A Scientific Autobiography

Postscript by Vincent Scully Based on notebooks composed since 1971, Aldo Rossi's memoir intermingles his architectural projects, including discussion of the major literary and artistic influences on his work, with his personal history. His ruminations range from his obsession with theater to his concept of architecture as ritual. The illustrations-photographs, evocative images, as well as a set of drawings of Rossi's major architectural projects prepared particularly for this publicationwere personally selected by the author to augment the text.

In this fascinating autobiography from one of the foremost geniuses of twentieth-century physics, Max Planck tells the story of his life, his aims, and his thinking. Published posthumously, the papers in this volume were written for the general reader and make accessible Planck’s scientific theories as well as his philosophical ideals, including his thoughts on ethics and morals.

S. Chandrasekhar, popularly known as Chandra, was one of the foremost scientists of the 20th century. The year 2010 marks the birth centenary of Chandra. His unique style of research, inward bound, seeking a personal perspective to master a particular field, and then pass on to another was so unique that it will draw considerable interest and attention among scholars. As Chandra elucidates in the preface, "The various installments describe in detail the evolution of my scientific work during the past forty years and records each investigation, describing the doubts and the successes, the trials and the tribulations. And the parts my various associates and assistants played in the completion of the different investigations are detailed." It is indeed a remarkable and rare document, fascinating to read and experience the joys, frustrations and struggles of a creative mind. In addition, a compilation of selected correspondence, which includes his correspondence with his father, some family members and other well-known scientists of the 20th century, will provide an interesting insight into the life of an extraordinary scientist.

A leading scientist describes his life, his gender transition, his scientific work, and his advocacy for gender equality in science. Ben Barres was known for his groundbreaking scientific work and for his groundbreaking advocacy for gender equality in science. In this book, completed shortly before his death from pancreatic cancer in December 2017, Barres (born in 1954) describes a life full of remarkable accomplishments—from his childhood as a precocious math and science whiz to his experiences as a female student at MIT in the 1970s to his female-to-male transition in his forties, to his scientific work and role as teacher and mentor at Stanford. Barres recounts his early life—his interest in science, first manifested as a fascination with the mad scientist in Superman; his academic successes; and his gender confusion. Barres felt even as a very young child that he was assigned the wrong gender. After years of being acutely uncomfortable in his own skin, Barres transitioned from female to male. He reports he felt nothing but relief on becoming his true self. He was proud to be a role model for transgender scientists. As an undergraduate at MIT, Barres experienced discrimination, but it was after transitioning that he realized how differently male and female scientists are treated. He became an advocate for gender equality in science, and later in life responded pointedly to Larry Summers's speculation that women were innately unsuited to be scientists. Privileged white men, Barres writes, “miss the basic point that in the face of negative stereotyping, talented women will not be recognized.” At Stanford, Barres made important discoveries about glia, the most numerous cells in the brain, and he describes some of his work. “The most rewarding part of his job,” however, was mentoring young scientists. That, and his advocacy for women and transgender scientists, ensures his legacy.

The field of Order and Chaos had a remarkable expansion in the last 50 years. The main reason was the use of computers, and the development of new theoretical methods that we call now 'the theory of chaos'. The author describes this fascinating period in a relaxed and sometimes humorous autobiographical way. He relates his interactions with many people in dynamical astronomy and he quotes several anecdotes from these interactions. He refers also to his experiences when he served in various international positions, such as general secretary of the IAU and chairman of the journal Astronomy and Astrophysics. In recent years the theory of chaos has been extended to new areas, like relativity, cosmology and quantum mechanics and it continues expanding in almost all branches of physics. The book describes many important ideas in this field in a simple way. It refers also to problems of more general interest, like writing papers and giving lectures and the interaction of authors and referees. Finally it gives some useful prospects for the future of dynamical astronomy and related fields. George Contopoulos, PhD U.Athens1953; Professor of Astronomy U.Thessaloniki 1957-75; U.Athens 1975-96; Emeritus 1996-; Member, Academy of Athens 1997-. Visiting Professor Yale U., Harvard U., MIT, Cornell U., U.Chicago, U.Maryland, U. Florida, Florida State U., U. Milan; Res. Associate, Yerkes Obs., Inst.Adv.Study Princeton, Inst.Space Studies, Goddard Flight Center, Columbia U., ESO. Author or Editor of 15 books, and about 250 papers on Galactic Dynamics, Relativity and Celestial Mechanics. Positions held: Gen.Secretary of the IAU; Director General Nat.Obs.of Greece, Pres.Hellenic Astron.Soc.; Nat.Representative of Greece in NATO, etc. Distinctions: Amer. Astron.Soc. Brouwer Prize; U.Chicago, Honorary Doctor's Degree; IAU, Pres. Commission 33 (Galaxy); Member Academia Europaea; Associate Royal Astron. Soc.; Chairman of the European Journal "Astronomy and Astrophysics"; Assoc. Editor of "Cel. Mech. Dyn. Astron."; Over 4500 citations and 300 acknowledgements.

Noncommutative geometry is a novel approach which is opening up new possibilities for geometry from a mathematical viewpoint. It is also providing new tools for the investigation of quantum space-time in physics. Recent developments in string theory have supported the idea of quantum spaces, and have strongly stimulated the research in this field. This self-contained volume contains survey lectures and research articles which address these issues and related topics. The book is accessible to both researchers and graduate students beginning to study this subject.

Robert S. Mulliken, Nobel Laureate in chemistry, always had the intention to write a book about his field of research: molecular orbital theory. This is his scientific autobiography, edited posthumously by his former student Bernard J. Ransil and complemented with a memoir by Friedrich Hund, his scientific protagonist. Mulliken describes his career and gives an account of the contributions of his friends and colleagues at home and in Europe where he frequently travelled. And last but not least, he gives an accurate history of how the molecular orbital theory originated and how it evolved in an atmosphere of international exchange. The book is written in a particularly lively style, full of reminiscences and scientific facts, interwoven to produce an account of the Life of a Scientist.

Biographies of scientists carry an increasingly prominent role in today's publishing climate. Traditional historical and sociological accounts of science are complemented by narratives that emphasize the importance of the scientific subject in the production of science. Not least is the realization that the role of science in culture is much more accessible when presented through the lives of its practitioners. Taken as a genre, such biographies play an important role in the public understanding of science. In recent years there has been an increasing number of monographs and collections about biography in general and literary biography in particular. However, biographies of scientists, engineers and medical doctors have rarely been the topic of scholarly inquiry. As such this volume of essays will be welcomed by those interested in the genre of science biography, and who wish to re-examine its history, foundational problems and theoretical implications. Borrowing approaches and methods from cultural studies and the history, philosophy and sociology of science, the contributions cover a broad range of subjects, periods and locations. By presenting such a rich diversity of essays, the volume is able to chart the reoccurring conceptual problems and devices that have influenced scientific biographies from classical antiquity to the present day. In so doing it provides a compelling overview of the history of the genre, suggesting that the different valuations given scientific biography over time have been largely fuelled by vested professional interests.