A Force of Nature: The Frontier Genius of Ernest Rutherford

by Richard Reeves

Overview

"Starred Review. Reeves deploys his considerable writing skill in portraying Rutherford's personality ... capturing the full aspect of the man."—Booklist

Born in colonial New Zealand, Ernest Rutherford grew up on the frontier—a different world from Cambridge, to which he won a scholarship at the age of twenty-four. His work revolutionized modern physics. Among his discoveries were the orbital structure of the atom and the concept of the "half-life" of radioactive materials. Rutherford and the young men working under him were the first to split the atom, unlocking tremendous forces—forces, as Rutherford himself predicted, that would bring us the atomic bomb. In Richard Reeves's hands, Rutherford comes alive, a ruddy, genial man and a pivotal figure in scientific history.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780393076042
Publisher:	Norton, W. W. & Company, Inc.
Publication date:	12/17/2008
Series:	Great Discoveries
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	208
File size:	480 KB

About the Author

Richard Reeves, an award-winning historian and columnist, is the author of many books, including President Reagan: The Triumph of Imagination. He is a senior lecturer at the Annenberg School for Communication at the University of Southern California. He splits his time between New York City and Santa Monica, California.

Editorial Reviews

New Zealand–born Ernest Rutherford (1871-1937) was a small-town boy who became a Nobel Prize winner in chemistry and "the father of modern physics." Richard Reeves's intellectual biography describes the essence of Rutherford's scientific breakthroughs, but this award-winning chronicler of Kennedy, Nixon, and Reagan places these achievements within their human and political context. A fascinating addition to the Great Discoveries series.

"Richard Reeves, in his wonderfully lucid style, renders the genius of Ernest Rutherford, who exposed the inner workings of the atom. A great experimentalist and mentor, Rutherford gave birth to the atomic age in his labs, and Reeves captures the drama, personalities, and science."

Walter Isaacson

Reeves deploys his considerable writing skill in portraying Rutherford’s personality [and] capturing the full aspect of the man.”

Booklist (starred review)