Postal stamps
A number of countries, including the United States, have issued postage stamps honoring Enrico Fermi. You can view these via an image search on Google.
Perricone, Mike, "Fermi Stamp: A Chain Reaction." Fermi News. V. 24, No.2, Feb. 2, 2001.
"U of C puts stamp on Fermi celebration." by V. Carolyn Bond - The Chicago Maroon.
Nuclear Energy sculpture
Nuclear Energy, a 12-foot tall bronze sculpture by the British abstract artist Henry Moore (1898-1986), was unveiled at 3:36 p.m. on December 2, 1967, precisely 25 years after scientists at the University of Chicago achieved the first controlled self-sustaining nuclear chain reaction. The sculpture stands on the site of the University's old Stagg Field West Stands, where the experiment took place in a former squash court. The team of scientists was led by Enrico Fermi.
The abstract sculpture is suggestive of the shape of a human skull or an atomic mushroom cloud. Henry Moore himself hoped those viewing it would "go around it, looking out through the open spaces, and that they may have a feeling of being in a cathedral."
Site of sculpture on campus map
70th anniversary news item
Photos of the creation of Nuclear Energy (click to see larger images):
Assembly Polishing Installation
Dedication View at site
Photos of commemorative awards and events
Click on thumbnail photos for larger image and more information.
4th anniversary 10th anniversary Dedication of RI
The Enrico Fermi Presidential Award
Anniversaries, symposia and more
To Fermi - with Love. Argonne, Ill. : Argonne National Laboratory, [1974?]
(2 sound discs : analog, 33 1/3 rpm, mono. ; 12 in.)
Side one (11.4 MB, .mp3)
75th anniversary observations
Pyrotechnic artwork commemorates 75th anniversary of first nuclear reaction
University of Chicago commemorates first nuclear reaction on Dec. 1 and 2, 2017
Other anniversary observations
Enrico Fermi: The Life of a Scientist
Atomic year 25 : the story of CP-1 : a silver anniversary documentary on the first controlled nuclear chain reaction. Argonne, Ill. : Argonne National Laboratory, [1967?] (1 sound disc : analog, 33 1/3 rpm ; 12 in.)
The Nuclear Chain Reaction: Forty Years Later / edited by Robert G. Sachs. Chicago : University of Chicago Press, 1984
The Chain Reaction: December 2, 1942 and After
An Exhibition in the Department of Special Collections,University of Chicago Library
October 1, 1992 - December 4, 1992
Enrico Fermi and his legacy in nuclear physics: a website contest for U.S. and Italian students (commemorating the 100th anniversary of Fermi's birth)
http://www-news.uchicago.edu/fermi/
Mertens, Richard, "Beyond the Bomb," University of Chicago Magazine, Volume 94, Number 2 (covers symposium held on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of Fermi's birth)
Article from the University of Chicago News Office on the 70th anniversary of the chain reaction
"Dawn of the Nuclear Age" CP-1 70th Anniversary Symposium (Argonne National Laboratory)
Contact Information
Andrea Twiss-Brooks
Director, Humanities and Area Studies
Chemistry and Geophysical Sciences Librarian
Send Email