The Age of Uncertainty

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This epic history chronicles how a group of physicists dismantled the Newtonian universe in the early twentieth century. Pioneers like Marie Curie, Max Planck, Niels Bohr, Werner Heisenberg, Erwin Schrödinger, and Albert Einstein not only transformed physics but also redefined our understanding of reality. Tobias Hürter vividly portrays this golden age of physics, highlighting its brilliant yet flawed heroes and heroines against a backdrop of global turmoil. He expertly guides readers through the groundbreaking ideas that revolutionized our perception of the universe, ideas that remain only partially understood today despite their pervasive evidence. The physicists of this era were intellectual adventurers—some bonded by friendship, others by rivalry—navigating a landscape marked by both scientific discovery and societal upheaval. The advent of radioactivity, while advancing science, also precipitated the devastating events of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Throughout, Hürter emphasizes the intricate relationship between scientific progress and world events, illustrating that our observations of the world invariably alter it.