When We Cease to Understand the World

James BroadNovember 2026

★★★★☆

This book is an insightful and engaging exploration into the wonders, and perhaps more importantly, the dangers, of the most important scientific and mathematic discoveries of the last two centuries. I was instantly captivated by the first chapter, which seamlessly linked together various discoveries such as how cyanide was discovered as by-product of the synthetic pigment Prussian Blue, to its use in Nazi gas chambers, whilst also telling the story of the scientists who discovered them. The prose is flowing and very readable, making the world of scientific discovery feel accessible and gripping. What I didn’t realise until halfway through, is that this book is not entirely non fiction, but rather a blend of fiction and non fiction, getting more fictional as the book progresses. After learning this, I found myself constantly wondering if what I was reading was real or fictional. This inclusion of fiction to me felt incongruous with the subject matter; the experience felt lessened when I didn’t know if the information I was learning was true or not. Labatut proves in the first chapter that he is very capable of writing gripping non-fiction, and I would happily have read a whole book like this, however the blend of fiction felt like an experiment that did not fully pay off, the subject matter was interesting enough without fictionalising it, or focusing on some mysticism within quantum science and mathematics that may or may not exist. Despite its identity confusion, the book is well written and does still succeed at being interesting and thought provoking. It is no doubt an excellent introduction to the world of scientific discoveries and the ideas of quantum science and mathematics to those who may not be familiar, whilst also having a clear message of caution that for every groundbreaking or life-saving discovery in science and mathematics, there can be one that is equally if not more destructive.

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