Graham Farmelo Book order (chronological)

Der seltsamste Mensch ist der mit dem Costa-Buchpreis ausgezeichnete Bericht über Paul Dirac, den berühmten Physiker, der manchmal als der englische Einstein bezeichnet wird. Er war einer der führenden Pioniere der großen Revolution in der Wissenschaft des zwanzigsten Jahrhunderts: der Quantenmechanik. Und er war 1933 der jüngste Theoretiker, der den Nobelpreis für Physik erhalten hatte. Dirac war seltsam wortkarg, nahm alles wörtlich und seine gehemmte Art zu kommunizieren und seine mangelnde Empathiefähigkeit wurden legendär. Während seiner erfolgreichsten Schaffensperiode bestanden seine Postkarten ins Elternhaus nur aus Berichten über das Wetter. Auf der Basis zuvor nicht entdeckter Unterlagen aus dem Familienarchiv verbindet Graham Farmelo eine kenntnisreiche Schilderung der wissenschaftlichen Leistungen mit einem einfühlsamen Portrait des Individuums Paul Dirac. Er zeigt einen Menschen, der trotz extremer sozialer Gehemmtheit fähig ist zur Liebe und zu treuer Freundschaft. Der seltsamste Mensch ist eine außerordentliche menschlich berührende Story ebenso wie ein fesselnder Bericht über eine der aufregendsten Zeiten der Wissenschaftsgeschichte.

The first full biography of Paul Dirac, one of the most remarkable British physicists since Newton, explores the life of a genius who may have suffered from autism. A pioneer of quantum mechanics, Dirac was regarded as an equal by Einstein and predicted the existence of antimatter solely from his equations. He became the youngest recipient of the Nobel Prize for Physics, yet he was known for his extreme reticence, literal-mindedness, and inability to communicate or empathize. His legendary silences contrasted with the emotional void in his speech, often limited to remarks about the weather. Dirac's life was marked by trauma, including his brother's suicide and a lifelong disdain for his father. His political views were radical, and he maintained a friendship with Russian physicist Peter Kapitza, even vacationing in the Soviet Union during the purges. Despite his emotional challenges, Dirac was capable of love and fatherhood. The biography, based on newly discovered family archives, offers a compassionate portrait of Dirac, highlighting his profound appreciation for the beauty of mathematics and suggesting that his eccentricities may have stemmed from undiagnosed autism. Graham Farmelo, the author, is a Senior Research Fellow at the Science Museum in London and an Adjunct Professor of Physics at Northeastern University, Boston.

Science museums are in the business of making science accessible to the public--a public constantly bombarded with new information and research results. How the public understands this information will affect what they expect and take away from a museum's exhibits and programs. Creating Connections looks at the public understanding of research (PUR) and how it affects what science museums do. What are the opportunities and critical issues in PUR? What strategies are working and what are some pitfalls? What can be learned from the media's experiences with PUR? Creating Connections will be an invaluable resource for science museum professionals who want to guide their institutions and their visitors toward a new understanding of and appreciation for current research.