The Pontecorvo affair
Subtitle: a cold war defection and nuclear physics
By: Simone Turchetti
Publisher: The University of Chicago Press
Published: 2012
Place of publication: Chicago; London
Language: eng
Number of pages: 292
ISBN-13: 9780226816647
Subjects: Nuclear physicists; Biography; Spies
Work titles: Caso Pontecorvo
Description: In 1950, Italian-born nuclear physicist Bruno Pontecorvo defected to the Soviet Union. Was he a spy? Did he pass on sensitive information about the bomb to Soviet experts? Investigations at the time were inconclusive. This book draws on newly disclosed sources to challenge previous attempts to solve the case.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references and index.
Table of contents: title: The silent quake; title: The training of a nuclear physicist; title: Neutrons for peace and neutrons for war; title: Under surveillance; title: Ten million reasons to disappear; title: Play it up or down? : confronting the Pontecorvo affair; title: A political motive; title: Bruno Maximovich and Professor Pontecorvo; title: Conclusions: the noisy echo of secrecy.