Sam Goudsmit and the Hunt for Hitler's Atom Bomb [Hardcover]

A fascinating scientific discovery. Hunting for a German atomic bomb during World War II. And an extraordinary life story. Martijn van Calmthouts book on physicist Samuel Goudsmit has it all. And it shows that there is much more to the history of science than just well-known names like Isaac Newton and Albert Einstein.Florian Freistetter, astronomer and author of Isaac Newton, the Asshole Who Reinvented the UniverseThis remarkably interesting and important book tells the fascinating story of an accomplished scientist of the quantum era who becomes enmeshed in the Allied effort to uncover the Nazis atomic bomb secrets. With its complex plot and inherent drama and intrigue, it would make a riveting screenplay.Christopher T. Hill, Distinguished Scientist, Fermilab, and coauthor of Beyond the God ParticleThe makings of a great movie are in this story of a prominent physicist, the Jewish Dutch Sam Goudsmit, who was sent to Europe after D-day with the mission of finding out just how close the Germans were to building their own atomic bomb. With bullets still flying, Goudsmit and his Alsos team tracked down secret laboratories, stashes of uranium, a nascent reactor, and the scientistsincluding one of the worlds great physicists, Werner Heisenberg, who was believed to be running the Nazi program. Goudsmit was tracking down old friends and colleagues.Joel N. Shurkin, author of True Genius: The Life and Work of Richard Garwin, the Most Influential Scientist Youve Never Heard of?A vivid account of how physics research was conducted before the discovery of quantum mechanics, and the intriguing story of the Allies effort to ascertain whether Germany was in possession of an atom bomb, this book also recounts the turbulent science politics of the postwar era while telling the life story of Sam Goudsmit.Josef Eisinger, physicist, historian of science, author of?Einstein on the Road, and editor/translator of?Einstein at HomeOffers intriguing insights into the failelCĪ