Epstein Secrets

e. In 1918, when Fermi graduated from high school in Rome, the possi- bilities open to a brilliant young scientific mind were far less constrained. Quantum mechanics had just been born, new ideas were everywhere, and the rigorous mathematics necessary to deal with these ideas had not yet been developed

a great deal. It is one of the key reasons we exist today. Henri Becquerel discovered radioactivity in uranium in 1896, and only three years later Ernest Rutherford discerned that radioactivity oc- curred in two different types, which he labeled alpha and beta rays. A year later gamma rays were discovered, and R

experimental physicists to have been over- looked for a Nobel Prize. Geiger had begun his career by doing the experiments, with Ernest Marsden, that Ernest Rutherford utilized to discover the existence of the atomic nucleus. Geiger had just returned from England, where ■ worked with Rutherford, to direct a new l

at MIT, and head of its Program in Science, Technology & Society. He is the author of How the Hippies Saved Physics: Science, Counterculture, and the Quantum Revival and American Physics and the Cold War Bubble (forthcoming). Seth Lloyd is a theoretical physicist at MIT, Nam P. Suh Professor in the Depart

ere!” The claim represents a foolhardy bet against human ingenuity. We have made such bets before and lost. On September 11, 1933, renowned physicist Ernest Rutherford stated, with utter confidence, “Anyone who expects a source of power from the transformation of these atoms is talking moonshine.” On September 12, 1

at MIT, and head of its Program in Science, Technology & Society. He is the author of How the Hippies Saved Physics: Science, Counterculture, and the Quantum Revival and American Physics and the Cold War Bubble (forthcoming). Seth Lloyd is a theoretical physicist at MIT, Nam P. Suh Professor in the Depart

ere!” The claim represents a foolhardy bet against human ingenuity. We have made such bets before and lost. On September 11, 1933, renowned physicist Ernest Rutherford stated, with utter confidence, “Anyone who expects a source of power from the transformation of these atoms is talking moonshine.” On September 12, 1