Volume 54, Number 16 · October 25, 2007
Working for the Revolution
By Freeman Dyson
Faust in Copenhagen: A Struggle for the Soul of Physics
by Gino Segrè
Viking, 310 pp., $25.95
Dr. Johannes Faust was a real person who has an entry in the German dictionary of national biography.[1] He was a professional astrologer and magician who spent his time wandering from town to town in Germany during the sixteenth century, providing horoscopes and astrological advice to bishops and princes as well as to the common people. He was famous enough to come to the attention of Martin Luther, who denounced him for making a pact with the devil. Whether Faust himself claimed any acquaintance with the devil is not clear. He became a legend soon after his death, when an account of his life was published in Germany, incorporating many fanciful tales borrowed from other sources.
Review, 4494 words
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