Prof. Ugo
Fano, Fermi’s student used to tell about Enrico:” He was not only an ingenious
theoretician*), an extremely clever experimentator but also an excellent organizer”. The „Manhattan” programme,
which cost 2 million dollars (at that time) would not succeed without
Fermi.
In summer
1934, Fermi’s students started research on the artificial radioactivity induced by neutron
bombardment of, in the alphebetic order, Al , Ag
and so on. However, after having informed Fermi, they couldn’t repeat these
results – it seemed that the radioactivity (artificial) of silver did
not appear when the experiment was moved from a temporary wooden desk to
a marble one.
Enrico Fermi
glanced at the experiment and decided to use paraffin, not the lead, to slow down neutrons. In the afternoon of the
same day (22.10.1934) an acquarium with golden fishes was placed on the
path of neutrons - a track to the nuclear reactor was opened.
With Fermi’s
(and Dirac’s) name a quantum statistics
is called, and accordingly, particles which are described by it ( fermions), in consequence also an energy level
in solids and a surface determined by this level; and heavy atoms model
(Thomas-Fermi’s). Fermi explained beta decay, predicted neutrino and brough
a significant contribution to the mathematical formulation of the quantum
electrodynamics.
After receiving
of the Nobel prize (1938) he did not come back to Italy (his wife was
of Jewish origin); he became a scientific chief of the „Manhattan” project
– construction of the first nuclear reactor, and then the first atomic
bomb.
| During the first trial nuclear explosion (16.07.1945, Los Alamos) Fermi on his own tried to estimate its power - by throwing in the air pieces of paper and measuring where they falled down. | 
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Dying in a hospital, he
continued to write precisely his diary on the radiation disease - like still
conducting a scientific experiment.
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