A perceptive account of the way politics and war transformed the world of physics in the twentieth century, Collisions is a must-read for anyone who loves big scientific experiments--and even bigger cosmic mysteries. Alec Nevala-Lee is one of our most talented chroniclers of scientific genius, and he leads us on a fascinating, informative tour through the restless mind of Luis Alvarez.--Annalee Newitz, best-selling author of Four Lost Cities and The Terraformers

Collisions is a wonderful book, a chance for readers to get to know one of the great physicists of the twentieth century, who was also a great inventor. Luis Alvarez was a friend of mine; I know he'd be delighted to see his adventurous life--flying the Hiroshima mission, X-raying the pyramids, discovering the asteroid impact that killed the dinosaurs--so well and warmly told. Outstanding!--Richard Rhodes, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Making of the Atomic Bomb

In his riveting biography of the Nobel Prize-winning physicist Luis Alvarez, Alec Nevala-Lee reminds us how weird scientists can be: brilliant, abrasive, calculating, and adept at seeing the world in ways most of us can never imagine. Nevala-Lee tracks the enigmatic Alvarez as he invents new capabilities for radar during World War II, flies as an observer behind the Enola Gay as it drops the bomb he helped build on Hiroshima, and later forges, with his son, the hypothesis that an asteroid caused the extinction of the dinosaurs. Collisions is a penetrating examination of how scientific discoveries derive not simply from complex theories but from hard work, ambition, narcissism, and luck. Anyone intrigued by the history of science and the atomic age will love this book.--Caroline Fraser, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Prairie Fires: The American Dreams of Laura Ingalls Wilder

[I]lluminating....Nevala-Lee provides approachable breakdowns of Alvarez's pioneering physics and a stimulating overview of his more eclectic latter-day pursuits.-- "Publishers Weekly"

One wild experiment after the next, Nevala-Lee skillfully uses Alvarez's story to provide a sweeping look at 20th-century physics, with its complicated ties to politics and culture, from the Manhattan Project to the Kennedy assassination. ... A thoroughly researched biography of an audacious scientist--and a new window into the history of high-energy physics.-- "Kirkus Reviews"

Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company

Pub date: 2025-06-10

Length: 352 pages