Summary of Paul Halpern's The Quantum Labyrinth

Please note: This is a companion version & not the original book.

Sample Book Insights:

#1 The Nazis were on the march and had to be stopped. If they continued their conquest of Europe, the United States would be obliged to join the war effort. Scientific breakthroughs could be needed to stop them.

#2 Wheeler was one of the world’s foremost experts in nuclear fission, and he would likely be tapped for his knowledge in the case of American entry into the war. He had worked with Bohr since 1934.

#3 Wheeler was appointed assistant professor at Princeton in 1938. He was working with Bohr to determine the precise mechanisms for fission when World War II began in Europe in September 1939. Their findings would be indispensable for the Manhattan Project, the American wartime program to develop a nuclear bomb.

#4 Wheeler, at age 28, had already spent almost seven decades thinking about perplexing questions such as Why is there existence. He took the task of balancing his responsibilities seriously.