Genius in the Shadows : A Biography of Leo Szilard : The Man Behind the Bomb - Hardcover

William Lanouette

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0684190117 ISBN 13: 9780684190112

Publisher: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1992

Synopsis

A detailed but highly accessible account of the life and work of the great scientist (1898-1964) associated both with the development of nuclear power and, later, with its control based on some 200 interviews, exclusive family records and photos, archival research, and more than 300 personal letters from Szilard to his wife that were discovered in 1987. Lanouette's (senior energy policy analyst, US GAO) collaborator, Bela Silard, is Leo Szilard's brother. Annotation copyright Book News, Inc. Portland, Or.

About this title

About the Author:

William Lanouette has written about atomic energy and arms control for more than two decades. Publications he has written for include the Atlantic, the Economist, New York Magazine, and the Washington Post. He holds a BA in English from Fordham University and a MSc and a PhD in politics (comparative government) from the London School of Economics. He lives in San Diego, California.

Review:

““Lanouette's book is eminently readable. . . . An excellent book spiced with telling anecdotes about a strange man who influenced world history.”” (Max F. Perutz - New York Review of Books)

““A wonderful book about this endlessly fascinating man . . . one of the most entertaining stories in recent years. . . . A keeper.”” (Dick Teresi - New York Times Book Review)

““Lanouette's exhaustively researched and artfully written account of one of the most underrated figures of the atomic age establishes Szilard as both a curmudgeon and a posthumously honored prophet.”” (Gregg Herken - Nature)

““In this comprehensive study, science writer Lanouette and Silard, the subject's brother, cast welcome light on the physicist's career and character . . . readers will find Szilard to be a 'curious and human character' whose engagement with his work and its consequences was so profound that it can make other figures of the era seem hollow.”” (Publisher's Weekly)

““William Lanouette . . . has written the most sensitive and lively biography. . . . The book gives an excellent picture of the man, and makes most interesting reading. I strongly recommend it.”” (Hans Bethe - Physics Today)

About this edition

• Publisher: Charles Scribner's Sons
• Publication date: 1992
• ISBN 10: 0684190117
• ISBN 13: 9780684190112
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 588