The Joy of Insight: Passions of a Physicist (Alfred P. Sloan Foundation Series)
This worldly, humane, modestly told autobiography records the charmed life of one of the founders of modern physics. Austrian-born Weisskopf, who helped invent the atomic bomb at Los Alamos, became one of the first and sharpest voices warning of the perils of a nuclear arms race. This pioneer in particle physics believes, like his mentor Niels Bohr, that mystical and spiritual experiences are complementary to the scientific approach;he is a pianist with a deep love of classical music. Weisskopf worked with many great scientists--Bohr, Heisenberg, Pauli, Fermi--and directed the CERN particle-smashing laboratory in Geneva. Raised in a comfortable, assimilated Jewish family, he saw the post-WW I culture of Vienna and Berlin eclipsed by Nazi barbarism. Now an MIT emeritus professor, he views scientific enterprise within the context of a world that overemphasizes the rationalist side of things.Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.