A Tale of Two Continents: A Physicist's Life in a Turbulent World

by Abraham Pais

Book Overview

"People like myself, who truly feel at home in several countries, are not strictly at home anywhere," writes Abraham Pais, one of the world's leading theoretical physicists, near the beginning of this engrossing chronicle of his life on two continents. The author of an immensely popular biography of Einstein, Subtle Is the Lord , Pais writes engagingly for a general audience. His "tale" describes his period of hiding in Nazi-occupied Holland (he ended...

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0691012431
• ISBN13: 9780691012438
• Release Date: April 1997
• Publisher: Princeton University Press
• Length: 520 Pages
• Weight: 0.20 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.4" x 7.8" x 10.0"

Customer Reviews

a good story,book in good condition.

The book I received is in totally new condition.very excellent.

A divided life: Both sides

Abe Pais was in hiding during WWII in Holland (actually just across the street from where Anna Frank was hiding); but he was a few years older than Anna Frank, and he survived. While in hiding, he studied physics. That part of the story reads like a thriller. But the narrative throughout is compelling, and honest. After the war, through a sequence of small miracles, and a stunning intelligence, he ended up in Copenhagen to work with Niels Bohr, and then to the US, at the Institute for Advanced Studies in Princeton, where he became a Professor. And in fact, he became a leading and exceptionally successful nuclear physicist. Throughout his career as a physicist, he knew Niels Bohr, Albert Einstein well, and a host of the other pioneers; and he worked with them too. He is fluent in at least 7 languages, and knows many more. All of this is part of his autobiography, which is also filled with charming observations about cultural differences, and observation of human affairs; including affairs of the heart. His whole life was divided between two Continents, hence the title of the book. But Abe Pais's life was divided in several other ways too: The first half was science, and the second writing. Marriages further marked dividing lines. He wrote a number of extremely well received biographies, the best one perhaps `Subtle is the Lord' about Albert Einstein (I have a weakness for biographies!); and his last was his autobiography! In fact, he finished it only a few years before he died. The last 10 years of his life was spent in Denmark; so in some sense closing the circle. Review by Palle Jorgensen, November 2004.