Too Big for a Single Mind

“2022 Foreword INDIES Silver Winner “Intriguing and well-written… . Too Big for a Single Mind cleverly interweaves the stories of the leading early 20th-century physicists with the political and personal events that shaped their lives… . Hürter’s formidable grasp of the great period of quantum discovery represents a new, exciting approach to the literature about this momentous era.” – The Wall Street Journal“Hürter guides us through the time when physicists developed their fundamental theories.” – Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung“Too Big for a Single Mind by Tobias Hürter highlights the work of Marie Curie, Max Planck, Wolfgang Pauli, Niels Bohr, Werner Heisenberg, Ernst Schrödinger, Albert Einstein, and others did together to shake up physics and introduce quantum mechanics, arguing that the field’s discovery was a collaborative effort.” – Publishers Weekly“There has never been a more exciting and momentous time in the history of science than the first half of the 20th century. In a few decades, physicists like Max Planck, Albert Einstein, Niels Bohr, and Werner Heisenberg revolutionized our understanding of the nature of reality, and we are still coming to terms with their work to this day. Hürter’s impeccably researched and wonderfully crafted retelling of their story brings these characters to life more engagingly than anyone else has done before: an awe-inspiring book about an awe-inspiring golden age of scientific enlightenment.” – Jim Al-Khalili, author of The World According to Physics

Tobias Hürter studied mathematics and philosophy in Munich and Berkeley. He has written about science and philosophy for magazines and newspapers since 2000, including as an editor at MIT Technology Review and as cofounder of the philosophy magazine Hohe Luft. Now a permanent freelance editor at Die Zeit Magazin Wissen, he lives in Munich.