The Physicists
by Daniel J. Kevles
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This magnificent account of the coming of age of physics in America has been heralded as the best introduction to the history of science in the United States. Unsurpassed in its breadth and literary style, Kevles's account portrays the brilliant scientists who became a powerful force in bringing the world into a revolutionary new era. The book ranges widely as it links these exciting developments to the social, cultural, and political changes that occurred from the post-Civil War years to show more the present. Throughout, Kevles keeps his eye on the central question of how an avowedly elitist enterprise grew and prospered in a democratic culture. In this new edition, the author has brought the story up to date by providing an extensive, authoritative, and colorful account of the Superconducting Super Collider, from its origins in the international competition and intellectual needs of high-energy particle physics, through its establishment as a multibillion-dollar project, to its termination, in 1993, as a result of angry opposition within the American physics community and the Congress. show lessTags
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An excellent exemplar of the cultural history of a profession and its cohorts.
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6+ Works 580 Members
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Awards
Common Knowledge
- Canonical title
- The Physicists
- Dedication
- For Bettyann, Beth, and Jonathan, who have little known this dancer from this dance.
- First words
- Shortly before the nation's centennial, Joseph Henry, the physicist and secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, white-haired and wise, was stirred to reflect: The surprise is not "that science has made comparatively little ... (show all)advance among us, but that...it should have made so much."
- Last words
- (Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)However far the nation's physicists had come in status, power, prestige, and professional accomplishment since Joseph Henry's day, as the republic moved ahead into its third century they remained a special establishment in American life, destined to function in uneasy tension with the democracy from which they derived vitality, sustenance, and purpose.
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- Members
- 186
- Popularity
- 175,464
- Reviews
- 1
- Rating
- (3.65)
- Languages
- English
- Media
- Paper, Ebook
- ISBNs
- 5
- ASINs
- 2
