Born in Austro-Hungary (now Poland), Rabi emigrated with his family to the United States when he was very young. He grew up in New York City and Brooklyn, and attended orthodox Jewish schools. Although his parents intended him to become a rabbi, Rabi developed an interest in science; when he was eleven, he built a neighborhood telegraph system. He enrolled in the Manual Training High School in Brooklyn, where his outstanding grades earned him a full tuition scholarship to Cornell University. Beginning as an electrical engineering student, Rabi switched majors and graduated in 1919 with a B.A. in chemistry. He returned to Cornell in 1922, intending to continue his chemistry studies. However, Rabi again switched disciplines as well as schools; in 1923 he moved to Columbia University, and received his Ph.D. in physics in 1927. His dissertation concerned the measuring of the magnetic properties of molecules--a study he would continue...