Das blinde Licht

Benjamín Labatut tells of the fine line between genius and madness, of the ambiguous power of science and the fateful moment when we cease to understand the world. They are pioneers and the damned. Conquerors of space and time. Dreamers of the Absolute. They change the course of history and despair at themselves: Werner Heisenberg, whose equations—born of madness on the island of Helgoland—lead to the creation of the atomic bomb. The mathematician Alexander Grothendieck, who prefers to burn his formulas to protect humanity from their destructive potential. Or Fritz Haber, whose physical processes will avert a hunger crisis while simultaneously producing the most diabolical tool of the Nazis.