Enrico Fermi: Th e Master Scientist by Jay Orear and others Enrico Fermi–The Master Scientist by Jay Orear Laboratory of Elementary Particle Physics Cornell University Copyright 2004 by Jay Orear Edited by Sue Pohl, Cornell Communication and Marketing Services Designed by Chad O’Shea, Cornell Business Services Published by The Internet-First University Press This manuscript is among the initial offerings being published as part of a new approach to scholarly publishing. The manuscript is freely available from the Internet-First University Press repository within DSpace at Cornell University at: http://dspace.library.cornell.edu/handle/1813/62 The online version of this work is available on an open access basis, without fees or restrictions on personal use. A professionally printed and bound version may be purchased through Cornell Business Services by contacting: [email protected] All mass reproduction, even for educational or not-for-profi t use, requires permission and license. For more information, please contact [email protected]. We will provide a downloadable version of this document from the Internet-First University Press. Ithaca, N.Y. January, 2004 Enrico Fermi: The Master Scientist Enrico Fermi: Th e Master Scientist Jay Orear Laboratory of Elementary-Particle Physics Cornell University, Ithaca, N.Y. 14853 Copyright September 2003 by Jay Orear Figure 1. Photo of Enrico Fermi while at Los Alamos. Note the smile and twinkle in his eyes, which were typical. It is as if we can tell what this man is like on the inside just from this photo. Courtesy Fermilab history of accelerator physics offi ce. Note: Nearly all of the fi gures can be seen by clicking on the following link: www. library.cornell.edu/dcaps/orear. Several index frames per page will appear. If you click on one of these mini-frames, it will fi ll up the entire screen at high resolution. Or if you click on the web address in the list of fi gures, it should also take you to the corresponding high-resolution image. i Enrico Fermi: The Master Scientist ii Enrico Fermi: The Master Scientist Contents Part A (according to Jay Orear) Chapter Page 1. Introduction ..................................................................................................1 2. The Cornell Fermi Symposium ................................................................3 3. The Four Student Reunions .......................................................................9 4. My First Meetings with Fermi .................................................................11 5. Orear, Rosenfeld, and Schluter ................................................................13 6. Other Examples of the Fermi Approach ................................................19 7. My Ph.D. Thesis .........................................................................................25 8. Fermi Intuition ...........................................................................................31 9. Fermi Humor .............................................................................................35 10. The Excited State of the Proton ...............................................................45 11. Fermi and Strong Focusing ......................................................................47 12. Fermi and Politics ......................................................................................49 13. Fermi and Religion ....................................................................................57 14. The Fermi Family ......................................................................................59 15. Fermi and Creativity .................................................................................63 List of Figures 1. Enrico Fermi while at Los Alamos (fi g. 1a.jpg) ........................................i 2. Group photo of the speakers at the Cornell Fermi Symposium ..........4 (Group Shot 1.jpg) 3. List of Fermi Nobel Prize winners ............................................................6 4. Second reunion of Fermi students (Fig. 2a.jpg) ...................................... 9 5. Contents of Orear, Rosenfeld, and Schluter .............................................9 6. Cover of Physics by Orear ........................................................................19 7. Contents of Notes on Statistics for Physicists ....................................... 22 8. Dick Feynman talking to Bob Wilson .....................................................23 9. Fermi’s trolley car in Chicago cyclotron ................................................ 25 10. T. D. Lee ...................................................................................................... 34 11. Dick Feynman lecturing at Cornell .........................................................36 12. Announcements of Fermi’s last two APS lectures ................................37 13. Energies of the world’s highest-energy accelerators ............................39 14. Central laboratory building at Fermilab ................................................40 15. Fermi’s ultimate accelerator .....................................................................41 16. Fermi’s jigsaw model of strong focusing ...............................................47 17. Fermi letter to Pegram accepting offer of Columbia professorship ..49 18. Fermi’s October 1954 press release .........................................................53 19. Birthplace and great-granddaughter of Enrico Fermi ..........................59 20. Fermi’s family tree .....................................................................................60 21. Wedding photo of Enrico and Laura ......................................................61 iii Enrico Fermi: The Master Scientist Part B (according to others) Chapter 16. Welcome to Cornell by Dale Corson ................................................................69 17. The Italian Navigator by Carl Sagan ............................................................... 71 18. Pilgrimages to Rome by Hans Bethe ............................................................... 75 19. Fermi and the Nuclear Age by Al Wattenberg ...............................................83 20. Fermi at Chicago by Valentine Telegdi ............................................................89 21. Fermi at Columbia, Los Alamos, and Chicago by Harold Agnew ............101 22. (1) Working with Fermi by Robert Wilson ....................................................107 (2) Fermi and Politics by Robert Wilson ........................................................113 23. The Fermi Family by Jane Wilson .................................................................. 117 24. Glimpses of Fermi in Chicago and Los Alamos by Dick Garwin ..............121 25. Fermi and Technology by John Peoples ........................................................125 26. A Different Perspective by Nella Fermi ........................................................ 129 27. Comments of Some Former Grad Students by Art Rosenfeld ..................139 28. Glicksman Comment by Maurice Glicksman ............................................. 141 29. Wolfenstein Comment by Lincoln Wolfenstein ........................................... 143 30. My Life as a Physicist’s Wife by Laura Fermi ............................................. 145 31. Enrico Fermi by C. N. Yang .............................................................................155 32. Fermi Centennial Comments by Leon Lederman ....................................... 159 Index ............................................................................................................................ 161 Part B Figures 22. Dale Corson .........................................................................................................69 23. Carl Sagan ............................................................................................................71 24. Hans Bethe, Boyce MacDaniel, and Bob Wilson in Synchrotron tunnel .... 75 25. Cowboy Wilson bareback on horse ..................................................................76 26. Neutron fl ux as a function of number of layers in the nuclear pile ............84 27. The Rome Fermi Museum ...............................................................................105 28. Fermi and Wilson in a Los Alamos group picture .......................................107 29. Bob Wilson, Jane Wilson, and I. Rabi .............................................................117 30. Garwin speaking to Bethe ...............................................................................121 31. Laura Fermi presenting her paper at Erice ...................................................145 32. Frank Yang .........................................................................................................155 33. Leon Lederman and Bob Wilson singing their song ...................................159 iv Enrico Fermi: The Master Scientist Chapter 1 | Introduction Chapter 1 Introduction ne of the purposes of this book is to give the reader a feeling for Enrico Fermi the man—his personality, creativity, intuition, sense of humor, warmth, ebullience, Ohumility, and how he related to students as well as being a great scientist and teacher. The approach is to make use of my fi rsthand memories and experiences as well as those of others. Some of Fermi’s close friends have exchanged anecdotes and have spoken at meetings devoted to his memory. Gatherings have included symposia, dedications, birthday celebrations,