Lillian Hoddeson's Books

The Man Who Saw Tomorrow

The Life and Inventions of Stanford R. Ovshinsky

By: Lillian Hoddeson,Peter Garrett

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The Man Who Saw Tomorrow

The Life and Inventions of Stanford R. Ovshinsky

By: Lillian Hoddeson,Peter Garrett

The first full-length biography of a brilliant, self-taught inventor whose innovations in information and energy technology continue to shape our world. The Economist called Stanford R. Ovshinsky (1922–2012) “the Edison of our age,” but this apt comparison doesn't capture the full range of his achievements. As an independent, self-educated inventor, Ovshinsky not only created many important devices but also made fundamental discoveries in materials science. This book offers the first full-length biography of a visionary whose energy and information innovations continue to fuel our post-industrial economy. In The Man Who Saw Tomorrow, Lillian Hoddeson and Peter Garrett tell the story of an unconventional genius with no formal education beyond high school who invented, among other things, the rechargeable nickel metal hydride batteries that have powered everything from portable electronics to hybrid cars, a system for mass-producing affordable thin-film solar panels, and rewritable CDs and DVDs. His most important discovery, the Ovshinsky effect, led to a paradigm shift in condensed matter physics and yielded phase-change memory, which is now enabling new advances in microelectronics. A son of the working class who began as a machinist and toolmaker, Ovshinsky focused his work on finding solutions to urgent social problems, and to pursue those goals, he founded Energy Conversion Devices, a unique research and development lab. At the end of his life, battered by personal and professional losses, Ovshinsky nevertheless kept working to combat global warming by making solar energy “cheaper than coal”—another of his many visions of a better tomorrow.

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Page Count

401

Publisher

MIT Press

Published Date

ISBN 10

0262552647

ISBN 13

9780262552646

The Man Who Saw Tomorrow

The Life and Inventions of Stanford R. Ovshinsky

By: Lillian Hoddeson,Peter Garrett

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The Man Who Saw Tomorrow

The Life and Inventions of Stanford R. Ovshinsky

By: Lillian Hoddeson,Peter Garrett

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401

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MIT Press

Published Date

ISBN 10

0262552647

ISBN 13

9780262552646

Crystal Fire

The Invention of the Transistor and the Birth of the Information Age

By: Michael Riordan,Lillian Hoddeson

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Crystal Fire

The Invention of the Transistor and the Birth of the Information Age

By: Michael Riordan,Lillian Hoddeson

This work tells the human story of the process of invention that led to the invention of the transistor.

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Page Count

370

Publisher

W. W. Norton & Company

Published Date

ISBN 10

0393318516

ISBN 13

9780393318517

Critical Assembly

A Technical History of Los Alamos During the Oppenheimer Years, 1943-1945

By: Lillian Hoddeson,Paul W. Henriksen,Roger A. Meade

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Critical Assembly

A Technical History of Los Alamos During the Oppenheimer Years, 1943-1945

By: Lillian Hoddeson,Paul W. Henriksen,Roger A. Meade

This 1993 book explores how the 'critical assembly' of scientists at Los Alamos created the first atomic bombs.

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Page Count

532

Publisher

Cambridge University Press

Published Date

ISBN 10

0521541174

ISBN 13

9780521541176

Fermilab

Physics, the Frontier, and Megascience

By: Lillian Hoddeson,Adrienne W. Kolb,Catherine Westfall

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Fermilab

Physics, the Frontier, and Megascience

By: Lillian Hoddeson,Adrienne W. Kolb,Catherine Westfall

Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory, located in the western suburbs of Chicago, has stood at the frontier of high-energy physics for forty years. Fermilab is the first history of this laboratory and of its powerful accelerators told from the point of view of the people who built and used them for scientific discovery. Focusing on the first two decades of research at Fermilab, during the tenure of the laboratory’s charismatic first two directors, Robert R. Wilson and Leon M. Lederman, the book traces the rise of what they call “megascience,” the collaborative struggle to conduct large-scale international experiments in a climate of limited federal funding. In the midst of this new climate, Fermilab illuminates the growth of the modern research laboratory during the Cold War and captures the drama of human exploration at the cutting edge of science.

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Page Count

515

Publisher

University of Chicago Press

Published Date

ISBN 10

0226346250

ISBN 13

9780226346250

True Genius

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

By: Vicki Daitch,Lillian Hoddeson

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True Genius

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

By: Vicki Daitch,Lillian Hoddeson

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 with Richard Feynman is not exclusively based on his body of work; it is in large measure tied to his flamboyant nature and offbeat sense of humor. These men, and their outsize personalities, have come to erroneously symbolize the true nature of genius and creativity. We picture them born brilliant, instantly larger than life. But is that an accurate picture of genius? What of others who are equal in stature to these icons of science, but whom history has awarded only a nod because they did not readily engage the public? Could a person qualify as a bona fide genius if he was a regular Joe? The answer may rest in the story of John Bardeen. John Bardeen was the first person to have been awarded two Nobel Prizes in the same field. He shared one with William Shockley and Walter Brattain for the invention of the transistor. But it was the charismatic Shockley who garnered all the attention, primarily for his Hollywood ways and notorious views on race and intelligence. Bardeen's second Nobel Prize was awarded for the development of a theory of superconductivity, a feat that had eluded the best efforts of leading theorists-including Albert Einstein, Neils Bohr, Werner Heisenberg, and Richard Feynman. Arguably, Bardeen's work changed the world in more ways than that of any other scientific genius of his time. Yet while every school child knows of Einstein, few people have heard of John Bardeen. Why is this the case? Perhaps because Bardeen differs radically from the popular stereotype of genius. He was a modest, mumbling Midwesterner, an ordinary person who worked hard and had a knack for physics and mathematics. He liked to picnic with his family, collaborate quietly with colleagues, or play a round of golf. None of that was newsworthy, so the media, and consequently the public, ignored him. John Bardeen simply fits a new profile of genius. Through an exploration of his science as well as his life, a fresh and thoroughly engaging portrait of genius and the nature of creativity emerges. This perspective will have readers looking anew at what it truly means to be a genius.

