In this riveting memoir, journey alongside a physicist who had the rare privilege of witnessing — and contributing to — some of the most groundbreaking developments in 20th-century science. With firsthand accounts of interactions with legendary figures such as Richard Feynman, S Chandrasekhar, Edward Teller, John Wheeler, Stephen Hawking, Ya B Zel'dovich, James Watson, Julian Schwinger, Fred Hoyle, Martin Rees, Ed Witten, and many others, the narrative offers an insider's view of the minds that shaped our understanding of black holes, gravitational waves, and the universe itself. The author shares unique experiences, including working under Nobel Laureate Kip Thorne and guiding Adam Riess toward a Nobel Prize-winning discovery.
Beyond the scientific realm, the memoir delves into collaborations with technology visionaries, military leaders, and US presidents, offering a rich tapestry of stories that intersect with the most influential personalities of our time. This book is an essential read for physicists, astronomers, and anyone fascinated by the frontiers of science and the extraordinary individuals who push those boundaries.
Sample Chapter(s)
Foreword by Adam G. Riess
Author's Preface
1. DNA
18. Kip
28. Princeton
36. Academic Politics
66. Obama
Contents:
- Foreword by Adam G Riess
- Author's Preface
- DNA
- New Americans
- Lamont
- To California
- Altadena
- Projects
- Boy Scout
- High School
- Getting to Harvard
- Radio Days
- Sophomoric
- Coursework
- Professors
- Graduating
- Livermore
- Teller
- Gravitational Waves
- Kip
- Black Holes
- Feynman
- Chandrasekhar
- Motivation
- I.O.T.A.
- Les Houches
- Job, No Job
- Resolution
- Zel'dovich
- Princeton
- Metrics
- Ticket Out
- Tenures
- New Colleagues
- Jimmy Carter
- Protvino
- Academics
- Academic Politics
- Committees
- JASON
- Green Apples
- JASON Again
- Chairman
- Numerical Recipes
- Nukes and Spooks
- Sea Stories
- The Grove
- Boxes
- Tryouts
- Evangelist
- Global Grid
- Far Out
- Computers
- Sea Duty
- Arrived
- Uprooting
- Harmony
- Senior Executive
- Wen Ho Lee
- Cerro Grande
- Hard Drives
- The Process
- The Fall
- Nanos
- Innocents Abroad
- Transitions
- PCAST
- Obama
- Alice and Bob
- Elections
- Trumped
- COVID and Beyond
- Index
Readership: Physicists (academia and industry), astronomers (academia), and anyone interested in black holes and gravitational waves. The book also caters to readers of popular science, history of science, general public policy.
"Press has written a riveting book, distinctive in style and theme. He is a top-rank scientist, having attained status and respect as a member of the US academic elite. But unlike most such people, he finds 'ivory towers' constricting and has relished forays into the wider policy and political arena. He addresses important issues, and the narrative is laced and enlivened by intrigues and personality conflicts, recounted with unusual frankness. This enlightening and brilliantly-written book deserves wide readership."
Martin Rees
University of Cambridge and Astronomer Royal
"In More Than Curious, bear witness to the life and times one of the last of the Citizen Scientists. Bill Press is an astrophysicist like no other, who gifted his brilliance to the work of other scientists, and to multiple US Presidents — through the Cold War and beyond. A natural storyteller, Press's crystalline and lucid accounts of people, places, and things, leave you feeling like a front-row witness to his extraordinary journey."
Neil deGrasse Tyson
American Museum of Natural History
"This is a superbly interesting book, with personal insights, sometimes funny, often deep, into a half century of science and science's interplay with politics and public affairs. It has been shaped by the author's intense curiosity and creativity and his amazingly broad interests and expertise. Once I started reading, it was near impossible to put down."
Kip S Thorne
Caltech, Nobel Laureate
"An epic tale of a scientific career told through unique behind-the-scenes portraits of the people, organizations and issues that defined late 20th century physics and things to which it led."
Stephen Wolfram
Wolfram Research, Inc.
"As a memoir, More Than Curious is a picaresque exploration of high-level bureaucratic and academic politics. Pick it up anywhere, and within ten pages you'll find a sharp (sometimes snarky) insight into some event or public figure that Bill encountered in a long and productive career."
Stewart Baker
Steptoe & Johnson, former NSA General Counsel
"This book is a gift: William H Press places his scientific work in the context of the human stories and social and political institutions that swirled around him, writing with elegance and closely-observed detail. The memoir is also an ethnography and history of science in our lifetimes, a rare look not only at a scientific sensibility at work, but of how the scientific establishment relates to the world of politics, economics, and corporate power. I loved it."
Sherry Turkle
MIT, author most recently of Alone Together, Reclaiming Conversation, and The Empathy Diaries
"In this well written and vivid memoir, [Press] gives first-hand accounts of hobnobbing with such scientific luminaries as Richard Feynman, Edward Teller, and Kip Thorne, as well as with political leaders including Jimmy Carter and Barack Obama. Throughout, Press conveys the thrill of science and the obligations of its practitioners."
Alan Lightman
MIT, author of Einstein's Dreams
"Press shows himself a perceptive raconteur. His engaging vignettes create a fifty-year mosaic of physics, physicists, scientific institutions, and science policy."
Steven Koonin
former Caltech provost and US Under Secretary of Energy
"Press, one of the most consequential scientists of his generation, takes the reader on a tour of his life in science through seventy candid, vivid and highly-interesting vignettes ... You won't be able to put it down."
Michael S Turner
University of Chicago, former Assistant Director, National Science Foundation
"Press represents the best of academic and public service excellence in America. His scientific expertise and contribution to the nation's security underwrite a remarkable life story. The lessons apply to all who aspire for meaning and consequence in their personal and professional lives."
General Norton A Schwartz (Ret.)
former Chief of Staff, United States Air Force
"[His] book on algorithms is the most dog-eared volume on my bookshelf; this latest one, by the same William H Press, is yet another wonderful surprise, and I suspect that it too will get more than its share of wear and tear, both in my hands and in those of many others."
David E Shaw
D E Shaw Research and Columbia University
