluminous information from many sources into a sensitive and realistic portrait of Michelson, showing him as a very real person with strengths and weaknesses, and showing his relation to scientists and the science of his period. It is a book well written and well worth reading by physicists and non-physicists alike.” — Jean M. Bennett, Physics Today “Mrs Livingston, Michelson’s last child by his second wife, is, as she says, neither a physicist nor a writer. Her book nonetheless has something for both the general reader and the specialist. The former will find an interesting and even adventurous life, the latter some gems from unpublished correspondence.” — J. L. Heilbron, The British Journal for the History of Science “The biography is a well-researched, accurate, and reliable work enhanced by the author’s invaluable first-hand experience with the subject. Michelson’s achievements are set against his personal life including his family, relationships to other scientists, and the struggles which inevitably develop in establishing a college science department.” — George T. Ladd, The Science Teacher “This excellent biography by Michelson’s youngest daughter is a judicious mixture of anecdotes and details of the scientific achievements... Dorothy Livingston is to be congratulated on this very readable and informative biography of her talented father.” — W. W. Watson, American Scientist “[An] admirable biography of Michelson the man... most fascinating.” — David R. Topper, Technology and Culture




Chicago Portraits


Book Description

The famous, the infamous, and the unjustly forgotten—all receive their due in this biographical dictionary of the people who have made Chicago one of the world’s great cities. Here are the life stories—provided in short, entertaining capsules—of Chicago’s cultural giants as well as the industrialists, architects, and politicians who literally gave shape to the city. Jane Addams, Al Capone, Willie Dixon, Harriet Monroe, Louis Sullivan, Bill Veeck, Harold Washington, and new additions Saul Bellow, Harry Caray, Del Close, Ann Landers, Walter Payton, Koko Taylor, and Studs Terkel—Chicago Portraits tells you why their names are inseparable from the city they called home.




The Physicists


Book Description

This magnificent account of the coming of age of physics in America has been heralded as the best introduction to the history of science in the United States. Unsurpassed in its breadth and literary style, Kevles's account portrays the brilliant scientists who became a powerful force in bringing the world into a revolutionary new era. The book ranges widely as it links these exciting developments to the social, cultural, and political changes that occurred from the post-Civil War years to the present. Throughout, Kevles keeps his eye on the central question of how an avowedly elitist enterprise grew and prospered in a democratic culture. In this new edition, the author has brought the story up to date by providing an extensive, authoritative, and colorful account of the Superconducting Super Collider, from its origins in the international competition and intellectual needs of high-energy particle physics, through its establishment as a multibillion-dollar project, to its termination, in 1993, as a result of angry opposition within the American physics community and the Congress.




Einstein's Pathway to the Special Theory of Relativity


Book Description

This book pieces together the jigsaw puzzle of Einstein’s journey to discovering the special theory of relativity. Between 1902 and 1905, Einstein sat in the Patent Office and may have made calculations on old pieces of paper that were once patent drafts. One can imagine Einstein trying to hide from his boss, writing notes on small sheets of paper, and, according to reports, seeing to it that the small sheets of paper on which he was writing would vanish into his desk-drawer as soon as he heard footsteps approaching his door. He probably discarded many pieces of papers and calculations and flung them in the waste paper basket in the Patent Office. The end result was that Einstein published nothing regarding the special theory of relativity prior to 1905. For many years before 1905, he had been intensely concerned with the topic; in fact, he was busily working on the problem for seven or eight years prior to 1905. Unfortunately, there are no surviving notebooks and manuscripts, no notes and papers or other primary sources from this critical period to provide any information about the crucial steps that led Einstein to his great discovery. In May 1905, Henri Poincaré sent three letters to Hendrik Lorentz at the same time that Einstein wrote his famous May 1905 letter to Conrad Habicht, promising him four works, of which the fourth one, Relativity, was a rough draft at that point. In the May 1905 letters to Lorentz, Poincaré presented the basic equations of his 1905 “Dynamics of the Electron”, meaning that, at this point, Poincaré and Einstein both had drafts of papers relating to the principle of relativity. The book discusses Einstein’s and Poincaré’s creativity and the process by which their ideas developed. The book also explores the misunderstandings and paradoxes apparent in the theory of relativity, and unravels the subtleties and creativity of Einstein.







