‘Michael Brooks is a magician in the old sense — both scientist and artist. He uses both disciplines to create a compelling, fresh look at the quantum world. A fantastic read for students of reality.’
Gwyneth Lewis, author of Sunbathing in the Rain
‘Brooks communicates difficult stuff in an amiable and lucid manner.’
New Statesman
‘[Brooks’s] history of [quantum theory] and his sketches of its principals — Einstein, Schro¨dinger, Bohr — are swift and precise, but he really shines in his lucid discussions of theory and experiment.’
Financial Times
‘An enthralling biography of the polymath Jerome Cardano, which doubles as a primer on the strangeness of quantum physics ... This vivid book offers belated recompense to a gambler who lost more than he won in an eventful and turbulent life.’
The Sunday Times
‘4 stars ... Cardano turns out to be an intriguing figure, deserving of Brooks’ obsession ... [they] make for very entertaining and illuminating companions.’
The Mail on Sunday
‘This unconventional biography reads like a playful, postmodern novel full of ambition, intrigue, tragedy and an amazing array of scientific discoveries … a risky conceit but Brooks pulls it off magnificently.’
The Sydney Morning Herald
‘Brooks is an exemplary science writer. His explanations have the sort of clarity you often yearn for when you read about science, but rarely find.’
The Daily Telegraph
‘[A] fascinating and accessible primer on some of the meatiest and most controversial ideas in modern science … Brooks is known for his ability to explain difficult science to non-specialist audiences, and his passionate interest in quantum physics and history animates every page of this engrossing book.’
The Saturday Paper
‘This beautifully written book is a kind of experimental scientific biography that mashes up science with what seems to be non-science, the better to explore the boundaries of what we still don’t know … a quite superb book.’
The Guardian
‘A beautifully novelistic fusion of physics and biography.’
The Daily Telegraph
