MAKER OF PATTERNS: AN AUTOBIOGRAPHY THROUGH LETTERS by Dyson, Freeman - 2018

New York City, NY: Liveright, 2018. First Edition. First Printing.. Hardcover. As New/As New Dust Jacket.. New York City, NY: Liveright, 2018. Hardcover. As New/As New. First Edition/First Printing. 400 pages. The author's epistolary autobiography and last book. The First Hardcover Edition. Precedes and should not be confused with all other subsequent editions. Published in a small and limited first print run as a hardcover original only. The First Edition is now scarce. Presents Freeman Dyson's "Maker of Patterns: An Autobiography Through Letters". His valedictory account, the sequel-of-sorts to "Disturbing The Universe" (1979), one of the greatest autobiographies of the 20th century. Told in epistolary form, his summing-up of an "evolutionary" life and mind while recounting the revolutionary advances in physics - and the sciences in general - at the same time. "Who but Freeman Dyson formulates physics while riding on a Greyhound bus through Iowa's cornfields? In other episodes, Dyson assesses with Godel equations for a rotating version of Einstein's universe, defends Feynman's quantum theorems against Oppenheimer's doubts, and explores with Bohr the prospects for a nuclear spaceship. Draws the substance of his narrative from letters he sent his parents between 1940 and 1980, letters in which he discloses the unscientific aspects of his life, including the joys of romance, marriage, and fatherhood as well as the trauma of divorce. Dyson never lets readers forget that, for all of their exceptional intellectual gifts, scientists live human lives defined more by family ties and friendships than by laboratory results" (Booklist). The irrepressible Freeman Dyson died on February 28, 2020 at the age of 96. The sheer velocity of his genius-mind will be missed. An absolute "must-have" title for Freeman Dyson collectors. This copy is very prominently, neatly, and beautifully signed and dated (on the day of publication) in black ink-pen on the title page by the author: "Freeman Dyson April 10, 2018". It is signed directly on the page itself, not on a tipped-in page. He signed on top of the page, making it even more prominent. Laid-in are pristine copies of the lovely Souvenir Materials of the launch event during which his signature was obtained. This title is a contemporary classic. As far as we know, this is the only such signed and publication-day dated copy of the First Hardcover Edition/First Printing available online and is in especially fine condition: Clean, crisp, and bright. Please note: Freeman Dyson did NOT tour to promote the book. A rare signed copy thus. One of the greatest scientist/thinkers of our time. A fine collectible copy. (SEE ALSO OTHER FREEMAN DYSON TITLES IN OUR CATALOG). ISBN 0871403862.