Presents a riveting biography of the Nobel Prize-winning experimental physicist hailed as 'the greatest scientific detective of the twentieth century'

"To his admirers, Luis W. Alvarez was the most accomplished, inventive, and versatile experimental physicist of his generation. During World War II, he achieved major breakthroughs in radar, played a key role in the Manhattan Project, and served as the lead scientific observer at the bombing of Hiroshima. In the decades that followed, he revolutionized particle physics with the hydrogen bubble chamber, developed an innovative X-ray method to search for hidden chambers in the Pyramid of Chephren, and shot melons at a rifle range to test his controversial theory about the Kennedy assassination. At the very end of his life, he collaborated with his son to demonstrate that an asteroid impact was responsible for the extinction of the dinosaurs, igniting a furious debate that raged for years after his death. ...Nevala-Lee vividly recounts one of the most compelling untold stories in modern science ... that will fascinate anyone with an interest in how genius and creativity collide with the problems of an increasingly challenging world"-- Dust jacket