True Genius: The Life and Science of John Bardeen: The Only Winner of Two Nobel Prizes in Physics

by Vicki Daitch and Lillian Hoddeson

Book Overview

What is genius? Define it. Now think of scientists who embody the concept of genius. Does the name John Bardeen spring to mind? Indeed, have you ever heard of him?

Like so much in modern life, immediate name recognition often rests on a cult of personality. We know Einstein, for example, not just for his tremendous contributions to science, but also because he was a character, who loved to mug for the camera. And our continuing fascination...

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0309084083
• ISBN13: 9780309084086
• Release Date: October 2002
• Publisher: Joseph Henry Press
• Length: 488 Pages
• Weight: 2.05 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.4" x 6.0" x 9.0"

Customer Reviews

Bardeen: The Gentle Giant

John Bardeen was certainly a remarkable man on both the intellectual and human levels. Despite having to his credit such groundbreaking achievements as the invention of the transistor and the explanation of superconductivity, certainly more than most scientists can claim, he is scarcely known. The aim of this book is to shed light on the life, environment, work and persona of this gentle giant. The book starts at the root of Bardeen's ancestry, a bit of US history involved, and moves chronologically with his life. The book succeeds in drawing a portrait of Bardeen as a successful family man, athlete, colleague and of course scientist. A remarkable thing to take home from reading this book is the authors' description of Bardeen's method of tackling problems i.e. thorough investigation of previous work, breaking the problem into smaller pieces and struggling through till the end. An impressive trait of Bardeen's that is made very clear is his kind, helpful and encouraging attitude towards his students and younger colleagues. The first few chapters of the book are very engrossing, e.g. problems with Shockley, but the later chapters discussing Bardeen's industrial and government contribution were a bit boring. I found myself skipping through them. Being nonscientisits, the authors explanation of Bardeen's scientific work is not as good as it should be but it still gives the reader a feeling of the problems. All said, this is one book I definitely enjoyed and would recommend to anyone. Physicists and electronics engineers will love this book.

Overall, a Fine Portrait

I should really write two reviews. One with a rating of four stars, and one with five. Then the average will be 4.5, which I feel is the right rating. I have only two complaints. First, the discussion of minority carrier injection was not clear to me. I went back to the April 1992 issue of "Physics Today." There, the discussion is done just right,the importance of holes is clear. Second, the issue of "genius" and it's identification and cultivation in chapter 17 did not appeal to me. In my opinion, if we were to conclude with a jumping off point from Bardeen's life, it would be to address the question "why is he so unknown today?" That would have been a good epilogue. It's a good question. In W. H. Cropper's book "Great Physicists: etc." Bardeen is not mentioned. A real shame. Bardeen easily ranks with the physicists in that book.But there really is so much to enjoy in this book. Although born in Wisconsin, and not Minnesota, Bardeen would have been so comfortable in Garrison Keillor's world. Bardeen seems straight out of Lake Wobegone and names like Clarence Bunsen and Florian Krebsbach kept coming to mind. Here was a loyal, moral, dedicated man, focused on his life and work, but needing few words to talk about it. Together with Brattain and Schockley (sort of), Bardeen invents the transistor, comes home to his wife, who is cooking dinner, and says to her, "we discovered something today." Wife Jane says, "that's great." After unraveling one of the greatest puzzles in all of physics, Bardeen says to Charles Slichter, "well, I think we've figured out superconductivity." Wonderful, News from Lake Wobegone stuff. (Hoddeson and Daitch's discussion of superconductivity is quite good, by the way.)But that's the fun part. In the physics world, there are so few Bardeens. Not just in terms of intellect, but also in terms of generosity, humility, broad and inclusive vision, and overall respect and like for colleagues. I particularly liked the relationship between Bardeen and Brattain. Some physicists can only work alone, but for those who prefer collaboration, finding a partner like Brattain makes every workday fun and exciting.Chapter 15 on Bardeen's work with charge density waves was also interesting, if dark. This chapter is an important lesson to those who believe science is the absolute collection of truths and facts. In reality, science is filled with that we do not understand and, as a result, consists of differing opinions and views, just like any other field. It was disheartening, but realistic, I feel, to read that disagreement can also include hurtful disrespect from colleagues/competitors, but Bardeen always maintained the highest levels of professionalism.It was also disheartening to read in the acknowledgements that Betsy Bardeen Greytak had passed away. ...P>Other than physicsits, I'm not sure what audience will appreciate this book. But it will be interesting for all those, like myself, who have read, enjoyed, and mostly understood the "pop

The truth about genius

John Bardeen was one of the most important and prolific physicists of the twentieth century, on par with the likes of Niels Bohr and Richard Feynman, but the general public hardly knows his name. In this eloquent and entertaining biography, Lillian Hoddeson and Vicki Daitch capture the true essence of this quiet, gentle genius. They bring forth aspects of the warm, genuiune man behind the science that gave humanity the transistor and solved the almost intractable problem of superconductivity. Bardeen was a giant of 20th century science, and "True Genius" is the definitive story of his life.

Diamond of many facets

I read the brief "Publishers Weekly" review for True Genius, as well as the more cryptic but more positive comments of others. From the very first sentence I knew that the "Publishers Weekly" review would be superficial, and maybe even wrong, which then is of what help to a reader and potential book customer? Living in the U.S. democracy, how can we not be curious and not read about the Founders? Similarly, how can we be immersed in all the new electronics (computers, cell phones, DVD and CD machines, MRI's, digital machinery---in fact, Si here, Si there, Si everywhere) and not be curious about how all this happened, what sort of ingenious mind, or minds, might be at the beginning of it all? Imagine the calamity on the planet if the transistor vanished for a day. Does that help in understanding the scale of a Bardeen, of "True Genius"! I knew John Bardeen for 40 years (as my teacher, friend, colleague) and still I learned something further from Hoddeson and Daitch and the material they unearthed for "True Genius", a fascinating biography (a different kind of story). Hoddeson and Daitch do not disappoint in their biography of Bardeen and in elucidating over many chapters his kind of genius, which "Publishers Weekly" doesn't seem to appreciate. Genius is a diamond of many facets, and Hoddeson and Daitch reveal a Bardeen facet. It isn't the last chapter of "True Genius" that matters. It's the whole book, all the chapters, that reveal an American hero---if you will, a genius.Nick Holonyak, Jr.John Bardeen Chair Professor ofElectrical and ComputerEngineering and Physics, andCenter for Advanced StudyProfessor of Electrical andComputer EngineeringUniversity of IllinoisUrbana, IL