The Fermi Factor Enrico Fermi, son of an Italian railroad official, was born in Rome in 1901. Displaying an aptitude for mathematics and physics in grammar school, he won a fellowship to the University of Pisa in 1918. After receiving his doctorate in physics, he was awarded a scholarship from the Italian government in 1923 and received a Rockefeller Fellowship in 1924. By 1933 he had developed the theory of beta decay. In 1938 he received the Nobel Prize “for his discovery of new radioactive elements produced by neutron irradiation and for the discovery of nuclear reactions brought about by slow neutrons.” He designed the first man-made nuclear reactor, introduced a theory on the origin of cosmic rays, and co-developed the Thomas-Fermi model of the atom and Fermi-Dirac particle statistics. In 1944 Fermi became an American citizen. Later that year he began working full-time on the Manhattan Project in the Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico. His contributions to the development of the atomic bomb and the subsequent Trinity test -- the actual ignition of the device which took place on July 15, 1945 -- were vital, as he solved a multitude of physical problems from hydrodynamics to nuclear chemistry. His tireless efforts helped the United States produce the atomic bomb, altering the length and possibly the course of World War II. Considered by many to be one of the great scientists of the 20th century and often called the father of modern physics, Fermi died of stomach cancer in 1954; he was only 53. In his short life Fermi harnessed the atom, but, more important, he opened a door. When asked by one reporter how he wanted to be remembered, Fermi replied, “I want them to remember all the peaceful uses for nuclear energy that are being developed because of my work.” Today, nuclear energy provides much of the world’s electric power, and radioactive materials are used in a variety of industries -- from agriculture to medicine. Of all of his accomplishments, the one that is perhaps the least recognized is his part in the introduction of computational experiments as a research tool. Fermi, John Pasta, and Stanislaw Ulam suggested the concept of using a computer to conduct experiments in order to detail complex mathematics and processes, like the interaction of subatomic particles. Using Maniac, the most powerful computer of its time, these researchers created a virtual world in which they could simulate atoms and how they react to one another. Fifty years later, the insights they gained into nonlinear systems are developing into new and exciting technologies.