Brilliance in Exile : The Diaspora of Hungarian Scientists from John von Neumann to Katalin Karikó

By addressing the enigma of the exceptional success of Hungarian emigrant scientists and telling their life stories, Brilliance in Exile combines scholarly analysis with fascinating portrayals of uncommon personalities. István and Balazs Hargittai discuss the conditions that led to five different waves of emigration of scientists from the early twentieth century to the present. Although these exodes were driven by a broad variety of personal motivations, the attraction of an open society with inclusiveness, tolerance, and – needless to say – better circumstances for working and living, was the chief force drawing them abroad. While emigration from East to West is a general phenomenon, this book explains why and how the emigration of Hungarian scientists is distinctive. The high number of Nobel Prizes among this group is only one indicator. Multicultural tolerance, a quickly emerging, considerably Jewish, urban middle class, and a very effective secondary school system were positive legacies of the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy. Multiple generations, shaped by these conditions, suffered from the increasingly exclusionist, intolerant, antisemitic, and economically stagnating environment, and chose to go elsewhere. “I would rather have roots than wings, but if I cannot have roots, I shall use wings," explained Leo Szilard, one of the fathers of the Atom Bomb. "By addressing the enigma of the exceptional success of Hungarian emigrant scientists and telling their life stories, Brilliance in Exile combines scholarly analysis with fascinating portrayals of uncommon personalities. István and Balazs Hargittai discuss the conditions that led to five different waves of emigration of scientists from the early twentieth century to the present. Although these exodes were driven by a broad variety of personal motivations, the attraction of an open society with inclusiveness, tolerance, and - needless to say - better circumstances for working and living, was the chief force drawing them abroad. While emigration from East to West is a general phenomenon, this book explains why and how the emigration of Hungarian scientists is distinctive. The high number of Nobel Prizes among this group is only one indicator. Multicultural tolerance, a quickly emerging, considerably Jewish, urban middle class, and a very effective secondary school system were positive legacies of the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy. Multiple generations, shaped by these conditions, suffered from the increasingly exclusionist, intolerant, antisemitic, and economically stagnating environment, and chose to go elsewhere. "I would rather have roots than wings, but if I cannot have roots, I shall use wings," explained Leo Szilard, one of the fathers of the Atom Bomb"-- Provided by publisher

By addressing the enigma of the exceptional success of Hungarianemigrant scientists and telling their life stories, Brilliance inExile combines scholarly analysis with fascinating portrayals ofuncommon personalities. István and Balazs Hargittai discuss theconditions that led to five different waves of emigration ofscientists from the early twentieth century to the present.Although these exodes were driven by a broad variety of personalmotivations, the attraction of an open society with inclusiveness,tolerance, and - needless to say - better circumstances for workingand living, was the chief force drawing them abroad.

While emigration from East to West is a general phenomenon, thisbook explains why and how the emigration of Hungarian scientists isdistinctive. The high number of Nobel Prizes among this group isonly one indicator. Multicultural tolerance, a quickly emerging,considerably Jewish, urban middle class, and a very effectivesecondary school system were positive legacies of theAustro-Hungarian Monarchy. Multiple generations, shaped by theseconditions, suffered from the increasingly exclusionist,intolerant, antisemitic, and economically stagnating environment,and chose to go elsewhere. "I would rather have roots than wings,but if I cannot have roots, I shall use wings," explained LeoSzilard, one of the fathers of the Atom Bomb.

Contents Foreword Introduction Preface Joseph A. Galamb Philipp Lenard Part 1 Early 1920s Introduction: Fleeing Ervin Bauer Stephen Brunauer Ladislaus Farkas Dennis Gabor George de Hevesy Theodore von Kármán Arthur Koestler Stephen W. Kuffler Nicholas Kurti Cornelius Lanczos John von Neumann Egon Orowan Michael Polanyi George Pólya Elizabeth Rona Leo Szilard Maria Telkes Edward Teller Eugene P. Wigner “Control” —Imre Bródy Part 2 Late 1930s–early 1940s Introduction: Before It Is Too Late Michael and Alice Balint Ladislao José Biro Paul Erdos John G. Kemeny Olga Kennard Peter D. Lax George J. Popjak Valentine L. Telegdi Laszlo Tisza Part 3 Immediate Post-World War II Introduction: Post-War and Pre-Soviet Trauma Endre A. Balazs Zoltan Bay Georg von Békésy Lars Ernster John C. Harsanyi Avram Hershko Georg Klein and Eva Klein Albert Szent-Györgyi Part 4 1956 Introduction: In the Wake of Suppressed Revolution Laszlo Z. Bito Andy Grove Peter Lengyel Joseph Nagyvary George A. Olah Gabor A. Somorjai Part 5 1957–1989 Introduction: Escape from “Paradise” Gyorgy Buzsaki Gabor Fodor Katalin Karikó Charles Simonyi Agnes Ullmann “Control”—Árpád Furka Conclusion Thirty Years Later, and Continuing Acknowledgments Select Bibliography The Authors Also by the Authors Index of Names