Astronomers and Cosmologists


Book Description

In this book, a breakdown of the life and work of some of history's pioneers in the study of astronomy and cosmology are thoroughly explored. This volume provides excellent biographical sketches for trailblazers in the sciences. Articles are devoted to specific scientists, covering the contributions to their field, specifically addressing how their research, discoveries, and inventions impacted human understanding and experience. This historical review includes scientists from around the world and throughout the centuries, with a chapter specifically devoted to the top scientific contributors of the 21st century.




The Command of Light


Book Description

Henry Rowland (1848-1901) was one of the most important figures in the founding of modern physics in the U.S. A principal founder and first pres. of the Amer. Physical Soc., he is best known for his invention of the concave spectral grating for which he won a gold medal and grand prize at the 1890 Paris Exposition. A grad. of Rensselaer Polytechnic Inst. in civil engineering, Rowland was prof. of physics at Johns Hopkins Univ., where he had the principal part in forming the first school of Amer. physicists to be professionally trained in the U.S. In this vol., Sweetnam, using Rowland's papers and those of his colleagues and students, has written the first scholarly exposition of Rowland's work.




The Ten Most Beautiful Experiments


Book Description

A dazzling, irresistible collection of the ten most groundbreaking and beautiful experiments in scientific history. With the attention to detail of a historian and the storytelling ability of a novelist, New York Times science writer George Johnson celebrates these groundbreaking experiments and re-creates a time when the world seemed filled with mysterious forces and scientists were in awe of light, electricity, and the human body. Here, we see Galileo staring down gravity, Newton breaking apart light, and Pavlov studying his now famous dogs. This is science in its most creative, hands-on form, when ingenuity of the mind is the most useful tool in the lab and the rewards of a well-considered experiment are on exquisite display.




