Moments in the Life of a Scientist [Paperback]

During recent decades, our vision of the world of physics - from the subatomic world to the cosmos - has undergone a profound evolution.During recent decades, our vision of the world of physics - from the subatomic world to the cosmos - has undergone a profound evolution. In this book, one of the scientists who contributed to this development narrates the story of his life and his work.During recent decades, our vision of the world of physics - from the subatomic world to the cosmos - has undergone a profound evolution. In this book, one of the scientists who contributed to this development narrates the story of his life and his work.Bruno Rossi has long been an influential figure in diverse areas of physics and in this volume he presents a fascinating account of his life and work as an experimental physicist. He discusses his scientific contributions, from experiments that played a major role in establishing the nature and properties of cosmic rays to those establishing the existence of a solar wind and others that laid the foundations of X-ray astronomy. Rossi provides close insight into his actual experiences as a scientist and the motivations that gave direction to his research, and he recounts the beginning of very significant stages in high energy physics and space research. He writes evocatively of the many places where he worked--of Florence, Arcetri, Padua, and Venice, of the mountains of Colorado and the deserts of New Mexico. His narrative also provides insight into the life of a Jewish family in fascist Italy. The text is accompanied by photographs taken throughout Rossi's career.List of plates; Foreword; Preface; Prehistory; 1. Arcetri (192832); 2. Padua, Copenhagen, Manchester; 3. Physics of elementary particles in the Age of Innocence (193946); 4. Los Alamos (194346); 5. Cosmic rays at MIT (1946 ); 6. Physics in space; Postscript; As for me & Nora Rossi; Index. ...a fascinating document, not only for those of us who have also worked with coslC"