Relativity, Cosmology, Black Holes
Electricity and Magnetism, Light
Quantum Mechanics, Quantum Field Theory
Particle Physics, Nuclear Structure, Stellar Nucleosynthesis
This is a catalog of some biographical books that I have read and generally recommend (though I am not a critic or scholar) or plan to read. An asterisk (*) signifies volumes that I have not yet read or not completed. There are biographies of scientists, mathematicians, engineers, industrialists, and military figures. There are also histories of some scientific, industrial, or military-industrial projects.
Entries are intended to be in alphabetical order within field by surname of the biographee. A few entries are included in multiple categories. However scientists are not listed in every field they worked in, and scientists known to the public principally for their work in nuclear weapons may not be listed under quantum mechanics, relativity, etc. Each entry links to its page on Amazon.com for further information.
If you can recommend biographies of other people or histories of major projects or major corporations, I would like to know: email me. I would like to read one biography of each notable physicist and mathematician. I rarely read multiple biographies of one person and this site will not attempt to be a comprehensive catalog of all such biographies that I have not read.
Sections and subsections can be collapsed by clicking on the heading. When a section is collapsed, the table of contents bookmark to a subsection will be inactive though visible.
(The mouseover tips for the Amazon.com links don't seem to work for Opera.)
Table of Contents: (bookmarks)
Multiple mathematicians: Remarkable Mathematicians: From Euler to von Neumann (The Spectrum Series), A History of Mathematics, Second Edition
(*), Men of Mathematics (Touchstone Book)
(*), A Concise History of Mathematics
(*), The World of Mathematics: A Four-Volume Set
(*)
Abel, Niels Henrik: The Equation That Couldn't Be Solved: How Mathematical Genius Discovered the Language of Symmetry (*)
Cantor, Georg: Georg Cantor: His Mathematics and Philosophy of the Infinite (*)
Descartes, Rene:
Erdos, Paul: My Brain is Open: The Mathematical Journeys of Paul Erdos (*), The Man Who Loved Only Numbers: the Story of Paul Erdos and the Search for Mathematical Truth
(*)
Euler, Leonhard: Euler: The Master of Us All (Dolciani Mathematical Expositions, No 22)
Fermat, Pierre de: The Mathematical Career of Pierre de Fermat, 1601-1665 (*)
Fourier, Joseph:
Galois, Evariste: The Equation That Couldn't Be Solved: How Mathematical Genius Discovered the Language of Symmetry (*)
Gauss, Carl Friedrich: Carl Friedrich Gauss Prince of Mathematicians
Laplace, Pierre-Simon: Pierre Simon Laplace, 1749-1827: A Determined Scientist, Pierre-Simon Laplace, 1749-1827, A Life in Exact Science
(*)
Leibniz, Gottfried Wilhelm:
Minkowski, Hermann:
Nash, John Forbes, Jr.: A Beautiful Mind: The Life of Mathematical Genius and Nobel Laureate John Nash
Newton, Sir Isaac: In the Presence of the Creator, Let Newton Be!
