When We Cease to Understand the World
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When We Cease to Understand the World
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Narrated by:
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Adam Barr
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By:
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Benjamín Labatut
About this listen
Shortlisted for the 2021 International Booker Prize.
A Guardian Fiction Book of the year.
Sometimes discovery brings destruction.
When We Cease to Understand the World shows us great minds striking out into dangerous, uncharted terrain.
Fritz Haber, Alexander Grothendieck, Werner Heisenberg, Erwin Schrödinger: 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, Benjamín Labatut uses the imaginative resources of fiction to break open the stories of scientists and mathematicians who expanded our notions of the possible.
©2020 Benjamín Labatut (P)2021 Pushkin PressCritic Reviews
A monstrous and brilliant book.
-- Philip Pullman
Wholly mesmerising and revelatory... Completely fascinating.
-- William Boyd
What listeners say about When We Cease to Understand the World
Average Customer RatingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Citrine
- 10-08-2023
Fascinating reading
Clever and interesting fictionalisation. Complex scientific theories are accessible and even enjoyable listening. Some beautiful imagery and evocative language.
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance3 out of 5 stars
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Story3 out of 5 stars
- Enrico Baldo
- 28-02-2022
good but not fantastic,
after a good start the story became flat....no climax and it is not clear the writer's final objective.
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story3 out of 5 stars
- M. Watson
- 14-02-2023
Maybe I didn’t get it…
The first half of this book is mesmerising. I wish it weren’t fiction, because it spotlights important 20th century figures with interesting stories and exemplary achievements. It explores whether a brilliant mind equals a deeply troubled mind. It lost me completely in the last half when the stories veered off, perhaps trying to connect the previous characters… it didn’t achieve a plot, if that’s what the author was attempting.
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance3 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Anonymous User
- 06-07-2023
compelling science history
entertaining and compelling introduction to the painful birth of quantum physics. the mathematicians and physicists involved c9me to life. didn't want it to end!
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Overall2 out of 5 stars
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Performance1 out of 5 stars
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Story1 out of 5 stars
- Kindle Customer
- 13-10-2022
most depressing book I have ever read
Could not finish it a total waste of space. One could hardly call it a novel.
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