Hitler's Gift : The True Story of the Scientists Expelled by the Nazi Regime [Hardcover]

Jean Medawar (Author), David Pyke (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 14, 2001

Between 1901 and 1932, Germany won a third of all the Nobel prizes for science. With Hitler's rise to power and the introduction of racial laws, starting with the exclusion of all Jews from state institutions, Jewish professors were forced to leave their jobs. Almost immediately an organization was set up in the U.K. to receive these professors, fund them, and assign them to local or American universities where they could continue their research. The full line-up of the 1,500 refugees reads like a who's who of twentieth century science. They helped turn the tide of World War II in the Allies' favor, and 15 went on to win the Nobel Prize.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Before Hitler's rise to power, Germany outstripped the rest of the world in its scientific achievements. Between 1901 and 1932, German scientists won one-third of all Nobel science prizes; from 1933 to 1960, however, Germany won only eight of these prizes. Medawar, the widow of renowned immunologist Peter Medawar, and British physician Pyke collaborate to narrate an engrossing story of how England and the United States benefited from Hitler's expulsion of Germany's leading scientists. The authors observe that at least 20% of these biologists, physicists and chemists were dismissed from their university posts because they were Jews. Others left the country because of their opposition to Hitler and his regime. In Britain, scholars such as historian G.M. Trevelyan, biochemist Frederick Gowland Hopkins, and geneticist J.B.S. Haldane formed the Academic Assistance Council to help relocate and support displaced German scientists, among them physicist Erwin Schr”dinger, who originated the theory of wave mechanics; and biologist Hans Krebs, the father of the famous Krebs Cycle, which describes the oxidation of carbohydrates into energy. German refugee scientists who won acclaim in the United States include Einstein; Edward Teller, the "father of the H-bomb"; and Enrico Fermi, who split the atom. Medawar and Pyke point out that several scientists remained in Germany, most notably Max Planck and Werner Heisenberg, in an attempt to preserve German science in its pre-Hitler expressions. Yet the authors refrain from casting moral aspersions on those who stayed or on those German academics who apparently did not help their Jewish colleagues. This engaging story of the demise of science in Hitler's Germany and the subsequent rise of science in England and the United States compellingly chronicles a little-considered aspect of WWII history.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

About the Author

Jean Medawar, the widow of Sir Peter Medawar, the Nobel prize-winning immunologist, has written several books, including A Very Decided Preference. David Pyke, a fellow of the Royal College of Physicians, has written several medical books and one on family planning with Jean Medawar.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 288 pages
• Publisher: Arcade Publishing; First American Edition edition (May 14, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1559705647
• ISBN-13: 978-1559705646
• Product Dimensions: 9.5 x 6.3 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.5 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #520,059 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Simply written...and simply excellent, October 24, 2008

By 

Chem (Charlotte NC, USA) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Hitler's Gift : The True Story of the Scientists Expelled by the Nazi Regime (Hardcover)

This book is...simply excellent !

It gives a background (nothing heavy) about the history of science, with a bit of a focus on the Nobel Prize, arguably the Holy Grail of academic science; though many recipients - perhaps more in the past than now - weren't really seeking it. It it tells of Germany's dominance in science before WW2 and gives a refreshing view of pre-Nazi Germany as a country that was quite progressive in very many ways...and it tells how Germany threw away its academia in order to pursue a Nazi New Order or whatever it was.
All this is largely covered in the early part of the book.

The rest of the book gives a brief biography of selected scientists that contributed so much to modern Knowledge and tells what happened to them or how they escaped or otherwise dealt with Naziism and/or the war.

The book is VERY readable. No scientific jargon; it is concise and completely for the non-scientific reader. The book can be read by most in a few days by reading in the evening.

I'm impressed by this work, its scholarship and its way of promoting (perhaps unintentionally) science as a worthwhile endeavor.

Buy it, borrow it, or whatever....but READ it !

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars XX Century Science and the men who made it happen...., February 6, 2004

By 

Jose Ernesto Passos (São Paulo, SP Brazil) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

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This review is from: Hitler's Gift : The True Story of the Scientists Expelled by the Nazi Regime (Hardcover)

This book summarizes the life, adventures and discoveries of some of the best brains in the first half of the XX century.

An additional benefit of this book is providing an overview of several scientific discoveries and part of the relationship that they have between them. It introduces information on some major scientific achievements that are worth to be known.

I would rewrite the title. Better forget Hitler's name, he is not so important.

5 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Fascinating Story!, August 13, 2003

By 

Julie Marie Totsch (Racine, WI United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Hitler's Gift : The True Story of the Scientists Expelled by the Nazi Regime (Hardcover)

Althought at times this book drags, it is a fascinating read. The authors do not peach about Hitler's Germany; they just tell it like it was. Often times, the author's will repeat themselves, but I believe that is because you don't have to read this book cover to cover in order.

What a concept...If Hitler had not expelled Jewish scientists and non-Jews who did not support him, the US and Britan would not be the political leaders they now are.