(*)
Pascal, Blaise:
Ramanujan, Srinivasa: The Man Who Knew Infinity: A Life of the Genius Ramanujan
Riemann, Bernhard: Prime Obsession: Bernhard Riemann and the Greatest Unsolved Problem in Mathematics
von Neumann, John: John Von Neumann: The Scientific Genius Who Pioneered the Modern Computer, Game Theory, Nuclear Deterrence, and Much More
Multiple astronomers: The Day We Found the Universe, The Glass Giant of Palomar
, Measuring the Universe: Cosmic Dimensions from Aristarchus to Halley
(*)
Aristarchus of Samos: Aristarchus of Samos: The Ancient Copernicus (Dover Books on Astronomy) (*)
Eddington, Sir Arthur: Practical Mystic: Religion, Science, and A. S. Eddington, Eddington: The Most Distinguished Astrophysicist of his Time
(*)
Hale, George Ellery: The Glass Giant of Palomar
Hubble, Edwin: The Day We Found the Universe
Multiple physicists: Remarkable Physicists: From Galileo to Yukawa (*), Biography of physics (Harper modern science series)
(*)
Euler, Leonhard: Euler: The Master of Us All (Dolciani Mathematical Expositions, No 22)
Foucault, Leon:
Galileo Galilei: Galileo: Heretic (*)
Gauss, Carl Friedrich: Carl Friedrich Gauss Prince of Mathematicians
Hamilton, Sir William Rowan: Sir William Rowan Hamilton (*)
Lagrange, Joseph-Louis: is there a biographical book? Online: on biographybase, on gap-system
Laplace, Pierre-Simon: Pierre Simon Laplace, 1749-1827: A Determined Scientist, Pierre-Simon Laplace, 1749-1827, A Life in Exact Science
(*)
Newton, Sir Isaac: In the Presence of the Creator, Let Newton Be!
(*)
Noether, Emmy:
Relativity, Cosmology, Black Holes
de Sitter, Willem:
Eddington, Sir Arthur: Practical Mystic: Religion, Science, and A. S. Eddington, Eddington: The Most Distinguished Astrophysicist of his Time
(*)
Einstein, Albert: Subtle Is the Lord: The Science and the Life of Albert Einstein, Albert Einstein: A Photographic Biography
Gamow, George:
Hoyle, Fred:
Lemaitre, Monsignor Georges:
Lorentz, Hendrik:
Mach, Ernst:
Minkowski, Hermann:
Poincare, Henri:
Wheeler, John Archibald:
Electricity and Magnetism, Light
Multiple physicists: The Maxwellians (Cornell History of Science)
Ampere, Andre-Marie:
Coulomb, Charles-Augustin de:
Faraday, Michael: The Electric Life of Michael Faraday
Fitzgerald, G. F.: The Maxwellians (Cornell History of Science)
Franklin, Benjamin: Benjamin Franklin
Heaviside, Oliver: The Maxwellians (Cornell History of Science), Oliver Heaviside: The Life, Work, and Times of an Electrical Genius of the Victorian Age
(*)
Kelvin, Lord: Degrees Kelvin: A Tale of Genius, Invention, and Tragedy
Lodge, Oliver: The Maxwellians (Cornell History of Science)
Maxwell, James Clerk: The Man Who Changed Everything: The Life of James Clerk Maxwell; also see The Maxwellians (Cornell History of Science)
to understand how Maxwell's equations got finalized.
Tesla, Nikola:
Thomson, Sir William (Lord Kelvin): Degrees Kelvin: A Tale of Genius, Invention, and Tragedy
Quantum Mechanics, Quantum Field Theory
Multiple physicists: Thirty Years that Shook Physics: The Story of Quantum Theory, The Genesis of Quantum Theory
(*)
Bohr, Niels: Niels Bohr: A Centenary Volume, Copenhagen (fictional play)
Born, Max: The End of the Certain World: The Life and Science of Max Born
Dirac, Paul A. M.: The Strangest Man: The Hidden Life of Paul Dirac, Mystic of the Atom (*), Paul Dirac: The Man and his Work
(*)
Dyson, Freeman: Infinite in All Directions, Disturbing The Universe (Sloan Foundation Science Serie)
(*), The Jasons: The Secret History of Science's Postwar Elite
Einstein, Albert: Subtle Is the Lord: The Science and the Life of Albert Einstein, Albert Einstein: A Photographic Biography
Feynman, Richard: Genius: The Life and Science of Richard Feynman
Heisenberg, Werner: Heisenberg's War: The Secret History Of The German Bomb, Copenhagen (fictional play)
Oppenheimer, J. Robert: J. Robert Oppenheimer: Shatterer of Worlds, The Making of the Atomic Bomb
Pauli, Wolfgang:
Planck, Max:
