Born in Rome, Italy on September 29, 1901, Enrico Fermi was born into a wealthy family. Enrico was the third son of his father Alberto and mother Ida de Gattis Fermi. Enrico was pushed to study at an early age due to his mother's influence on education. Fermi's passion for physics was most likely the result of a very traumatic family tragedy. When Enrico was 14, his older brother, Giulio, died suddenly. Enrico was shocked and devastated. To console Henry, his parents encouraged him to focus on learning and education. “He came across a couple of physics books written half a century earlier and was totally fascinated by them” (biography.com, Enrico Fermi). Growing up and throughout his adolescence, Enrico Fermi performed science and physics experiments with his friends. An interesting experiment they performed was testing the density of Rome's water supply. In 1918 Enrico won a scholarship to the Scuola Normale Superiore of the University of Pisa, Italy. His admission essay was so impressive that he was quickly promoted to the doctoral program. He later graduated with honors in 1922. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay In 1928 Enrico Fermi married the daughter of a respected Jewish family in Rome. This woman's name was Laura Capon. They had a son, Giulio, named after Enrico's brother and a daughter named Nella. As for his profession, Fermi was elected professor of theoretical physics at the University of Rome. “In 1934 Fermi began his most important work with the atom, discovering that nuclear transformation could occur in almost any element. One of the element atoms he split was uranium. This work led to the discovery of the slowing down of neutrons, which led to nuclear fission and the production of new elements beyond the traditional periodic table” (biography.com, Enrico Fermi). Enrico's first major award was being awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1938. This award was a huge lifesaver for the Fermi family. Recently in Italy the government passed anti-Jewish laws, putting his family in danger. This award would later be a path that would welcome them safely to America. Living safely in the United States, Enrico Fermi was appointed professor of physics at Columbia University in New York. While studying at university, Enrico discovered that if uranium neutrons were emitted during the fission of uranium, they could split other uranium atoms, triggering a large chain reaction that would emit enormous amounts of energy. These experiments led to the very first controlled nuclear chain reaction on December 2, 1942 in Chicago. During World War II, Fermi was recruited as a senior leader in the Manhattan Project. The Manhattan Project was a large group of highly educated scientists and physicists working to create an atomic bomb. In 1944 Enrico Fermi and his wife became legal American citizens. For the Manhattan Project the total bill was approximately $2 billion in research and development. The Manhattan Project also employed over 120,000 American citizens. In the task of creating an atomic bomb, secrecy was one of the most important things to have. If the Nazi Germans or the Japanese had known about this weapon, there would have been a major turning point in the war. President Teddy Roosevelt and Winston Churchill both agreed to keep the United States' current ally, Josef Stalin of the Soviet Union, in the dark. To keep the project secret in America, only a small circle of leading scientists among the 120,000 workers knew the intentions and uses of the bomb and its.