No Time to be Brief: A Scientific Biography of Wolfgang Pauli [Hardcover]

Charles P. Enz (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 21, 2002 | ISBN-10: 0198564791 | ISBN-13: 978-0198564799 | Edition: Revised

This book retraces the life of the physicist Wolfgang Pauli, analyzes his scientific work, and describes the evolution of his thinking. Pauli spent 30 years as a professor at the Federal Institute of Technology ETH in Zurich, which occupy a central place in this biography. It would be incomplete, however, without a rendering of Pauli's sarcastic wit and, most importantly, of the world of his dreams. It is through the latter that quite a different aspect of Pauli's life comes in, namely his association with the psychology of C.G. Jung and his school.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Writing a full Pauli biography is a task of moving mountains, and Enz ... is the first person to try. He starts from his own experience working as Pauli's last assistant and he draws on his sympathies for Pauli's varied concerns. ... The bulk of Enz's biography is taken up by careful analyses of Pauli's scientific contributions. Working through the publications paper by paper, the book carries the reader along Enz's own trajectory. The author has educated himself in a vast range of material, including work of many other physicists, and his insights will be very useful to anyone who wants to dig into Pauli's physics. ... Because Pauli's letters and papers were largely written in German, they are closed to most readers; Enz does a great service by writing his biography in English. ... Enz's portrait fascinates, and much in No Time To Be Brief will last. ... Enz's unique perspective and detailed analyses offer a great deal." -- Science

About the Author

Assistant of W. Pauli, Zurich 1956-59. Member, Institute for Advanced Studies, Princeton 1959-61 Professor of Theoretical Physics, Neuchatel 1961-64 Visiting Professor, Cornell University, Ithaca 1963-64 Professor of Theoretical Physics, Geneva, since 1964 Visiting Scientist IBM Research Laboratory, Zurich 1970-71 Fellow American Physical Society, since 1986 Member Pauli Committee, CERN, Geneva, since 1985

Product Details

• Hardcover: 584 pages
• Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA; Revised edition (November 21, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0198564791
• ISBN-13: 978-0198564799
• Product Dimensions: 9.6 x 6.4 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.5 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,227,207 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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15 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Enjoyable read, June 18, 2004

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This review is from: No Time to be Brief: A Scientific Biography of Wolfgang Pauli (Hardcover)

Fans of modern physics are well acquainted with Pauli. A Nobel Laureate (1945), who is best remembered for the Pauli Exclusion Principle. Enz takes us through Pauli's life. Most notably the crucial years at the Gottingen school of quantum mechanics in the 1920s, where quantum mechanics was born.

The book takes us into his research. But it also conveys some of the intellectual ferment and excitement of those times. And across the pages appear many other august notables in physics. Einstein, Born, Bohr...

Enz also tries to give some insight into Pauli's personality and his dealings with his family.

An enjoyable read.