The Age of Uncertainty: how the greatest minds in physics changed the way we see the world
By Tobias Hürter and David Shaw
()
About this ebook
The epic, page-turning history of how a group of physicists toppled the Newtonian universe in the early decades of the twentieth century.
Marie Curie, Max Planck, Niels Bohr, Werner Heisenberg, Erwin Schrödinger, and Albert Einstein didn’t only revolutionise physics; they redefined our world and the reality we live in. In The Age of Uncertainty, Tobias Hürter brings to life the golden age of physics and its dazzling, flawed, and unforgettable heroes and heroines. He immerses us in a half century of global turmoil against which some of humankind’s greatest and strangest scientific discoveries unfolded, expertly guiding us through the brilliant and mind-bending ideas that turned the world on its head.
The work of the twentieth century’s most important physicists produced scientific breakthroughs that led to an entirely new view of physics — and a view of the universe that is still not fully understood today, even as evidence for its accuracy is all around us. The men and women who made these discoveries were intellectual adventurers, renegades, dandies, and nerds, some bound together by deep friendship; others, by bitter enmity. But the age of relativity theory and quantum mechanics was also the age of wars and revolutions. The discovery of radioactivity transformed science, but also led to the horrors of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Throughout The Age of Uncertainty, Hürter reminds us about the entanglement of science and world events, for we cannot observe the world without changing it.
Tobias Hürter
Tobias Hürter, born in 1972, studied mathematics and philosophy in Munich and Berkeley, and holds a PhD in mathematics. He has been writing about science, technology, and philosophy for magazines and newspapers since 2000. He worked as an editor at the MIT Technology Review and was deputy editor at Hohe Luft, a philosophy magazine that he co-founded. Now he is a permanent freelance editor at DIE ZEIT Magazin Wissen. Hürter is the author of several nonfiction books.
Related to The Age of Uncertainty
Related ebooks
The Amazing Story of Lise Meitner: Escaping the Nazis and Becoming the World’s Greatest Physicist Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Amazing Story of Lise Meitner: Escaping the Nazis and Becoming the World's Greatest Physicist Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsRita Levi-Montalcini: Pioneer and Ambassador of Science Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsBefore the Cock Crows Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Castle of Truth and Other Revolutionary Tales Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Man Who Invented the Third Reich Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsSuzanne's Children: A Daring Rescue in Nazi Paris Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Marie Curie for Kids: Her Life and Scientific Discoveries, with 21 Activities and Experiments Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsAll Done by Kindness Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The First Moderns: Profiles in the Origins of Twentieth-Century Thought Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A History of What Comes Next: A Take Them to the Stars Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Scarlet Pimpernel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Light Beyond - Translated by Alexander Teixeira de Mattos Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsDancing with Empty Pockets Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsFreud and Psychoanalysis Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsSartre For Beginners Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Nothing to Report Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Time Of Hope Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Lise Meitner: A Life in Physics Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Plague: A Story of Science, Rivalry, and the Scourge That Won't Go Away Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Riemann Notebook Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsOverture of Hope: Two Sisters' Daring Plan that Saved Opera's Jewish Stars from the Third Reich Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Empress of the Nile: the daredevil archaeologist who saved Egypt’s ancient temples from destruction Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5A Study Guide for Eve Curie's "Madame Curie" Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsMichael Field Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsMark Lambert's Supper Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Music and Its Secret Influence: Throughout the Ages Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Hearts and Minds: The Common Journey of Simone de Beauvoir and Jean-Paul Sartre Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5How to Think Like Einstein Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Poland's Daughter: How I Met Basia, Hitchhiked to Italy, and Learned About Love, War, and Exile Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings
Physics For You
What If?: Serious Scientific Answers to Absurd Hypothetical Questions Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Quantum Physics: A Beginners Guide to How Quantum Physics Affects Everything around Us Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Physics I For Dummies Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Reality Revolution: The Mind-Blowing Movement to Hack Your Reality Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Welcome to the Universe: An Astrophysical Tour Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Physics Essentials For Dummies Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Unlocking Spanish with Paul Noble Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Step By Step Mixing: How to Create Great Mixes Using Only 5 Plug-ins Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Vibration and Frequency: How to Get What You Want in Life Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Feynman Lectures Simplified 1A: Basics of Physics & Newton's Laws Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The End of Everything: (Astrophysically Speaking) Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Little Book of String Theory Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5How to Diagnose and Fix Everything Electronic, Second Edition Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Quantum Physics for Beginners Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5How to Teach Quantum Physics to Your Dog Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5String Theory For Dummies Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5QED: The Strange Theory of Light and Matter Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Nature of Space and Time Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The God Effect: Quantum Entanglement, Science's Strangest Phenomenon Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Beyond Weird: Why Everything You Thought You Knew about Quantum Physics Is Different Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5God Particle: If the Universe Is the Answer, What Is the Question? Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Principia: The Authoritative Translation: Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Moving Through Parallel Worlds To Achieve Your Dreams Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Dancing Wu Li Masters: An Overview of the New Physics Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Introducing Quantum Theory: A Graphic Guide Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Layman's Guide To Quantum Reality Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Invisible Rainbow: A History of Electricity and Life Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A Universe from Nothing: Why There Is Something Rather than Nothing Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Theory of Relativity: And Other Essays Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Reviews for The Age of Uncertainty
0 ratings0 reviews