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Review
"A Brilliant Darkness interweaves explanations of Majorana's physics with his life story, and the result is an enlightening and strangely gripping journey into the hearts of science and the minds of scientists... This tale is about the journey, not the destination, and a trip through Majorana's life is a journey well worth taking."
--New Scientist, December 2009
"(A)n idiosyncratic account of Majorana's life, full of insights and with quite a bit of psychological speculation, as well as high-kicking commentary on the early development of quantum physics... Whatver the truth about this mysterious man, Magueijo has carried out a valuable service in drawing attention to him."
--The Times Higher Education, Thursday 18th February
--New Scientist, December 2009
"(A)n idiosyncratic account of Majorana's life, full of insights and with quite a bit of psychological speculation, as well as high-kicking commentary on the early development of quantum physics... Whatver the truth about this mysterious man, Magueijo has carried out a valuable service in drawing attention to him."
--The Times Higher Education, Thursday 18th February
Product Description
A theoretical physicist reveals one of the greatest untold stories of 20th-century science: the tormented genius, who discovered a key element of atomic fission, then disappeared and was never seen again. On the night of March 26th, 1938, nuclear physicist Ettore Majorana boarded a ship in Palermo, cash and a passport in hand. He was never seen again. "A Brilliant Darkness" tells the story of Majorana and his research group, nicknamed 'the Via Panisperna Boys', who unknowingly discovered atomic fission in 1934. As Majorana, the most brilliant of the group, began to realize what they had found, he became increasingly troubled, and his mental state, never terribly healthy, became unstable. Did he commit suicide that night in Palermo? Was he kidnapped? Did he stage his own death? As author Joao Magueijo narrates Majorana's tragic life and bizarre disappearance, he also offers a surprising look at the dark underbelly of science-not only its ethical difficulties but its often complex group dynamics. The momentum generated by the Via Panisperna Boys is the type that takes science in unpredictable directions: it can lead to grossly amoral errors such as eugenics, breakthroughs such as the discovery of the structure of DNA, or highly attractive dead ends such as string theory. The atomic bomb is just one of many troubling results of this dynamic. This gripping story not only chronicles Majorana's invaluable discovery - the Majorana neutrino - but also reveals new clues about one of science's most alluring mysteries.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
6 of 8 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
Here's my review published in BBC Focus magazine:
The mysterious disappearance of the Italian physicist Ettore Majorana one night in 1938 is one of the great folk-tales of modern science. Even Hollywood would struggle to devise a more gripping plot. Majorana was a brilliant young theorist who seemed destined to win a Nobel prize for his work in nuclear physics, yet was almost wilfully indifferent to fame. His most celebrated work centres on the understanding of fundamental particles, especially the neutrino - a ghostly particle linked to radioactivity and reactions in stars. But Majorana was also a troubled genius who suffered bouts of depression, even warning that he would stage a "sudden disappearance" shortly before he did so. So did he simply jump overboard and drown, or join a monastery as some have claimed ? Or was he murdered by Nazi agents to prevent him helping the Allies develop nuclear weapons ?
The complexity of Majorana's life and work requires a first-rate storyteller, able to weave together its human and scientific themes into a coherent whole. As a professor of physics, Joao Magueijo certainly has the academic credentials. Sadly, his abilities as a writer fall far short of those needed for so challenging a task. His style lurches from that of a standard biographer to saloon-bar bore, with first-hand interviews and scientific exposition interspersed with everything from anecdotes about great scientists to off-colour jokes. Great story, shame about the story-telling.
The mysterious disappearance of the Italian physicist Ettore Majorana one night in 1938 is one of the great folk-tales of modern science. Even Hollywood would struggle to devise a more gripping plot. Majorana was a brilliant young theorist who seemed destined to win a Nobel prize for his work in nuclear physics, yet was almost wilfully indifferent to fame. His most celebrated work centres on the understanding of fundamental particles, especially the neutrino - a ghostly particle linked to radioactivity and reactions in stars. But Majorana was also a troubled genius who suffered bouts of depression, even warning that he would stage a "sudden disappearance" shortly before he did so. So did he simply jump overboard and drown, or join a monastery as some have claimed ? Or was he murdered by Nazi agents to prevent him helping the Allies develop nuclear weapons ?
The complexity of Majorana's life and work requires a first-rate storyteller, able to weave together its human and scientific themes into a coherent whole. As a professor of physics, Joao Magueijo certainly has the academic credentials. Sadly, his abilities as a writer fall far short of those needed for so challenging a task. His style lurches from that of a standard biographer to saloon-bar bore, with first-hand interviews and scientific exposition interspersed with everything from anecdotes about great scientists to off-colour jokes. Great story, shame about the story-telling.
Format:Hardcover
Joćo Magueijo is not only a brilliant scientist, but an extraordinary comunicator and a very original and courageous personality; science and even general society would need many more like him.
In a world where the great powers are achieving more and more their ultimate goal, growing people like an herd, Magueijo stands a luminous beacon against it, or, if you prefer, a voice claiming in the desert.
In a world where the great powers are achieving more and more their ultimate goal, growing people like an herd, Magueijo stands a luminous beacon against it, or, if you prefer, a voice claiming in the desert.
Format:Hardcover
I can't let this book be slashed by the previous reviewer. Maybe we have not read the same book but this
one is an excellent popular science book with some elements of a whodunnit thrown in, by a top physicist who is able to explain to the "commoners". I can't find any fault with it and for me it is rated 5 stars.
one is an excellent popular science book with some elements of a whodunnit thrown in, by a top physicist who is able to explain to the "commoners". I can't find any fault with it and for me it is rated 5 stars.
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