Schrodinger, Erwin: Schrodinger: Life and Thought
von Neumann, John: John Von Neumann: The Scientific Genius Who Pioneered the Modern Computer, Game Theory, Nuclear Deterrence, and Much More
Wigner, Eugene P.:
Boltzmann, Ludwig: Ludwig Boltzmann: The Man Who Trusted Atoms (*)
Carnot, Sadi:
Joule, James Prescott: Biography of James Prescott Joule (History of Physics) (*)
Kelvin, Lord: Degrees Kelvin: A Tale of Genius, Invention, and Tragedy
Planck, Max:
Thomson, Sir William (Lord Kelvin): Degrees Kelvin: A Tale of Genius, Invention, and Tragedy
Particle Physics, Nuclear Structure, Stellar Nucleosynthesis
Multiple physicists: The Birth of Particle Physics, The Particle Hunters
Bethe, Hans: The Jasons: The Secret History of Science's Postwar Elite
Chadwick, James:
Fermi, Enrico:
Gamow, George:
Lawrence, Ernest O.: Lawrence and His Laboratory: A History of the Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory, Volume I (California Studies in the History of Science)
Pauli, Wolfgang:
Rabi, I. I.: Rabi: Scientist and Citizen With a New Preface
Rutherford, Ernest: A Force of Nature: The Frontier Genius of Ernest Rutherford (Great Discoveries)
Segre, Emilio: A Mind Always in Motion: The Autobiography of Emilio Segre
Thomson, Sir J. J.:
Multiple chemists: Crucibles: The Story of Chemistry from Ancient Alchemy to Nuclear Fission (*)
Dalton, John:
Davy, Sir Humphry:
Mendeleev, Dmitri:
Perkin, William: Mauve: How One Man Invented a Color That Changed the World
ADM (Archer Daniels Midland): Rats in the Grain: The Dirty Tricks and Trials of Archer Daniels Midland, the Supermarket to the World, Merchants of Grain: The Power and Profits of the Five Giant Companies at the Center of the World's Food Supply
ARPANET: Where Wizards Stay Up Late: The Origins Of The Internet
BBN (Bolt Beranek and Newman): Where Wizards Stay Up Late: The Origins Of The Internet
Bethlehem Steel: Making Steel: Sparrows Point and the Rise and Ruin of American Industrial Might
Boeing: 747: Creating the World's First Jumbo Jet and Other Adventures from a Life in Aviation
Carnegie, Andrew: Meet You in Hell: Andrew Carnegie, Henry Clay Frick, and the Bitter Partnership That Changed America
Cincinnati Milling Machine Company: Men of Purpose, 1884-1964 (*)
Computers: IBM's Early Computers (History of Computing), IBM's 360 and Early 370 Systems (History of Computing)
,
From Whirlwind to MITRE: The R&D Story of The SAGE Air Defense Computer (History of Computing)
, Memories that Shaped an Industry: Decisions Leading to IBM System/360 (History of Computing)
,
Where Wizards Stay Up Late: The Origins Of The Internet
, Dealers of Lightning: Xerox PARC and the Dawn of the Computer Age
Earthmoving equipment industry: Yellow Steel: The Story of the Earthmoving Equipment Industry (*)
Frick, Henry Clay: Meet You in Hell: Andrew Carnegie, Henry Clay Frick, and the Bitter Partnership That Changed America
Grove, Andy: Inside Intel: Andy Grove and the Rise of the World's Most Powerful Chip Company (*), Andy Grove: The Life and Times of an American
(*), Only the Paranoid Survive: How to Exploit the Crisis Points That Challenge Every Company
(*)
Hewlett-Packard: Bill & Dave: How Hewlett and Packard Built the World's Greatest Company (*)
(The) Home Depot: Built from Scratch: How a Couple of Regular Guys Grew The Home Depot from Nothing to $30 Billion (*)
IBM: IBM's Early Computers (History of Computing), IBM's 360 and Early 370 Systems (History of Computing)
, Memories that Shaped an Industry: Decisions Leading to IBM System/360 (History of Computing)
Intel: Inside Intel: Andy Grove and the Rise of the World's Most Powerful Chip Company (*)
Koch, Karl III: Men of Steel: The Story of the Family That Built the World Trade Center
Lockheed: Skunk Works: A Personal Memoir of My Years of Lockheed
MIT Lincoln Lab: From Whirlwind to MITRE: The R&D Story of The SAGE Air Defense Computer (History of Computing), is there an unclassified history of Lincoln Lab?
