True Genius

The Life and Work of Richard Garwin, the Most Influential Scientist You've Never Heard of

Joel N. Shurkin

• Publisher: Prometheus
• Year: 2017
• Topic: Technology & Engineering
• eBook ISBN:
  9781633882249
• Subtopic: Science & Technology Biographies
• Index: Technology & Engineering

Richard Garwin was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Barack Obama Called a "true genius" by Enrico Fermi, Richard Garwin has influenced modern life in far-reaching ways, yet he is hardly known outside the physics community. This is the first biography of one of America's great minds—a top physicist, a brilliant technological innovator, and a trusted advisor of presidents for sixty years. Among his many contributions to modern technology are innovations we now take for granted: air-traffic control systems, touch screens, color monitors, laser printers, GPS satellite navigation, and many other facets of everyday contemporary life. But certainly his most important work has been on behalf of nuclear disarmament. As a key member of the Los Alamos team that developed the hydrogen bomb (he created the final design), Garwin subsequently devoted much of his career to ensuring that nuclear weapons never again be used. He has spent hundreds of hours testifying before Congress, serving on government advisory committees, and doing work that is still classified, all the while working for IBM as a researcher. A genuine polymath, his ideas extend from propulsion systems for interplanetary flight to preventing flu epidemics. Never shy about offering his opinions, even to rigid government bureaucracies unwilling to change, Garwin continues to show leaders how to do the smart thing. The world is a more interesting and safer place because of his many accomplishments.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Dedication Page
• CONTENTS
• Acknowledgments
• Introduction
• Chapter One: The Tinkerers
• Chapter Two: Fermi
• Chapter Three: The Super
• Chapter Four: Garwin's Design
• Chapter Five: Garwin, Lederman, and the Marx Brothers
• Chapter Six: IBM and Lamp Light
• Chapter Seven: Advising Presidents—Or Not
• Chapter Eight: JASONS
• Chapter Nine: Vietnam and McNamara's Wall
• Chapter Ten: Super Sonic Transport
• Chapter Eleven: Offense
• Chapter Twelve: The Great Gap
• Chapter Thirteen: Treaty
• Chapter Fourteen: Star Wars
• Chapter Fifteen: Gravity
• Chapter Sixteen: Health, Pandemics
• Chapter Seventeen: Far Out
• Chapter Eighteen: Rumpled
• Chapter Nineteen: Decline of Influence
• Photo Insert
• Afterword
• Notes
• Index