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  • © 2020

Jayme Tiomno

A Life for Science, a Life for Brazil

  • A fascinating biography of a talented and influential Brazilian physicist
  • Recounts Tiomno's many interactions with John Wheeler, Richard Feynman and other well-known contemporaries
  • Provides new insights into the early development of Weak Interactions and Gravitation Theory
  • Explores the radical changes Tiomno brought to physics education in Brazil and elsewhere

Part of the book series: Springer Biographies (SPRINGERBIOGS)

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Table of contents (18 chapters)

  1. Front Matter

    Pages i-xiii
  2. Prologue

    • William Dean Brewer, Alfredo Tiomno Tolmasquim
    Pages 1-3
  3. Growing Up

    • William Dean Brewer, Alfredo Tiomno Tolmasquim
    Pages 5-20
  4. Student Days in Rio de Janeiro: Medicine Becomes Physics

    • William Dean Brewer, Alfredo Tiomno Tolmasquim
    Pages 21-35
  5. A New World of Subatomic Particles: A Summary of the Physics

    • William Dean Brewer, Alfredo Tiomno Tolmasquim
    Pages 37-53
  6. The Young Researcher

    • William Dean Brewer, Alfredo Tiomno Tolmasquim
    Pages 55-66
  7. Princeton—In Pursuit of the Universal Fermi Interaction

    • William Dean Brewer, Alfredo Tiomno Tolmasquim
    Pages 67-92
  8. Elisa

    • William Dean Brewer, Alfredo Tiomno Tolmasquim
    Pages 93-109
  9. The CBPF: In Pursuit of a Dream

    • William Dean Brewer, Alfredo Tiomno Tolmasquim
    Pages 111-139
  10. Research at the CBPF. Weak Interactions and Particles

    • William Dean Brewer, Alfredo Tiomno Tolmasquim
    Pages 141-169
  11. A New Decade: The Calm Before the Storm

    • William Dean Brewer, Alfredo Tiomno Tolmasquim
    Pages 171-196
  12. A Utopian Academy

    • William Dean Brewer, Alfredo Tiomno Tolmasquim
    Pages 197-213
  13. The Military Regime. The ‘Leaden Years’. Repression and Resistance

    • William Dean Brewer, Alfredo Tiomno Tolmasquim
    Pages 215-243
  14. Exile—Princeton Once More: Gravitation and Field Theory

    • William Dean Brewer, Alfredo Tiomno Tolmasquim
    Pages 245-262
  15. PUC—The Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro

    • William Dean Brewer, Alfredo Tiomno Tolmasquim
    Pages 263-280
  16. The Amnesty—Return to the Centro

    • William Dean Brewer, Alfredo Tiomno Tolmasquim
    Pages 281-305
  17. Researcher Emeritus—The 1990s

    • William Dean Brewer, Alfredo Tiomno Tolmasquim
    Pages 307-325
  18. Conclusion—The New Century. A Life for Science

    • William Dean Brewer, Alfredo Tiomno Tolmasquim
    Pages 327-343
  19. Epilogue

    • William Dean Brewer, Alfredo Tiomno Tolmasquim
    Pages 345-347
  20. Back Matter

    Pages 349-396

About this book

Jayme Tiomno (1920-2011) was one of the most influential Brazilian physicists of the 20th century, interacting with many of the renowned physicists of his time, including John Wheeler and Richard Feynman, Eugene Wigner, Chen Ning Yang, David Bohm, Murray Gell-Mann, Remo Ruffini, Abdus Salam, and many others.

This biography tells the sometimes romantic, often discouraging but finally optimistic story of a dedicated scientist and educator from a developing country who made important contributions to particle physics, gravitation, cosmology and field theory, and to the advancement of science and of scientific education, in many institutions in Brazil and elsewhere. Drawing on unpublished documents from archives in Brazil and the US as well as private sources, the book traces Tiomno's long life, following his role in the establishment of various research facilities and his tribulations during the Brazilian military dictatorship. It presents a story of progress and setbacks in advancing science in Brazil and beyond, and of the persistence and dedication of a talented physicist who spent his life in search of scientific truth.

Authors and Affiliations

  • Fachbereich Physik, FU Berlin, Berlin, Germany

    William Dean Brewer

  • Museo de Amanhã, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

    Alfredo Tiomno Tolmasquim

About the authors

William Dean Brewer: born 1943 in the USA. Educated in Chemistry and Mathematics at Univ. Oregon (Eugene), PhD in Physical Chemistry at Univ. California (Berkeley). Postdoctoral work in Physics at the Freie Universität Berlin and in Orsay, France. Habilitation in experimental physics at the FU Berlin, later university professor there. Research in nuclear and solid-state physics, magnetism on surfaces and in thin films. Visiting scientist at IBM Yorktown Heights, Stanford Univ., Univ. São Paulo, CBPF - Rio de Janeiro. Translations of over 20 scientific works (German to English), work for the Einstein Papers Project.


Alfredo Tiomno Tolmasquim: born 1960 in Brazil. Chemical Engineer, doctorate in Communications and Culture, with postdoctoral work at the Edelstein Center for the History and Philosophy of Science, Technology and Medicine of the Hebrew University, Jerusalem; visiting scholar at the Max Planck Institute for the History of Science, and the Advanced Studies Institute at the Hebrew University, Jerusalem. Researcher at the Museum of Astronomy and Related Sciences, Rio de Janeiro, where he was Director from 2003 to 2011. Currently Director of Scientific Development at the Museum of Tomorrow, also in Rio de Janeiro.



Bibliographic Information

Buy it now

Buying options

eBook USD 44.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book USD 59.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book USD 84.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Other ways to access