When We Cease to Understand the World

By: Benjamin Labatut, Adrian West - translator

Narrated by: Adam Barr

Length: 5 hrs and 40 mins

Publisher's summary

When We Cease to Understand the World is a book about the complicated links between scientific and mathematical discovery, madness, and destruction. Fritz Haber, Alexander Grothendieck, Werner Heisenberg, Erwin Schrödinger - these are some of the luminaries into whose troubled lives Benjamín Labatut thrusts the listener, showing us how they grappled with the most profound questions of existence. They have strokes of unparalleled genius, alienate friends and lovers, descend into isolation and insanity. Some of their discoveries reshape human life for the better; others pave the way to chaos and unimaginable suffering. The lines are never clear. At a breakneck pace and with a wealth of disturbing detail, Labatut uses the imaginative resources of fiction to tell the stories of the scientists and mathematicians who expanded our notions of the possible.

©2021 Benjamin Labatut and Adrian West (P)2021 Dreamscape Media, LLC

A new insight into mad genius

I throughly enjoyed the individual portraits of prominent scientists from the last century. The author neatly tied together the several lives he featured by tethering to them common themes so it felt as though they overlapped in time and space.

What I would have really appreciated would be integrating more scientists outside of quantum physics that helped further the understanding of astronomy, chemistry, geology, and computer science but with similar ties between them. And feature more than a select few of German scientists. I understand that was the hotbed of quantum theory, but he could have broaden his list of included scientists to show just how radical the few really were.

Overall, it was a fantastic but limited perspective. Yet I will likely listen to it again in the future for another impression.

Titillating

The author did an admirable job of taking extraordinarily complex concepts and putting them in a layperson’s understanding. I found the details unnecessarily titillating; the description of private thoughts and actions made me doubt the veracity of the narrative.

Incredible

An incredible read: elaborate in its structure, disturbing in its subject, and daunting in its scope. A series of stories that straddle the line between fact and fiction as the reader is left to ponder their own understanding of the world.

Fake non-fiction

Reads like non-fiction history of science, and most of it is, but can’t tell which parts are fictionalized

My son told me to read this. I did not know it was fiction until I was almost finished. Fascinating story.

This book will really make you think. There are times when it’s hard to follow. But you will be glad you did at the end.

Intriguing

This book continued to draw me back in over and over- I couldn’t stop listening and actually looked forward to my commute. I found the content wildly interesting, and thoroughly enjoyed the storytelling perspective of a complex humanity even to those beyond the normal intellectual ability. I highly recommend!

It’s the best in a while

Tough to describe. I’ll have to read, listen again. I stopped listening to read the book.

One of the best ever

Spell-binding content

Shows how paradoxical beginnings can

How unexpected these events are, that shaped the foundation of our belief today


The epilogue wasn’t that useful, IMO

Realistic fiction

Not for kids at all lol. What an odd and entertaining combination of facts and fiction. A series of pseudo-biographical stories semi-coherently woven together.

Could have done without the Shrodinger pedo porn

It is important to truly understand history. However the first person narrative of Shrodinger's lust for underage girls felt exploitive and unnecessary. The author could have easily addressed in better manner. Otherwise a good and interesting read.