Steven Weinberg shares his candid thoughts, in his own words, on theoretical physics and cosmology, along with personal anecdotes and recollections of the people who helped shape his career. These memoirs of his life as a scientist and public figure cover his student days and early career, through the golden age of particle physics in the 1970s, his being awarded the Nobel prize, through to the end of the twentieth century. In addition to his research insights, Weinberg provides glimpses into his life in academia more broadly: dealing with the 'two-body problem', tenure, international conference travel, his book-writing, advisory work with JASON, and his advocacy for the Superconducting Super Collider. Physicists, historians of science and interested readers will find the presentation engaging and often witty, as Weinberg reflects on his life in physics.

‘A roughly chronological account of his life up to the 1990s, with his perspective on the development of fundamental physics over the past century. … written for a wide audience, featuring neither unexplained jargon nor even a single equation … Non-specialists might sometimes be overwhelmed by the details of Weinberg's account of the development of the standard model. But he takes care to leaven his narrative with engaging accounts of his meetings with other famous physicists, including Robert Oppenheimer and quantum pioneers Niels Bohr and Wolfgang Pauli. Most fascinating are his experiences as a member of the JASON group of top-drawer scientists that gives independent, secret advice to the US government … As his splendidly readable memoir shows, Big Steve was much more than a great scientist, however - his appetite for life was nothing short of gargantuan.’

Graham Farmelo Source: Nature