Synopsis
Shortlisted for the International Booker Prize
'A monstrous and brilliant book' Philip Pullman
'Mesmerising and revelatory' William Boyd
At breakneck pace and with wondrous detail, Benjamín Labatut uses the imaginative resources of fiction to break open the stories of great scientists and mathematicians who expanded our notions of the possible.
As they grapple with the most profound questions of existence, these troubled men have strokes of unparalleled genius, alienate friends and lovers, descend into isolated states of madness. Some of their discoveries revolutionise our world for the better; others pave the way to chaos and unimaginable suffering. For sometimes, discovery brings destruction.
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About the Author
Benjamín Labatut was born in Rotterdam in 1980 and grew up in The Hague, Buenos Aires and Lima. He has published two award-winning works of fiction prior to When We Cease to Understand the World, which is his first book to be translated into English. Labatut lives with his family in Santiago, Chile.
From the Back Cover
Albert Einstein opens a letter sent to him from the Eastern Front of World War I. Inside, he finds the first exact solution to the equations of general relativity, unaware that it contains a monster that could destroy his life's work.
The great mathematician Alexander Grothendieck tunnels so deeply into abstraction that he tries to cut all ties with the world, terrified of the horror his discoveries might cause.
Erwin Schrödinger and Werner Heisenberg battle over the soul of physics after creating two equivalent yet opposed versions of quantum mechanics. Their fight will tear the very fabric of reality, revealing a world stranger than they could have ever imagined.
Using extraordinary, epoch-defining moments from the history of science, Benjamín Labatut plunges us into exhilarating territory between fact and fiction, progress and destruction, genius and madness.
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Paperback. Condition: new. Paperback. 'A monstrous and brilliant book' - Philip PullmanWhen We Cease to Understand the World shows us great minds striking out into dangerous, uncharted terrain.Fritz Haber, Alexander Grothendieck, Werner Heisenberg, Erwin Schrodinger: these are among the luminaries into whose troubled minds we are thrust as they grapple with the most profound questions of existence. They have strokes of unparalleled genius, they alienate friends and lovers, they descend into isolated states of madness. Some of their discoveries revolutionise our world for the better; others pave the way to chaos and unimaginable suffering. The lines are never clear. With breakneck pace and wondrous detail, Benjamin Labatut uses the imaginative resources of fiction to break open the stories of scientists and mathematicians who expanded our notions of the possible.'Ingenious, intricate and deeply disturbing. Labatut has written a dystopian nonfiction novel set not in the future but in the present' - John Banville'Absolutely brilliant. I was utterly gripped and wolfed it down. It feels as if he had invented an entirely new genre' - Mark Haddon A Guardian and New Statesman book of the year, now in paperback - the fast-paced,mind-expanding literary work about scientific discovery and the unsettled distinctionbetween genius and madness. Shortlisted for the 2021 International Booker Prize. Shipping may be from multiple locations in the US or from the UK, depending on stock availability. Seller Inventory # 9781782276142
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Paperback. Condition: New. Shortlisted for the International Booker Prize'A monstrous and brilliant book' Philip Pullman'Mesmerising and revelatory' William BoydAt breakneck pace and with wondrous detail, Benjamín Labatut uses the imaginative resources of fiction to break open the stories of great scientists and mathematicians who expanded our notions of the possible.As they grapple with the most profound questions of existence, these troubled men have strokes of unparalleled genius, alienate friends and lovers, descend into isolated states of madness. Some of their discoveries revolutionise our world for the better; others pave the way to chaos and unimaginable suffering. For sometimes, discovery brings destruction. Seller Inventory # LU-9781782276142
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