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Page Count

488

Publisher

Joseph Henry Press

Published Date

ISBN 10

0309169542

ISBN 13

9780309169547

Crystal Fire

The Invention of the Transistor and the Birth of the Information Age

By: Michael Riordan,Lillian Hoddeson

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Crystal Fire

The Invention of the Transistor and the Birth of the Information Age

By: Michael Riordan,Lillian Hoddeson

This work tells the human story of the process of invention that led to the invention of the transistor.

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Page Count

370

Publisher

W. W. Norton & Company

Published Date

ISBN 10

0393318516

ISBN 13

9780393318517

Fermilab

Physics, the Frontier, and Megascience

By: Lillian Hoddeson,Adrienne W. Kolb,Catherine Westfall

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Fermilab

Physics, the Frontier, and Megascience

By: Lillian Hoddeson,Adrienne W. Kolb,Catherine Westfall

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Page Count

515

Publisher

University of Chicago Press

Published Date

ISBN 10

0226346250

ISBN 13

9780226346250

Tunnel Visions

The Rise and Fall of the Superconducting Super Collider

By: Michael Riordan,Lillian Hoddeson,Adrienne W. Kolb

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Tunnel Visions

The Rise and Fall of the Superconducting Super Collider

By: Michael Riordan,Lillian Hoddeson,Adrienne W. Kolb

In October 1993 the US Congress terminated the Superconducting Super Collider at the time the largest basic-science project ever attempted, with a total cost estimated to exceed $10 billion. Its termination was a watershed event a pivot point not only in the history of physics but also for science in general. "Tunnel Visions" follows the evolution of the endeavor from its origins in the Reagan Administration s military buildup of the early 1980s to its post-Cold War demise a decade later. The failure of the SSC raises the question of whether Big Science has become too big and expensive; can scientists and their government backers effectively manage such enormous undertakings? The case of the Super Collider offers important lessons about the conditions required to build and sustain a large scientific laboratory, and the rise and fall of the SSC also serves as a cautionary tale about the long-term viability of a research community that comes to depend as much as did US high-energy physics upon a single experimental facility of such an unprecedented scale. Riordan, Hoddeson, and Kolb have written the definitive history of the SSC.

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Page Count

463

Publisher

University of Chicago Press

Published Date

ISBN 10

022629479X

ISBN 13

9780226294797

Critical Assembly

A Technical History of Los Alamos During the Oppenheimer Years, 1943-1945

By: Lillian Hoddeson,Paul W. Henriksen,Roger A. Meade

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Critical Assembly

A Technical History of Los Alamos During the Oppenheimer Years, 1943-1945

By: Lillian Hoddeson,Paul W. Henriksen,Roger A. Meade

This 1993 book explores how the 'critical assembly' of scientists at Los Alamos created the first atomic bombs.

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Age

Page Count

532

Publisher

Cambridge University Press

Published Date

ISBN 10

0521541174

ISBN 13

9780521541176

Critical Assembly

A Technical History of Los Alamos during the Oppenheimer Years, 1943-1945

By: Lillian Hoddeson,Paul W. Henriksen,Roger A. Meade,Catherine L. Westfall

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Critical Assembly

A Technical History of Los Alamos during the Oppenheimer Years, 1943-1945

By: Lillian Hoddeson,Paul W. Henriksen,Roger A. Meade,Catherine L. Westfall

This volume is a lucid and accurate history of the technical research that led to the first atomic bombs. The authors explore how the "critical assembly" of scientists, engineers, and military personnel at Los Alamos, responding to wartime deadlines, collaborated to create a new approach to large-scale research. The book opens with an introduction laying out major themes. After a synopsis of the prehistory of the bomb project, from the discovery of nuclear fission to the start of the Manhattan Engineer District, and an overview of the early materials program, the book examines the establishment of the Los Alamos Laboratory, the implosion and gun assembly programs, nuclear physics research, chemistry and metallurgy, explosives, uranium and plutonium development, confirmation of spontaneous fission in pile-produced plutonium, the thermonuclear bomb, critical assemblies, the Trinity test, and delivery of the combat weapons.

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Page Count

509

Publisher

Cambridge University Press

Published Date

ISBN 10

0511665407

ISBN 13

9780511665400

April Snow

By: Lillian Budd

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April Snow

By: Lillian Budd

Story of the life of a peasant woman in Sweden during the late years of the 19th century.

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Age

Page Count

317

Publisher

Avon Books

Published Date

ISBN 10

0380454017

ISBN 13

9780380454013

Book's by Lillian Hoddeson

The Man Who Saw Tomorrow

The Man Who Saw Tomorrow

The Man Who Saw Tomorrow

The Man Who Saw Tomorrow

Crystal Fire

Crystal Fire

Critical Assembly

Critical Assembly

Fermilab

Fermilab

True Genius

True Genius

Crystal Fire

Crystal Fire

Fermilab

Fermilab

Tunnel Visions

Tunnel Visions

Critical Assembly

Critical Assembly

Critical Assembly

Critical Assembly

April Snow

April Snow

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