Enrico Fermi ForMemRS
September 29th, 1901.
There are lots of 'Royal Societies'. There's the RSPB - The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, who protect birds but not from other birds because then you'd need a society to protect the birds from the birds ... Yeah ... And then there's the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents, who prevent accidents, but not the accidents of birth that mean we end up with Royals in the first place.
But there's only one Royal Society. It's not the Royal Society of anything, it's just the Royal Society*, and you can't join it because you, and me, are too stupid. Members of the Royal Society include Albert Einstein, Charles Darwin, Isaac Newton, Ernest Rutherford, Benjamin Franklin, Michael Faraday, Alan Turin, Stephen Hawking and the person we will need to push to the front of the crowd to do all the talking when the aliens land, and the only candidate for President of Earth, Sir David Attenborough.
You cannot join the Royal Society because, apart from being too stupid, you haven't been invited, and to be invited, you have to have things named after you. Not that barbecue pit you built last year out of an old shopping cart and two pallets you found in a stream, but something important. And not something you named after you, but something someone else named after you and preferably that someone is also a member of the Royal Society. I don't know what they do in the Royal Society, apart from sitting around not being stupid, but it is probably very important and involves naming things after people.
One of the people who is a member of the Royal Society (and even if you're dead, you're still a member!) is a man who has an awful lot of things named after him. A lab, energy, gas, a liquid theory, a heap and a hole, motion, a point, a golden rule, a glow, a ball, a sea, a unit, a constant, an element, a whole bunch of equations and a paradox.
The ‘paradox’ is my favourite and asks, quite simply, that if the universe is infinite in size with a gazillion planets and there is life out there among the gazillion planets and if that life has existed in bazillions years of the universe and so on, then where in the fuck are they? This problem arose in 1950 during a lunchtime conversation between some physicists discussing the recent phenomena of UFOs and the possibility of faster-than-light travel when one of them, quite innocently, asked the very obvious question, "But where is everybody?" A question that physics struggles to answer. And that man was Enrico Fermi, and he was very much not stupid, and the architect of the nuclear age, and a member of the Royal Society, and has so many things named after him that 'Things Named After Enrico Fermi' has its own Wikipedia page.
It includes 'Fermi's Four Factor Formula', which, despite its name, is not a tonic that promotes hair growth.
Enrico Fermi, born on September 29, 1901, in Rome, Italy, remains one of the most pivotal figures in the history of science. His groundbreaking work, ranging from quantum mechanics to nuclear physics, profoundly shaped our understanding of the atomic world and the universe. Fermi's contributions touched on many scientific fields, from theoretical physics to experimental discoveries that paved the way for the nuclear age.
Fermi grew up in a middle-class family. His father, Alberto Fermi, worked for the Italian government, while his mother, Ida de Gattis, was a schoolteacher. Enrico was exceptionally bright, showing a profound aptitude for mathematics and science from a young age. Tragedy struck the family when his older brother, Giulio, died unexpectedly during a minor surgery when Fermi was just 14. Grief-stricken, Fermi threw himself into his studies, particularly physics, where he soon excelled.
Fermi began his university education at the prestigious Scuola Normale Superiore in Pisa at age 17. By the time he graduated in 1922, he had already demonstrated remarkable scientific insights, impressing his mentors with his understanding of quantum mechanics. Upon graduation, Fermi sought opportunities in physics across Europe, studying with renowned physicists in Germany and the Netherlands, where he absorbed the latest developments in quantum theory.
In 1926, Fermi made one of his most famous theoretical contributions: the development of Fermi-Dirac statistics, which describes the behavior of fermions (particles such as electrons that obey Pauli's Exclusion Principle). Fermi-Dirac statistics became essential to quantum mechanics, significantly advancing our understanding of the behavior of subatomic particles.
After several years in Europe, Fermi returned to Italy, where he accepted a teaching position at the University of Rome in 1927. There, he established a vibrant research group that became known as the "Via Panisperna boys," named after the street where their institute was located. This group made significant contributions to the field of nuclear physics, most notably discovering that slow-moving neutrons were more effective at inducing radioactive decay than fast neutrons. This was a crucial discovery that laid the groundwork for nuclear reactors, as it showed that slow neutrons could be used to sustain nuclear reactions in a controlled manner.
By the early 1930s, Fermi was a rising star in the scientific community, and in 1938, he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics for his work on artificial radioactivity produced by neutron bombardment. This work further solidified his reputation as one of the leading physicists of his time. However, as the political situation in Italy worsened under Mussolini's fascist regime, Fermi faced increasing difficulties. His wife, Laura Capon, was Jewish, and Italy's new racial laws threatened her and their children. Thus, Fermi used the opportunity of traveling to Stockholm to receive his Nobel Prize as a chance to escape Italy, never to return.