MITRE: From Whirlwind to MITRE: The R&D Story of The SAGE Air Defense Computer (History of Computing)
Oil: The Seven Sisters: The Great Oil Companies and the World They Shaped, The Prize: The Epic Quest for Oil, Money & Power
, 800 Miles to Valdez: Building of the Alaska Pipeline
Pan Am: An American saga: Juan Trippe and his Pan Am empire (*)
Perkin, William: Mauve: How One Man Invented a Color That Changed the World
Rich, Ben: Skunk Works: A Personal Memoir of My Years of Lockheed
Sprague, Frank J.: Engineering Invention: Frank J. Sprague and the U.S. Electrical Industry
Sutter, Joseph: 747: Creating the World's First Jumbo Jet and Other Adventures from a Life in Aviation
Telegraphy (Undersea): Degrees Kelvin: A Tale of Genius, Invention, and Tragedy
Tesla, Nikola:
Trippe, Juan: An American saga: Juan Trippe and his Pan Am empire (*)
TRW: TRW: Pioneering Technology and Innovation Since 1900
Xerox PARC: Dealers of Lightning: Xerox PARC and the Dawn of the Computer Age
Westinghouse, George:
Military and Military-industrial
Multiple scientists: The Making of the Atomic Bomb, Dark Sun: The Making of the Hydrogen Bomb
, Picturing the Bomb: Photographs from the Secret World of the Manhattan Project
,
The Jasons: The Secret History of Science's Postwar Elite
, The Decision to Use the Atomic Bomb
Bethe, Hans: The Jasons: The Secret History of Science's Postwar Elite
Fermi, Enrico:
Feynman, Richard: Genius: The Life and Science of Richard Feynman
Fuchs, Klaus: Klaus Fuchs, Atom Spy
Groves, General Leslie R.: Now It Can Be Told: The Story Of The Manhattan Project (Quality Paperbacks Series)
Hanford Site: Hanford Site Historic District: History of the Plutonium Production Facilities, 1943-1990
Heisenberg, Werner: Heisenberg's War: The Secret History Of The German Bomb, Copenhagen (fictional play)
Hiroshima: Hiroshima, Enola Gay: The Bombing of Hiroshima
, Japan's Longest Day
Holloway, Marshall G.: is there a biography?
