When we stopped understanding the world (Un Verdor Terrible) (Category PopularScience)

This book Benhamina Labatuta, a Chilean writer, was very interesting to me. I took it off the shelf this morning and just finished reading:) This novel is from a unique genre, which the author defines as "an artistic work based on real events." She's transferred to 22 language and became a finalist of the International Booker Prize 2021 year. This book is about real events in the lives of great mathematicians and physicists, among which Fritz Haber – chemist, creator of chemical weapons and nitrogen fertilizers Karl Schwarzschild, astronomer who theoretically predicted the existence of black holes Niels Bohr, one of the founders of quantum mechanics Werner Heisenberg, theoretical physicist, author of the uncertainty principle Erwin Schrödinger, creator of wave mechanics Alexander Grotendyk is an outstanding mathematician of the XX century with a wide-ranging influence on all mathematics. Shinichi Mochizuki – Japanese mathematician who proved the abc hypothesis

Benjamin so twists his narrative that it reads like a dynamic thriller about science and the facets of madness. His style is described as multi-layered and complex, creating the feeling that he is a separate genre. The scientists who came out of his pen seem alive and emotional. The author shows not only their discoveries, but also dreams, hallucinations, inner experiences. In the end, we see different facets that include Anxiety and fear accompanying great discoveries n Mental suffering of scientists facing the unknowable Tragic Fate: The Suicide of Fritz Haber's Wife, the Madness of Alexander Grotendic Existential horror at understanding the consequences of their discoveries

As a result, the titans of science appear to us deeply unhappy people who face the dark side of great scientific discoveries. Heisenberg "like poking out both his eyes to see further." Alexander Grotendik, “perhaps the most important mathematician of the twentieth century,” ended his life as a hermit, considering mathematics “the greatest threat to human existence.”

There's a philosophical depth in the book, and it sort of asks if there are things we shouldn't know. In sum, it is a truly worthwhile work, which demonstrates not just great scientists, but suffering people, to whom discoveries are given at a high price - at the cost of mental health, human relationships, and sometimes the lives of scientists themselves.

#PopularScience #Physics #Math #Science