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Catalog of biographical books of some Scientists, Mathematicians, and Engineers

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)

Mathematics

Science

Astronomy, Astrophysics

Classical Mechanics

Relativity, Cosmology, Black Holes

Electricity and Magnetism, Light

Quantum Mechanics, Quantum Field Theory

Thermodynamics

Particle Physics, Nuclear Structure, Stellar Nucleosynthesis

Chemistry

Geology, Earth Science

Biology, Genetics

Engineering and Industry

Military and Military-industrial

Nuclear weapons

ICBMs

Espionage

World War II

United States Civil War

 

 

Mathematics

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

Science

Astronomy, Astrophysics

Classical Mechanics

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

Quantum Mechanics, Quantum Field Theory

Thermodynamics

Particle Physics, Nuclear Structure, Stellar Nucleosynthesis

Chemistry

Geology, Earth Science

Biology, Genetics

Engineering and Industry

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

Bosch, Carl: The Alchemy of Air: A Jewish Genius, a Doomed Tycoon, and the Scientific Discovery That Fed the World but Fueled the Rise of Hitler

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 (*)

Haber, Fritz: The Alchemy of Air: A Jewish Genius, a Doomed Tycoon, and the Scientific Discovery That Fed the World but Fueled the Rise of Hitler

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)

I.G. Farben: The Alchemy of Air: A Jewish Genius, a Doomed Tycoon, and the Scientific Discovery That Fed the World but Fueled the Rise of Hitler

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

Nuclear weapons

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

ICBMs

Espionage

World War II

United States Civil War

 



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