David N. Schwartz holds a PhD in political science from MIT and is the author of two previous books. He has worked at the State Department Bureau of Politico-Military Affairs. He lives in New York with his wife, Susan. His father, Melvin Schwartz, shared the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1988.
"The Last Man Who Knew Everything manages the neat double trick of
making both Fermi and his abstruse work accessible to readers
living in the world he did so much to create, for good and
ill."--Christian Science Monitor
"[Schwartz] does an admirable job of explaining the science and
provides careful assessments of Fermi's influence... [and
illuminates] the human effects of a project that was so urgent yet
so terrible in its long-term implications."--Foreign Affairs
"A lucid writer who has done his homework, Schwartz...delivers a
thoroughly enjoyable, impressively researched account...Never a
media darling like Einstein or Oppenheimer, Enrico Fermi
(1901-1954) is now barely known to the public, but few scientists
would deny that he was among the most brilliant physicists of his
century...A rewarding, expert biography of a giant of the golden
age of physics."--Kirkus
"A tremendous book, fascinating and clear. I now know Enrico Fermi
as well as anyone could today. Schwartz writes with a joy and
passion for the subject and genuine interest in the man that shines
through. There are great scientists working today on AI and
gene-editing, exploring 'multi-verse' theories, searching for
'Goldilocks' planets, and developing new means of powering space
travel. I hope they will someday have a biographer and chronicler
as talented as Schwartz to tell their story."--Richard A. Clarke,
author of Against All Enemies, Cyber War, and Warnings
"An informative and fun read, rich in those anecdotes and tales
that...help to elucidate what was driving the work of the giant
that Fermi was.... The more mundane aspects of Fermi's life--his
fears, vanities and human errors, emerge...from these
pages."--Physics World
"David Schwartz has written a highly-readable account of an
undervalued figure in the making of the atomic age---one that puts
Enrico Fermi in the proper historical context."--Gregg Herken,
author of Brotherhood of the Bomb
"David Schwartz's elegant narrative is a formidable achievement,
shining a bright light on Enrico Fermi, the most enigmatic
physicist of the early atomic era. Schwartz has exhausted the
archives and crafted what will certainly stand as the most deeply
biographical account of this brilliant scientist's tragically short
life." --Kai Bird, Pulitzer Prize-winning biographer and co-author
with Martin J. Sherwin of American Prometheus: The Triumph and
Tragedy of J. Robert Oppenheimer
"Enrico Fermi was a singular figure of modern science, and David
Schwartz has written a singular biography. His book is unusually
adept and nuanced in its appreciation and explanation of both the
scientific and humanistic aspects of its subject. It is also a joy
to read, as Schwartz has a beautiful authorial voice that is
perfectly appropriate for his subject matter: appreciative and
sympathetic, without falling into the hyperbolic or uncritical. It
is a rare book that will please both the experts and the novices,
but I think this is such a rare book." --Alex Wellerstein,
assistant professor at the Stevens Institute of Technology and
author of Restricted Data: The Nuclear Secrecy Blog
"Enrico Fermi was part of a great brain drain pre-WWII from Axis
nations, when ideology overwhelmed the search for truth and even
self-interest. We don't want to happen in America. Despite what you
might think from the title, The Last Man Who Knew Everything, this
amazing book by David Schwartz is brimming with anecdotes in which
Enrico Fermi is not the smartest guy in the room. He is focused on
family, colleagues and meaning. David really puts us intimately at
the table for the historic atomic revolution. This humanization of
geniuses and forging public engagement in complex science is
crucial today as we become ever more dependent on technological
leadership. As fresh and riveting a biography as any you will
find." --George Church, author of Regenesis
"In this compelling and well-researched biography, David Schwartz
reveals both triumph and tragedy in the life and work of Enrico
Fermi, one of the greatest and hitherto most enigmatic scientists
of the 20th century."--Frank Close, professor of physics at Oxford
and author of Neutrino and Half-Life
"In this compelling new biography, Schwartz makes clear how little
lay beyond the reach of this scientific polymath.... A
sophisticated portrayal of a complex man."--Booklist
"It is testimony to David N. Schwartz's excellence as a biographer
that he can reveal the workaholic Fermi to have been such a
fascinatingly complex figure... [Schwartz] excels in a portrayal
that is balanced and nuanced, sympathetic but unflinching."--The
Spectator (UK)
"Mr. Schwartz deftly conveys the aesthetic beauty of Fermi's
insights without getting mired in their minutiae."--Economist
"No physicist has more concepts and places named after him than
Enrico Fermi, and for good reason. A central figure in so much of
twentieth-century physics, Fermi was renowned for his imagination,
his brilliance, and his style. This comprehensive biography is a
treasure trove of detail and revealing insight into a unique
scientific figure." --Sean Carroll, author of The Big Picture: On
the Origins of Life, Meaning, and the Universe Itself
"One of the finest biographies of the year, The Last Man Who Knew
Everything combines the historic, the scientific and the personal
in a deft and effortless way. Enrico Fermi was easily one of the
most fascinating human beings of the 20th century, a man whose
intellectual brilliance was trapped inside an all-too-human shell.
The result, in David Schwartz's able interpretation, is nothing
short of spellbinding."--Gary Shteyngart, author of Little Failure
and Super Sad True Love Story
"Schwartz's The Last Man Who Knew Everything offers the most
comprehensive description of Fermi's work so far, as well as fresh
insights into his personality."--Nature
"There have been other accounts of his life, yet David N.
Schwartz's new portrait, The Last Man Who Knew Everything, is the
first thorough biography to be published since Fermi's death 64
years ago in 1954. Schwartz, working with limited sources, tells
the story well...[His] biography adds importantly to the literature
of the utterly remarkable men and women who opened up nuclear
physics to the world."--New York Times Book Review
"Told in a sure, steady voice, Schwartz's book delivers a
scrupulously researched and lovingly crafted portrait of the
'greatest Italian scientist since Galileo.'"--Publishers Weekly
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