Staring into the abyss.
5 stars
Incredibly original, very intense take on the male scientific mind.
English language
Published Nov. 7, 2020 by Pushkin Press, Limited.
When We Cease to Understand the World
Benjamín Labatut, Adrian Nathan West: When We Cease to Understand the World (2020, Pushkin Press, Limited)
- ISBN:
- 978-1-78227-612-8
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4 stars
(7 reviews)
A fictional examination of the lives of real-life scientists and thinkers whose discoveries resulted in moral consequences beyond their imagining.
When We Cease to Understand the World is a book about the complicated links between scientific and mathematical discovery, madness, and destruction.
Fritz Haber, Alexander Grothendieck, Werner Heisenberg, Erwin Schrödinger—these are some of luminaries into whose troubled lives Benjamín Labatut thrusts the reader, showing us how they grappled with the most profound questions of existence. They have strokes of unparalleled genius, alienate friends and lovers, descend into isolation and insanity. Some of their discoveries reshape human life for the better; others pave the way to chaos and unimaginable suffering. The lines are never clear.
At a breakneck pace and with a wealth of disturbing detail, Labatut uses the imaginative resources of fiction to tell the stories of the scientists and mathematicians who expanded our notions of the possible.
Creative madness
4 stars
The creative madness of genius scientists. Evolves from fact through to terrifying fabulation, without straying from the essence. Strikingly original.
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Review of 'When We Cease to Understand the World' on 'Goodreads'
3 stars
A little over my head but still thought-provoking.
Review of 'When We Cease to Understand the World' on 'Goodreads'
4 stars
It's a fascinating and entertaining book. The way it highlights connections among individuals, historical events and scientific discoveries is remarkable, and I haven't read anything like it before. There was one thing that bothered me. It seemed to me that, for the most part, women were treated as props and mentioned only briefly (e.g., wives, mothers, daughters, students, lovers, innkeepers, etc.). For example, Clara Immerwhar was a scientist herself - a seemingly interesting person who had a stronger moral compass than her husband Fritz Haber - and she got about one paragraph in the book. As the book frequently veered into related characters and stories, sometimes in great detail, the fact that it largely avoided doing this with the women stood out to me. One exception later in the book was Miss Herwig, who - despite being primarily portrayed as the object of Schrodinger's sexual fantasies - was given a …
It's a fascinating and entertaining book. The way it highlights connections among individuals, historical events and scientific discoveries is remarkable, and I haven't read anything like it before. There was one thing that bothered me. It seemed to me that, for the most part, women were treated as props and mentioned only briefly (e.g., wives, mothers, daughters, students, lovers, innkeepers, etc.). For example, Clara Immerwhar was a scientist herself - a seemingly interesting person who had a stronger moral compass than her husband Fritz Haber - and she got about one paragraph in the book. As the book frequently veered into related characters and stories, sometimes in great detail, the fact that it largely avoided doing this with the women stood out to me. One exception later in the book was Miss Herwig, who - despite being primarily portrayed as the object of Schrodinger's sexual fantasies - was given a voice to express some important thoughts.
Review of 'When We Cease to Understand the World' on 'Goodreads'
5 stars
Fast paced stories with high literary values. Does justice to the science while exploring the craziness that is brought into and out of the acts of discovery.
Subjects
- Romance literature