Kahn, Herman: On Thermonuclear War
Kistiakowsky, George:
Kurchatov, Igor:
Lawrence, Ernest O.: Lawrence and His Laboratory: A History of the Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory, Volume I (California Studies in the History of Science)
Morrison, Philip:
Neddermeyer, Seth:
Oak Ridge Site: City Behind A Fence: Oak Ridge, Tennessee, 1942-1946
Oppenheimer, J. Robert: J. Robert Oppenheimer: Shatterer of Worlds, The Making of the Atomic Bomb
Rabi, I. I.: Rabi: Scientist and Citizen With a New Preface
Radiation, fallout, environmental impact: Making a Real Killing: Rocky Flats and the Nuclear West, The Ambushed Grand Jury: How the Justice Department Covered Up Government Nuclear Crime : And How We Caught Them Red Handed
,
In the Name of Science: A History of Secret Programs, Medical Research, and Human Experimentation
,
On the Home Front: The Cold War Legacy of the Hanford Nuclear Site, Second Edition
,
The Plutonium Files: America's Secret Medical Experiments in the Cold War
, American Ground Zero: The Secret Nuclear War
,
Trinity's Children: Living Along America's Nuclear Highway
, The Truth About Chernobyl
RAND Corporation: Soldiers of Reason: The RAND Corporation and the Rise of the American Empire, On Thermonuclear War
SAGE air defense: From Whirlwind to MITRE: The R&D Story of The SAGE Air Defense Computer (History of Computing)
Sakharov, Andrei: Memoirs, Dark Sun: The Making of the Hydrogen Bomb
Sudoplatov, Pavel: Special Tasks
Szilard, Leo:
Teller, Edward: Dark Sun: The Making of the Hydrogen Bomb, The Jasons: The Secret History of Science's Postwar Elite
Tibbets, Colonel Paul W., Jr.: Enola Gay: The Bombing of Hiroshima
Trinity Site: The Day the Sun Rose Twice: The Story of the Trinity Site Nuclear Explosion, July 16, 1945
Ulam, Stanislaw: Dark Sun: The Making of the Hydrogen Bomb
von Neumann, John: John Von Neumann: The Scientific Genius Who Pioneered the Modern Computer, Game Theory, Nuclear Deterrence, and Much More
Multiple people: ICBM: The Making of the Weapon That Changed the World, Polaris!: The Concept & Creation of a New & Mighty Weapon
, A Fiery Peace in a Cold War: Bernard Schriever and the Ultimate Weapon
(*)
Command and control: The Button: The Pentagon's Strategic Command and Control System
Draper Lab, Charles Stark: Inventing Accuracy: A Historical Sociology of Nuclear Missile Guidance (Inside Technology)
MIT Instrumentation Lab: Inventing Accuracy: A Historical Sociology of Nuclear Missile Guidance (Inside Technology)
Raborn, Admiral William F. "Red": Polaris!: The Concept & Creation of a New & Mighty Weapon
Ramo, Simon: ICBM: The Making of the Weapon That Changed the World
Schriever, General Bernard: ICBM: The Making of the Weapon That Changed the World, A Fiery Peace in a Cold War: Bernard Schriever and the Ultimate Weapon
(*)
Cryptanalysis: American Black Chamber (Bluejacket Books), Seizing the Enigma: The Race to Break the German U-Boats Codes, 1939-1943
Enigma: Seizing the Enigma: The Race to Break the German U-Boats Codes, 1939-1943
Fuchs, Klaus: Klaus Fuchs, Atom Spy
Lockheed: Skunk Works: A Personal Memoir of My Years of Lockheed
Sudoplatov, Pavel: Special Tasks
Multiple commanders: Men of War: Great Naval Leaders of World War II
Alaska: The Forgotten War, Vol 3: A Pictorial History of WW2 in Alaska and Northwestern Canada, The Trail of '42: A Pictorial History of the Alaska Highway
Churchill, Winston: Churchill: A Life
Enigma: Seizing the Enigma: The Race to Break the German U-Boats Codes, 1939-1943
Marshall, General George C.: General of the Army: George C. Marshall, Soldier and Statesman
Radar: Rabi: Scientist and Citizen With a New Preface
Sudoplatov, Pavel: Special Tasks
U.S. Army: There's a War to Be Won: The United States Army in World War II
Zhukov, Marshall Georgy Konstantinovich: Zhukov
Multiple commanders: Partners In Command
Chamberlain, Colonel / General Joshua Lawrence: "Bayonet! Forward": My Civil War Reminiscences, The Passing of Armies: An Account Of The Final Campaign Of The Army Of The Potomac
Longstreet, General James: General James Longstreet: The Confederacy's Most Controversial Soldier
Sherman, General William Tecumseh: Memoirs of General W.T. Sherman (Library of America) (*), Sherman: A Soldier's Passion For Order
(*)
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