{"product_id":"9783032279613","title":"Maksimovič - The Life of Bruno Pontecorvo","description":"\u003ch3\u003eSpringer Biographies\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003ch1\u003eMaksimovič - The Life of Bruno Pontecorvo\u003c\/h1\u003e\u003ch3\u003eGiuseppe Mussardo\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\u003cb\u003eScience \/ Physics \/ General\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eWhen Bruno Pontecorvo disappeared without a trace in 1950, he was already recognized as one of the most brilliant physicists of his generation. A key member of Enrico Fermi’s famed “boys from Via Panisperna,” he helped make Rome a world center of nuclear physics in the 1930s. In the 1940s, while working in North America, he made decisive contributions to neutrino physics, devising methods to detect one of nature’s most elusive particles. At the same time, Pontecorvo was a committed communist whose work for Western institutions placed him at the center of Cold War suspicions.\u003cbr\u003eHis sudden disappearance sparked intense speculation: had he defected to the Soviet Union, was he a spy, and did he contribute to the Soviet atomic bomb? For years, nothing emerged from behind the Iron Curtain, until his reappearance in the Soviet press as Bruno Maksimovič Pontecorvo, publicly declaring his decision to seek political asylum and embrace a new life in Moscow.\u003cbr\u003eIn this compelling and deeply researched biography, physicist Giuseppe Mussardo reconstructs the scientific achievements and human complexities of a figure who seems drawn from a spy novel yet shaped some of the most important ideas of modern physics. The book explores the unresolved mysteries surrounding Pontecorvo’s choices, beliefs, and knowledge, offering a penetrating portrait of a scientist for whom discovery, ideology, and personal sacrifice were inseparably entwined.\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\u003c\/div\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\u003cp\u003eProfessor of Theoretical Physics (SISSA), Scientific Director of the Journal of Statistical Mechanics and Applications and author of several scientific monographs on quantum field theory, including Statistical Field Theory, Oxford University Press 2020. He has written various popular science books, including: \"Dio gioca a dadi con il mondo. La storia della meccanica quantistica\" (Castelvecchi 2025); \"Maksimovic. La storia di Bruno Pontecorvo\" (Castelvecchi 2023); \"The ABC’s of Science\" (Springer 2022), \"Sky and Earth. Travelling with Dante Alighieri and Marco Polo\" (Springer 2023); \"God Plays Dice with the World: The History of Quantum Mechanics\" (Springer 2026). He is Academician of the oldest Italian academy, Accademia delle Arti del Disegno (Firenze). Author of 5 scientific documentaries, including \"Galois: A Revolutionary Mathematician\" (2017). Among his recognitions are the Italian Physical Society Outreach Award (2013), the Kramers Chair at Utrecht University (2017), and the Cosmos Award (2024).\u003c\/p\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ctable\u003e\n\u003ctr\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003ePublication Date: \u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003e07 August 2026\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003c\/tr\u003e\n\u003ctr\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003ePublisher: \u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003eSpringer Nature Switzerland\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003c\/tr\u003e\n\u003ctr\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003eImprint: \u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003eSpringer\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003c\/tr\u003e\n\u003ctr\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003eISBN-13: \u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003e9783032279613\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003c\/tr\u003e\n\u003ctr\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003eFormat: \u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003eHardback\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003c\/tr\u003e\n\u003ctr\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003ePage Count: \u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003e364\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003c\/tr\u003e\n\u003c\/table\u003e","brand":"Springer Nature Switzerland","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47729523949708,"sku":"9783032279613","price":53.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0710\/9545\/1788\/files\/9783032279613.jpg?v=1780597726","url":"https:\/\/fh90cf-fv.myshopify.com\/products\/9783032279613","provider":"Late Knight Books and Services, LLC","version":"1.0","type":"link"}