20th Century Physics: Essays and Recollections : A Selection of Historical Writings (Edoardo Amaldi Foundation Series, Vol. 3)

Major events and personalities of 20th-century physics are portrayed in the recollections and in the historiographical works of one of the prominent figures of European science. A former student of Enrico Fermi, and a leading personality of physical research and science policy in postwar Italy, Edoardo Amaldi devoted part of his activity to document, both as witness and as historian, some significant moments of 20th-century science. The focus in this volume is on the European scene, ranging from nuclear research in Rome in the 1930s to particle physics at CERN, and including biographies of such physicists as Ettore Majorana, Bruno Touschek and Fritz Houtermans.