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True Genius: The Life and Work of Richard Garwin, the Most Influential Scientist You've Never Heard of
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Prometheus 2017
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Richard Garwin was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Barack ObamaCalled a "true genius" by Enrico Fermi, Richard Garwin has influenced modern life in far-reaching ways, yet he is hardly known outside the physics community. This is the first biography of one of America's great minds—a top physicist, a brilliant technological innovator, and a trusted advisor of presidents for sixty years. Among his many contributions to modern technology are innovations we now take for granted: air-traffic control systems, touch screens, color monitors, laser printers, GPS satellite navigation, and many other facets of everyday contemporary life.But certainly his most important work has been on behalf of nuclear disarmament. As a key member of the Los Alamos team that developed the hydrogen bomb (he created the final design), Garwin subsequently devoted much of his career to ensuring that nuclear weapons never again be used. He has spent hundreds of hours testifying before Congress, serving on government advisory committees, and doing work that is still classified, all the while working for IBM as a researcher. A genuine polymath, his ideas extend from propulsion systems for interplanetary flight to preventing flu epidemics. Never shy about offering his opinions, even to rigid government bureaucracies unwilling to change, Garwin continues to show leaders how to do the smart thing. The world is a more interesting and safer place because of his many accomplishments.
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Format:
Adobe EPUB eBook, Kindle Book, OverDrive Read
Street Date:
02/21/2017
Language:
English
ISBN:
9781633882249
ASIN:
B01G0GBDTY
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Citations
APA Citation (style guide)

Joel N. Shurkin. (2017). True Genius: The Life and Work of Richard Garwin, the Most Influential Scientist You've Never Heard of. Prometheus.

Chicago / Turabian - Author Date Citation (style guide)

Joel N. Shurkin. 2017. True Genius: The Life and Work of Richard Garwin, the Most Influential Scientist You've Never Heard Of. Prometheus.

Chicago / Turabian - Humanities Citation (style guide)

Joel N. Shurkin, True Genius: The Life and Work of Richard Garwin, the Most Influential Scientist You've Never Heard Of. Prometheus, 2017.

MLA Citation (style guide)

Joel N. Shurkin. True Genius: The Life and Work of Richard Garwin, the Most Influential Scientist You've Never Heard Of. Prometheus, 2017.

Note! Citation formats are based on standards as of July 2022. Citations contain only title, author, edition, publisher, and year published. Citations should be used as a guideline and should be double checked for accuracy.
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title
True Genius
fullDescription
Richard Garwin was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Barack ObamaCalled a "true genius" by Enrico Fermi, Richard Garwin has influenced modern life in far-reaching ways, yet he is hardly known outside the physics community. This is the first biography of one of America's great minds—a top physicist, a brilliant technological innovator, and a trusted advisor of presidents for sixty years. Among his many contributions to modern technology are innovations we now take for granted: air-traffic control systems, touch screens, color monitors, laser printers, GPS satellite navigation, and many other facets of everyday contemporary life.But certainly his most important work has been on behalf of nuclear disarmament. As a key member of the Los Alamos team that developed the hydrogen bomb (he created the final design), Garwin subsequently devoted much of his career to ensuring that nuclear weapons never again be used. He has spent hundreds of hours testifying before Congress, serving on government advisory committees, and doing work that is still classified, all the while working for IBM as a researcher. A genuine polymath, his ideas extend from propulsion systems for interplanetary flight to preventing flu epidemics. Never shy about offering his opinions, even to rigid government bureaucracies unwilling to change, Garwin continues to show leaders how to do the smart thing. The world is a more interesting and safer place because of his many accomplishments.
reviews
      • premium: True
      • source: Kirkus
      • content:

        December 1, 2016
        The life and work of "an expert in technology" who is largely forgotten outside the world of physics.Richard Garwin (b. 1928) was Enrico Fermi's favorite student, and he worked with theoretical physicist Edward Teller and played a central role in developing the hydrogen bomb at Los Alamos. A brilliant experimenter and inventor, he made important contributions to physics but never won a Nobel Prize or created controversy, so few beyond the scientific community have honored him. Science writer Shurkin (Broken Genius: The Rise and Fall of William Shockley, Creator of the Electronic Age, 2006, etc.) will probably not change matters, but readers will enjoy his compelling biography of an extraordinarily talented scientist. A prodigy from childhood, Garwin was a 23-year-old with a doctorate when, assigned by Teller, he designed the first workable model for a fusion device. Teller spent his life in a successful battle to take credit for the H-bomb; consequently, except among colleagues, Garwin's work was unknown. In his definitive account of the H-bomb, Dark Sun (1995), Richard Rhodes "missed it because no one told him about it." Even Shurkin, a skilled writer, strains to explain Garwin's promotion of the mathematical algorithm called the Fast Fourier Transform, now "a common tool in virtually every aspect of science and technology." Readers will have no trouble recognizing the laser printer, GPS, touch screen, and virtual reality helmet, developed during Garwin's long career at IBM (the latter two were rejected by superiors but smash hits for rival companies a generation later). By the 1960s, he was a valued science consultant to presidents, regularly telling them what they didn't want to hear and, despite his H-bomb history, working to promote disarmament. A fine biography of a man who played an essential role in post-World War II American science and deserves to be better known.

        COPYRIGHT(2016) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

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Richard Garwin was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Barack ObamaCalled a "true genius" by Enrico Fermi, Richard Garwin has influenced modern life in far-reaching ways, yet he is hardly known outside the physics community. This is the first biography of one of America's great minds—a top physicist, a brilliant technological innovator, and a trusted advisor of presidents for sixty years. Among his many contributions to modern technology are innovations we now take for granted: air-traffic control systems, touch screens, color monitors, laser printers, GPS satellite navigation, and many other facets of everyday contemporary life.But certainly his most important work has been on behalf of nuclear disarmament. As a key member of the Los Alamos team that developed the hydrogen bomb (he created the final design), Garwin subsequently devoted much of his career to ensuring that nuclear weapons never again be used. He has spent hundreds of hours testifying before...
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