Paul Dirac was among the greatest scientific geniuses of the modern age. An admired colleague of Albert Einstein and one of the discoverers of quantum mechanics, the most revolutionary theory of the past century physics--and was the youngest theoretician ever to win the Nobel Prize in Physics. Like Dirac's achievements, his personality is legendary. An extraordinarily reserved loner, relentlessly literal-minded and seemingly devoid of empathy, Dirac was nevertheless an intensely loyal family man, with tastes in the arts that ranged from Beethoven to Cher, from Rembrandt to Mickey Mouse. Based on previously undiscovered archives, The Strangest Man reveals the many facets of Dirac's brilliantly original mind, while also charting one of the most spectacularly exciting ears in scientific history.
Editorial Reviews
"The unsung hero of twentieth-century physics is at last brilliantly illuminated." --Ian McEwan
"Graham Farmelo has managed to haul Dirac onstage in an affectionate and meticulously researched book that illuminates both his era and his science." Los Angeles Times
"[A] consummate and seamless biography....Farmelo has succeeded masterfully in the difficult genre of writing a great scientist's life for a general audience." --Science
"This biography, long overdue, is most welcome." --Economist
About the Author
Graham Farmelo is the author of several books, including The Strangest Man, which won the Los Angeles Times Book Prize. Farmelo is a Fellow at Churchill College at the University of Cambridge, an Affiliated Professor at Northeastern University, and is a regular visitor at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton. He lives in London.
