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The work of ten great scientists is presented in the new book Superconductivity: Discoveries and Discoverers – Ten Physics Nobel Laureates Tell Their Story. The author Kristian Fossheim describes who they were and are, their personal background and how they achieved their outstanding results and took their prominent place in science history. The book follows one of physics and science history's most enigmatic phenomena, superconductivity, through 100 years, from its discovery in 1911 to the present.
This is not a history book in the usual sense. For each one of the ten laureates, the author tells their story by direct quotation from interviews. Each chapter treats one laureate. The author first gives a brief account of the laureates' scientific background and main contribution. Then each laureate tells his own story in his own words. This book is unique in its approach to science history.
"This book has a dual perspective; on one hand the often underexposed human side of the life of outstanding scientists, on the other hand the hard facts about how great scientific achievements were made," said Kristian Fossheim. "Rather than polishing the language, I have kept the informal, oral, sometimes lively style from the interview situations. I am convinced there is something to learn from these stories. They show the great diversity of conditions under which scientific breakthroughs happened as well as the common features."
Kristian Fossheim, PhD, is a condensed matter physicist educated at the University of Oslo. He is presently the President of The Royal Norwegian Society and Letters, Norway's oldest academic institution. He is well known in Norway for science writing and for his participation in public debates on science and education.
Kristian Fossheim
Superconductivity: Discoveries and Discoverers
Ten Physics Nobel Laureates Tell Their Story
2013, XIII, 140 p. 12 illus
Hardcover $89.95, €59.95, £53.99
ISBN 978-3-642-36058-9
Also available as an eBook