What Little I Remember

This characterful book of reminiscences sheds an engagingly personal light on the people and events behind some of the greatest scientific discoveries of this century.

Otto Frisch took part in some of the most momentous developments in modern physics, notably the discovery of nuclear fission (a term which he coined). His work on the first atom bomb, which he saw explode in the desert 'like the light of a thousand suns', brought him into contact with figures such as Robert Oppenheimer, Edward Teller, Richard Feynman and the father of electronic computers, John von Neumann. He also encountered the physicists who had made the great discoveries of recent generations: Einstein, Rutherford and Niels Bohr. This characterful book of reminiscences sheds an engagingly personal light on the people and events behind some of the greatest scientific discoveries of this century, illustrated with a series of fascinating photographs and witty sketches by the author himself.

Preface; 1. Vienna 1904–1927; 2. Atoms; 3. Berlin 1927–1930; 4. Hamburg 1930–1933; 5. Nuclei; 6. London 1933–1934; 7. Denmark 1934–1939; 8. Denmark 1934–1939; 9. Energy from the nuclei; 10. Birmingham 1939–1940; 11. Liverpool 1940–1943; 12. Los Alamos 1943–1945; 13. Los Alamos 1943–1945; 14. Research resumed; 15. Return to England; 16. Cambridge 1947– … ; Further reading; Acknowledgements; Index.

Otto Frisch took part in some of the most momentous developments in modern physics, notably the discovery of nuclear fission (a term which he coined). This characterful book of reminiscences sheds an engagingly personal light on the people and events behind some of the greatest scientific discoveries of this century, illustrated with a series of fascinating photographs and witty sketches by the author himself.