The Physicists

“The Physicists is the indispensable classic history—an epic guide to an epic drama. No one who wants to understand the twentieth century can afford to be without it.”—James Gleick, author of Genius: The Life and Science of Richard Feynman

“[An] uncommonly good book.”—John Leonard, The New York Times

“A colorful, thoughtful, and accessible survey.”—The Los Angeles Times Book Review

“One of the most interesting, readable, well-researched, and informative books yet addressed to the institutional history of science in America.”—David Hollinger, The Chronicle of Higher Education

“A well-documented, beautifully written study of the scientific work of American physicists and of the intellectual and political milieu in which all the sciences—especially the physical sciences in the United States—subsisted in the 150-year period from 1830 to 1980… An outstanding example of dedicated scholarship that readers of many different backgrounds and interests will find both authoritative and fascinating.”—Joseph F. Mulligan, Science Books and Films