Enrico Fermi

Hello. My name is Enrico Fermi, and I was a scientist who loved to ask questions. I was born in a beautiful city called Rome, in Italy, on September 29th, 1901. When I was a little boy, I was so curious about how everything worked. Instead of just playing with toys, I loved reading big science books. My friend, who was also named Enrico, and I did experiments together. We even figured out how to build our own little electric motors. To me, science felt like a giant, fun puzzle, and I couldn't wait to figure out all of its pieces.

When I grew up, I got to do what I loved most. I became a physics professor right there in Rome in 1926. I worked with a team of very smart young scientists, and we had so much fun making discoveries together. We were very interested in the tiniest parts of things, called atoms. We studied the little bits inside them called neutrons. In 1934, we found out something incredible. We learned that if you slowed down neutrons, they were much better at changing atoms. This was a very important discovery that helped other scientists learn new things.

My work with neutrons was noticed all around the world. In 1938, I was given a very special award called the Nobel Prize in Physics. It was a very happy moment, but it was also a little bit of a scary time for my family. The leader in Italy was making unfair rules, and my wife, Laura, was in danger because she was Jewish. After we traveled to Sweden to accept my prize, we made a big decision. We did not go back home to Italy. Instead, we moved all the way to America to begin a new, safe life.

In America, I found a new job at the University of Chicago. There, my team and I were given a secret and very important mission. We wanted to see if we could get energy from deep inside an atom. It was a big challenge. On December 2nd, 1942, we did it. We built a machine called a nuclear reactor right under the seats of a football field. With it, we started the world's very first controlled nuclear chain reaction. It was like we had found a secret key that could unlock a very powerful new kind of energy for the whole world.

I spent the rest of my life as a teacher and a scientist, and I never stopped asking questions about the world. I lived to be 53 years old. People remember me for my work unlocking the power of the atom, which led to new ways to create energy. I am also remembered for being a scientist who loved to think of big ideas and then do the experiments to find out if they were true.