This was a very interesting read. It took me a full day to read including staying up past midnight but it was worth it. I have read a few books about some of these physicists and it was great to read a book that connects them all so well. It was great to read how they worked to progress mechanical physics slowly towards the splitting of the atom then the creation of thr atom bomb. I really liked how the author explained all the connections and the feelings they had for each other. Then the Germans interesting in acquiring them. This book taught me links I didn't even know about. So I learnt quite a bit from reading it. This book is quite long but well worth reading as it is so well wrote. It really made me think and engage in the theories. I now certainly look at some of the scientists in a new light. It was obvious that this book was both well researched and write by an author who has extensive knowledge. This book isn't very scientific so anyone with and interest can easy read and understand it. I definitely recommend reading this book especially if your a history reader or a science lover. The book has a handful of great pictures. I actually wish there was more. The pictures really helped break up the text and give the book that extra dimension. 

So much praise goes out to the author and publishers for bringing us this very interesting book that I struggled to put down. 

The above review has already been placed on goodreads, waterstones, Google books, Barnes&noble, kobo, amazon UK where found and my blog https://ladyreading365.wixsite.com/website/post/too-big-for-a-single-mind-by-tobias-hurter-the-experiment-4-stars either under my name or ladyreading365

This book takes a deep look at social, personal, scientific, and historical contexts of discovery. There is a wealth of detail about the personal lives of key scientists, the role of social issues such as the second world war and poverty, and the incremental nature of discoveries in the field. The author reveals rivalries and friendships, collaboration and competition, the role of inspiration and exhausting work in this book. The biographical aspect of the book is so thoroughly researched, as much so as the scientific aspects. I also learned a great deal about early quantum research and about the scientific context from which it rose. I will definitely be recommending this for my physics book club.

So many thanks to NetGalley for the ARC of this!

I really enjoy science and history books... and this is both. Wow. What a read. Really learned much from this work. Given the importance of this topic and the quality research/writing here, this book deserves a broad audience. The scientists covered here literally changed the world. I highly recommend this.

Too Big For a Single Mind by Tobias Hurter. I so much was looking forward to reading this book as I have been doing a deep dive on J. Robert Oppenheimer and the other scientists associated with the development of the bomb and their thinking after seeing the affects. Unfortunately, the download was faulty and I could not read the book. On the bright side for the author, I will end up purchasing a hardback copy of the book once it is available.

Interesting historical presentation of one of the most significant transformations in human understanding of the world, focusing more on the people who produced the transformation rather than what they did. Provides a colorful complement to more scientifically focused histories (like Gamow’s Thirty Years that Shook Physics).

The author expertly blends biographical detail with explication of physical theory; Einstein, Bohr, Dirac, Heisenberg, Schrodinger, de Broglie et al. are sharply (and smartly) drawn, as are their theories and experiments--which constitute the history of the scientific revolution that took place in the first half of the 20th century. Hurter shows how the inner workings of the world are illumined by these great physicists while becoming ever more elusive. A fine rendering of the paradox of discovery.