biographies of scientists
Discover the greatest scientific minds through captivating biographies, from Walter Isaacson's *Einstein* to the genius of Feynman and Marie Curie. Explore curated books on physicists, mathematicians, and groundbreaking discoveries that reveal the human stories behind science's biggest breakthroughs. Perfect for fans of intellectual history and STEM inspiration.
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Einstein
by Walter Isaacson
The first full biography of Albert Einstein since all of his papers have become available shows how his scientific imagination sprang from the rebellious nature of his personality. Biographer Isaacson explores how an imaginative, impertinent patent clerk-
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Genius
by James Gleick
To his colleagues, Richard Feynman was not so much a genius as he was a full-blown magician: someone who âdoes things that nobody else could do and that seem completely unexpected.â The path he cleared for twentieth-century physics led from the making of the atomic bomb to a Nobel Prize-winning theory of quantam electrodynamics to his devastating exposĂ© of the Challenger space shuttle disaster. At the same time, the ebullient Feynman established a reputation as an eccentric showman, a master safe cracker and bongo player, and a wizard of seduction. Now James Gleick, author of the bestselling Chaos, unravels teh dense skein of Feynmanâs thought as well as the paradoxes of his character in a biographyâwhich was nominated for a National Book Awardâof outstanding lucidity and compassion.
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Classic Feynman
by Richard Phillips Feynman
An omnibus edition of classic adventure tales by the Nobel Prize-winning physicist includes his exchanges with Einstein and Bohr, ideas about gambling with Nick the Greek, and solution to the Challenger disaster, in a volume complemented by an hour-long audio CD of his 1978 "Los Alamos from Below" lecture. 30,000 first printing.
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The Man Who Knew Infinity
by Robert Kanigel
NOW A MAJOR MOTION PICTURE STARRING JEREMY IRONS AND DEV PATEL! A moving and enlightening look at the unbelievable true story of how gifted prodigy Ramanujan stunned the scholars of Cambridge University and revolutionized mathematics. In 1913, a young unschooled Indian clerk wrote a letter to G H Hardy, begging the preeminent English mathematician's opinion on several ideas he had about numbers. Realizing the letter was the work of a genius, Hardy arranged for Srinivasa Ramanujan to come to England. Thus began one of the most improbable and productive collaborations ever chronicled. With a passion for rich and evocative detail, Robert Kanigel takes us from the temples and slums of Madras to the courts and chapels of Cambridge University, where the devout Hindu Ramanujan, "the Prince of Intuition," tested his brilliant theories alongside the sophisticated and eccentric Hardy, "the Apostle of Proof." In time, Ramanujan's creative intensity took its toll: he died at the age of thirty-two, but left behind a magical and inspired legacy that is still being plumbed for its secrets today.
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The Electric Life of Michael Faraday
by Alan Hirshfeld
Tells the story of Michael Faraday, who was a poor, uneducated bookbinder's apprentice who overcame adversity and class prejudice in nineteenth-century England to emerge as the greatest experimental scientist of his day.
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Prime Obsession
by John Derbyshire
The definitive story of the Riemann Hypothesis, a fascinating and epic mathematical mystery that continues to challege the world. In 1859, Bernhard Riemann, a little-known thirty-two year old mathematician, made a hypothesis while presenting a paper to the Berlin Academy titled âOn the Number of Prime Numbers Less Than a Given Quantity.â Today, after 150 years of careful research and exhaustive study, the Riemann Hyphothesis remains unsolved, with a one-million-dollar prize earmarked for the first person to conquer it. Alternating passages of extraordinarily lucid mathematical exposition with chapters of elegantly composed biography and history, Prime Obsession is a fascinating and fluent account of an epic mathematical mystery that continues to challenge and excite the world.
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Obsessive Genius: The Inner World of Marie Curie (Great Discoveries)
by Barbara Goldsmith
Through family interviews, diaries, letters, and workbooks that had been sealed for over sixty years, Barbara Goldsmith reveals the Marie Curie behind the mythâan all-too-human woman struggling to balance a spectacular scientific career, a demanding family, the prejudice of society, and her own passionate nature. Obsessive Genius is a dazzling portrait of Curie, her amazing scientific success, and the price she paid for fame. The best-selling, "excellent . . . poignantâand scientifically lucidâ portrait" (New York Times Book Review) of the remarkable Marie Curie.... "Never a dull moment. . . . Goldsmith leads the reader through a wonderland of facts with just the right blend of science and story. In the end, the mystery of the great Madame [Curie] remains, but a deeper understanding of what she went through as a woman and a scientist shines as strong as her radium."âSan Francisco Chronicle "Bestselling historian Goldsmith incisively chronicles [Curie's] intensely dramatic life. . . . Her powerful portrait reveals a woman of great passion, genius, and pain who changed the world."âBooklist, starred review