Scientific Biographies: Dirac, Poincare, Pauli - Suggestions?

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SUMMARY

The discussion centers on the search for "scientific biographies" that focus on the scientific contributions of notable physicists rather than personal details. Key recommendations include Kragh's "Dirac: A Scientific Biography," Gray's biography of Poincare, and Enz's "No Time to be Brief" about Pauli. The term "scientific biography" appears to be underutilized, leading to difficulty in finding additional titles within this genre. Suggestions also include works related to Richard Feynman and collections that encompass broader themes in quantum mechanics.

PREREQUISITES
  • Understanding of the term "scientific biography" and its distinction from general biographies.
  • Familiarity with key physicists such as Dirac, Poincare, Pauli, and Feynman.
  • Knowledge of quantum mechanics and its historical context.
  • Ability to navigate academic resources, including university libraries.
NEXT STEPS
  • Research additional scientific biographies focusing on physicists and their contributions.
  • Explore Richard Feynman's works, particularly those with mathematical content.
  • Investigate the history of quantum mechanics through comprehensive collections.
  • Check local university libraries for rare or specialized physics texts.
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Researchers, students, and enthusiasts of physics and history of science, particularly those interested in detailed accounts of scientists' contributions to their fields.

jjustinn
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I recently stumbled upon Kragh's Dirac: A Scientific Biography, and got a lot out of it. Usually, biographies of famous scientists are geared toward a general audience, and are hence light on details...but the "scientific biography" is a survey of the subject's scientific work, with little or no attemtion to personal details.

So, I've been looking for more similar scientific biographies. Amazon was good enough to recommend the recent Poincare sci-bio by Gray, which also fits the mold perfectly...but aside from those two, I've only found one other: Enz's "No Time to be Brief", about Pauli.

Am I just using the wrong search term? The fact that these books all use the term "scientific biography" led me to believe it was an established genre, but I cannot find any other exemplars using that label.

So, any suggestions? They don't have to be career-spanning (the "Einstein's Miraculous Year", with its intro by Penrose, would fit my definition), or even limited to a single scientist (the frame-setting essays in Hawking math & QM collections, Miller's Early QED, and Van Der Waerden's Sources of QM are all good too).
 
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SteamKing said:
You might try this volume on Richard Feynman:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/0198539487/?tag=pfamazon01-20

Has more equations in it than most biographies.

Ah, nice: this is the same author of that zillion-volume history of QM that someone else recommended in another thread(but which seems to be only partially available, and even then only at "collector's" prices). I'll have to check this out. Thanks.
 
I don't know if those volumes on QM flew off the shelves when the books were initially published. These non-mass interest books typically have low print runs and once they sell out, that's it. I don't think you need to wait for them to come out in paperback. I would check a local university library to see if they might be in the physics collection.