Fermi emigrated to the United States in 1938, where he accepted a position at Columbia University in New York. This marked the beginning of the next phase of his career, during which he would make some of his most important contributions to science. Soon after arriving, he became involved in efforts to develop a controlled nuclear chain reaction, a critical step toward building nuclear weapons. Fermi and his team, including Niels Bohr, focused their research on achieving this reaction through neutron bombardment.
In December 1942, Fermi’s team achieved the first controlled nuclear chain reaction at the University of Chicago under the bleachers of the university’s Stagg Field. This momentous event marked the beginning of the nuclear age. The experiment, known as Chicago Pile-1, was a milestone in nuclear physics and paved the way for the development of both nuclear energy and atomic weapons.
Fermi’s involvement in the Manhattan Project, which developed the first atomic bombs, is among his most well-known contributions. After the success at Chicago Pile-1, Fermi joined the project at Los Alamos, New Mexico, where he worked alongside other prominent physicists such as Robert Oppenheimer, Edward Teller, and Niels Bohr. While Fermi’s primary responsibility was the reactor work, he also served as a scientific advisor during the final stages of the atomic bomb’s development, including at the first test explosion in July 1945.
Though instrumental in developing the bomb, Fermi had reservations about its use. He, like many of his peers, was deeply conflicted over the potential devastation that nuclear weapons could cause. After the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August 1945, Fermi, along with other Manhattan Project scientists, signed a petition urging the U.S. government to avoid using atomic bombs in future conflicts unless absolutely necessary. This petition demonstrated Fermi’s awareness of the ethical implications of his work, even though he did not publicly speak out against the bombings.
After World War II, Fermi shifted his focus from nuclear weapons to other areas of theoretical and experimental physics. He worked on high-energy physics, particularly in the study of cosmic rays and pion-nucleon interactions. One of his lasting contributions from this period is his theory of cosmic ray acceleration, which speculated that interstellar magnetic fields could accelerate particles to high speeds. This theory became a foundational concept in cosmic ray research and remains relevant to this day.
Fermi also became known for his ability to simplify complex topics and teach them with clarity. His teaching style was concise and effective, and he mentored many students who would later become prominent physicists. His clear and logical approach to physics, often referred to as “Fermi’s method,” helped shape the future generation of physicists, and his lecture notes are still used as teaching tools today. His reputation as an educator and mentor was perhaps as influential as his scientific achievements.
Beyond his direct contributions to physics, Fermi’s name is attached to many phenomena and concepts. Fermions, the class of particles that includes electrons, protons, and neutrons, are named after him, and Fermi’s Paradox remains a significant thought experiment in the search for extraterrestrial life. The paradox, first proposed by Fermi in 1950, asks the simple yet profound question: If intelligent extraterrestrial life exists, why have we not yet detected any evidence of it? This question continues to fuel research and debate in both physics and philosophy.
Despite his remarkable achievements, Fermi’s humility and unpretentiousness endeared him to colleagues and students alike. Known for his pragmatic approach to science, Fermi had a knack for focusing on solvable problems and avoiding unnecessary complexity. This practicality and straightforwardness were key elements of his personality and professional demeanor, allowing him to make swift progress on projects that often took others much longer.
Fermi’s legacy lives on not only in the world of physics but also in the broader history of science. He is remembered as a true pioneer who bridged the gap between theory and experiment. His ability to traverse both theoretical and experimental domains with equal skill and success was a rare gift that set him apart from his peers. As physicists continue to explore the fundamental forces and particles that govern the universe, Fermi’s work remains a touchstone for generations of scientists
Fermi passed away on November 28, 1954, from stomach cancer. He was just 53 years old, yet his legacy had already been solidified by his numerous contributions to both science and humanity. His death was a loss to the scientific community, but the foundations he laid continue to shape the understanding of physics today.
* “Royal Society” does mean something, of course. It is short for “The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge” and Elon Musk is a member, so they do admit idiots after all.
(Edit - Elon Musk is currently a member, but maybe not for much longer. Because he’s an idiot)
Thanks for reading! To share this article, please click the button below. If you’d like to help us out by making a donation via Kofi, anything would be gratefully received! Click the donation button to help out. It accepts PayPal and all the usual sources. You’re welcome to read for free and to share as much as you like, but this is a full-time job now, so if anyone would like to help out, it would be really appreciated. There are paid subs, too, for which you get cool exclusive stuff (with more stuff coming soon!)
Hope you enjoyed the article. Thanks, everyone!