Das blinde Licht

They are pioneers and damned souls. 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 methods will avert a hunger crisis while simultaneously producing the most diabolical tool of the Nazis. In four bizarre yet captivating stories, Benjamín Labatut narrates the fine line between genius and madness, human hubris, and the ambiguous power of science. "Sophisticated, multi-layered, and profoundly unsettling—a remarkable novel that connects the forefathers of quantum mechanics with the abysses of two world wars." John Banville, The Guardian.