Enrico Fermi
- Born: September 29, 1901 (Rome, Italy)
- Died: November 28, 1954 (Chicago, Illinois)
Education
- 1922: PhD, University of Pisa (Physics)
Major Positions
- 1922–1923: University of Göttingen, Italian Ministry of Public Instruction Fellow
- 1923–1924: University of Rome, Instructor in Physics
- 1924–1924: University of Leiden, Research Assistant
- 1925–1926: University of Florence, Lecturer
- 1926–1938: University of Rome, Professor of Theoretical Physics
- 1939–1944: Columbia University, Professor of Physics
- 1945–1954: University of Chicago, Professor of Physics, Institute for Nuclear Studies
Other Positions
- 1942–1943: Manhattan Project, Chicago Metallurgical Laboratory, Leader, Physics Group
- 1943–1944: Manhattan Project, Chicago Metallurgical Laboratory, Director, Argonne Branch
- 1944–1946: Manhattan Project, Los Alamos Laboratory, Associate Director
- 1953–1953: American Physical Society, President
Selected Part-Time Positions
- 1947–1950: Member, General Advisory Committee, United States Atomic Energy Commission
Selected Awards and Honors
Archival Resources
University of Chicago, Regenstein Library, Department of Special Collections, Chicago, Illinois
Online Finding Aid
Research Notebooks, Domus Galilaeana; and American Institute of Physis, Niels Bohr Library and Archives, Pisa, Italy; and College Park, Maryland
Resources on the Web
Published Resources
Samuel K. Allison, "Enrico Fermi: 1901-1954", Biographical Memoirs of the National Academy of Sciences
Herbert L. Anderson, "The Legacy of Fermi and Szilard," Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists September (1974): 56-62.
Herbert L. Anderson, "Fermi, Szilard and Trinity," Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists October (1974): 40-47.
Valentine L. Telegdi, "Enrico Fermi in America," Physics Today June (2002): 38-43.
Laura Fermi, Atoms in the Family: My Life with Enrico Fermi (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1954)
Pierre de Latil, translated by Len Ortzen, Enrico Fermi: The Man and His Theories (London: Camelot Press, 1964)
Emilio Segrè, Enrico Fermi: Physicist (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1970)
Lanfranco Belloni, Da Fermi a Rubbia (Milan: Rizzoli, 1987)
Dan Cooper, Enrico Fermi and the Revolutions in Modern Physics (New York: Oxford University Press, 1998)
Giulio Maltese, Enrico Fermi in America: Una Biografia Scientifica, 1938-1954 (New York: Springer, 2003)
Carlo Bernardini and Luisa Bonolis, eds., Enrico Fermi: His Work and Legacy (New York: Springer, 2004)
James W. Cronin, ed., Fermi Remembered (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2004)
Hans Bethe, et al., "Memorial Symposium Held in Honor of Enrico Fermi," Reviews of Modern Physics 27 (1955): 249-275
Gerald Holton, "Striking Gold in Science: Fermi's Group and the Recapture of Italy's Place in Physics," Minerva 12 (1974): 159-198
Edoardo Amaldi, "Neutron Work in Rome in 1934-1936 and the Discovery of Uranium Fission," Rivista di Storia della Scienza 1 (1984): 1-24
Allan Franklin, "Experiment and the Development of the Theory of Weak Interactions: Fermi's Theory," PSA: Proceedings of the Biennial Meeting of the Philosophy of Science Association 2 (1986): 163-179
Lanfranco Belloni, "On Fermi's Route to Fermi-Dirac Statistics," European Journal of Physics 15 (1994): 102-109
Laurie M. Brown and Helmut Rechenberg, "Field Theories of Nuclear Forces in the 1930s: The Fermi Field Theory," Historical Studies in the Physical and Biological Sciences 25 (1994): 1-24
Luca Carbonari and Fabio Sebastiani, "La Scoperta dell'Azione di Sostanze Idrogenate sulla Radioattività Provocata da Neutroni: Nota in Margine al Ritrovamento di un Cimelio Fermiano," Physis 39 (2002): 483-510
Andrea Gambassi, "Enrico Fermi in Pisa," Physics in Perspective 5 (2003): 384-397
Giovanni Acocella, Francesco Guerra, and Nadia Robotti, "Enrico Fermi's Discovery of Neutron-Induced Artificial Radioactivity: The Recovery of His First Laboratory Notebook," Physics in Perspective 6 (2004): 29-41
Guilio Maltese, "Enrico Fermi tra Storia e Storiografia della Fisica," Nuova Informazione Bibliografica 4 (2005): 696-718
Luca Carbonari, "La Strumentazione di Enrico Fermi negli Esperimenti con i Neutroni a Via Panisperna," Quaderni di Storia della Fisica 13 (2005): 93-123
Francesco Guerra, Matteo Leone, and Nadia Robotti, "Enrico Fermi's Discovery of Neutron-Induced Artificial Radioactivity: Neutrons and Neutron Sources," Physics in Perspective 8 (2006): 255-281
Alberto De Gregorio, "A Far-Reaching Project Behind the Discovery of Neutron-Induced Radioactivity," Studies in History and Philosophy of Modern Physics 37 (2006): 330-346
Simone Turchetti, ""For Slow Neutrons, Slow Pay": Enrico Fermi's Patent and the U.S. Atomic Energy Program, 1938-1953," Isis 97 (2006): 1-27
Carlo Petrucci and Fabio Sebastiani, "L'opera di Divulgazione della Fisica Quantistica Svolta in Italia da Enrico Fermi negli Anni Venti," Quaderni di Storia della Fisica 14 (2007): 40-70
Francesco Guerra and Nadia Robotti, "Enrico Fermi's Discovery of Neutron-Induced Artificial Radioactivity: The Influence of His Theory of Beta Decay," Physics in Perspective 11 (2009): 379-404
