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Synopsis
One of The New York Times Book Review’s 10 Best Books of 2021 Shortlisted for the 2021 International Booker Prize and the 2021 National Book Award for Translated Literature 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.
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Is When We Cease to Understand the World appropriate for my child?
Suitable for most readers 16 and up.
This literary blend of fiction and biography explores real scientists whose discoveries led to profound moral consequences, including weapons development and personal breakdowns. Contains discussions of mental illness, suicide, isolation, and the human cost of scientific advancement.
What to know going in
This book has moderate violence, no sexual content, and mild language. Content notes include suicide, mass death, and mental illness (see the full list above).
Who'll love this
Readers fascinated by the darker side of scientific history will find this exploration of genius and madness compelling.