The Rise of Robert Millikan: Portrait of a Life in American Science


Book Description

“I do not consider myself to be Robert Millikan’s biographer. This book is not a full record of Millikan’s life or even of his scientific career. It is an essay, very selective, on themes that are illustrated and illuminated by Millikan’s life in American science. It is, as well, a portrait of the development of a scientist... Robert Millikan was among the most famous of American scientists; to the public of the 1920s, Millikan represented science. The first American-born physicist to win the Nobel Prize, Millikan was a leader in the application of scientific research to military problems during World War I and a guiding force in the rise of the California Institute of Technology to a preeminent place in American scientific education and research. His life is therefore peculiarly suited to illuminate and provide texture for the vast changes that have taken place in science during the twentieth century. In this extended essay, I employ the biographical mode to explore several important aspects of this theme. Millikan was successively a teacher, researcher, administrator, entrepreneur, and sage. By describing the novel roles that he assumed, I suggest how science grew in complexity and carved out an essential place for itself in our general culture.” — Robert H. Kargon, from the Preface of The Rise of Robert Millikan: Portrait of a Life in American Science “Professor Kargon... has given us a sympathetic account of Millikan’s scientific career, including his great triumphs, his rearguard actions to defend untenable positions, and the eventual rejection or revision of every major result or standpoint. But he is more concerned with Millikan’s influence on the developing American physics community and with Millikan’s role in advancing American science generally and American higher education... Together with the chemist A.P. Noyes and the astronomer G.E. Hale, Millikan... believed in an American scientific destiny... This picture of American science is presented with great insight, tremendous learning, and wit... Professor Kargon’s book strikes a happy balance between being an interpretive story of a scientific life and a social history of science in America. Every reader interested in science or in the place of science in society will come away from this book with new information, important insights and a better understanding of the growth of scientific ideas and institutions in the twentieth century.” — I. Bernard Cohen, Nature “With the publication of this volume by Kargon, readers now have new and valuable access to much material about Millikan that was previously unavailable... Kargon states that he is not writing a biography of Millikan but rather a portrait of the man and the scientific scene in early 20th-century America... he has succeeded well in this endeavor... the book is well written, and readers who are already reasonably conversant with 20th-century developments in physics will find much that is illuminating... a genuine contribution to the history of science.” — Katherine R. Sopka, American Scientist “[H]ere is an admirable piece of work... Kargon has not sought to make his readers like his subject, but only to understand his scientific style, his achievements, and his character, and to perceive how his life was ‘a microcosm of new roles assumed by the scientist during the course of the twentieth century’... Kargon’s [...] insights [are] important, and his book [is] deserving of a careful study. “ — Robert C. Post, The American Historical Review “A useful corrective to Millikan’s self-portrait that reveals some of the blemishes, as well as the embellishments, of an important life in American science.” — Robert W. Seidel, Science “For over thirty years, the only overview of Millikan’s life available to the layman was his own selective autobiography. That book either omitted or told only one side (sometimes biased by hindsight) of many important controversial episodes associated with his achievements and views... Kargon’s portrait-essay deals with some of these neglected incidents in a well-written and coherent manner aimed at a wide readership.” — John L. Michel, Technology and Culture “A very readable work with the virtue of containing a great deal of information in a brief compass. Kargon’s book deserves and will receive a wide audience as the successor to its subject’s autobiography... [Kargon] also merits credit for interesting discussions on Millikan as a statesman, administrator, and spokesman for science... a clearly first-rate narrative...” — Nathan Reingold, Isis “Admirably, Kargon combines institutional with intellectual history... Kargon offers a fascinating discussion of Millikan’s and George Hale’s contributions to war research, the California Institute of Technology, and the Mount Wilson Observatory. Kargon rightly stresses the collaborators’ links with the leaders of finance and industry developing Los Angeles... as a brief sketch of Millikan the scientific institution builder, Kargon’s book deserves the wide audience he seeks.” — Peter Galison, The Journal of American History “The book leaves us in no doubt about [Millikan’s] ability, but does not gloss over his occasional obstinacy or his wishful thinking about past errors, matters on which some histories tend to be silent. Millikan was not a revolutionary who started new ideas, but the author stresses — rightly — the importance of men like him for the progress of science.” — Rudolf Peierls, The New York Review of Books “A gem of a book — thought-provoking, insightful, highly interesting reading.” — Lawrence Badash, University of California, Santa Barbara “The author skillfully weaves the story of Millikan with the story of modern science in a book that will be well received by a variety of audiences from professional historians of science to the general public.” — Choice “Kargon’s background in physics serves him well in placing Millikan’s work in its theoretical context, in the analysis of the work itself, and in generally managing to capture both the intense excitement and the routine involved in testing the ideas of the giants of that period in physics... Kargon... has certainly opened enough questions in this perceptive work — in addition to the large number that he has settled; and he has demonstrated an important use for the biographical mode. The general American historian as well as the historian of science can profit from reading this volume.” — George H. Daniels, The Historian “Robert Millikan’s scientific career, his character, and his roles as teacher, administrator at the California Institute of Technology, entrepreneur, and public figure are the topics covered in this biography. Even in discussing Millikan’s later decline as a front-line scientist, author Robert Kargon treats the scientist with compassion and fairness and portrays him as a many-faceted, often controversial man with doubts and uncertainties at the height of his fame... The high school physics student will find this book engaging and insightful in its description of a scientist struggling with science, self, and society.” — A. Cordell Perkes, The Science Teacher “[V]ery well researched and written. Robert Kargon gives an excellent picture of the rise of American physics, from the years when every aspiring young American physicist wanted to go to Germany to study, to the years when every aspiring young European physicist wanted to come to the United States for the same purpose. He clearly understands science, yet knows how to present its history so that it is interesting and meaningful to non-scientists. He tells not only of Millikan’s triumphs, but of his doubts as well; of his discoveries, and also of his mistakes... All in all, this is an excellent book, strongly recommended to the reader who is interested in the history of American science, and in the life of an outstanding practitioner of it.” — Donald E. Osterbrock, The Wisconsin Magazine of History




The Who's Who of Nobel Prize Winners, 1901-2000


Book Description

The Who's Who of Nobel Prize Winners is a one-stop source of detailed information on the men and women who earned the Nobel Prize during the 20th century. Organized chronologically by prize, each extensive article contains in-depth information on the laureate's life and career as well as a selected list of his or her publications and biographical resources on the individual. A concise commentary explains why the laureate received the award and summarizes the individual's other important achievements. This completely updated edition also contains a history of the prize. Four indexes distinguish this title from similar biographical references and enable researchers to search by name, education, nationality or citizenship, and religion.




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