"All past their creative prime, this luminous foursome recognized not only how their own mental powers were flagging but also how their younger successors were incorporating their boldest work into yet more daring new paradigms. Einstein, in particular, watched in horror as his formulas became part of a quantum universe barren of certainties. And deep dismay enveloped all four as they contemplated how talented colleagues—notably Oppenheimer and Heisenberg—were harnessing pure science to the machinery of war. A piquant narrative restoring to modern science its full human meaning."—Booklist (starred review)