Physics Resource Guide: Physics & Physicists in Fiction

A Spellbinding Thriller about a Science History Professor on the Run for his Life and an Unpublished Einstein Theory that Could Change the World Debut novelist Mark Alpert brings one of the most explosive books of 2008, seamlessly weaving current issues of science, history, and politics with white-knuckle chases. David Swift, a professor at Columbia University, is called to the hospital to comfort his mentor, a physicist who's been brutally tortured. Before dying, the old man wheezes "Einheitliche Feldtheorie." The Theory of Everything. The Destroyer of Worlds. Could this be Einstein's proposed Unified Theory--a set of equations that combines the physics of galaxies with the laws of atoms? Einstein never succeeded in discovering it. Or did he? Within hours of hearing his mentor's last words, David is running for his life. The FBI and a ruthless mercenary are vying to get their hands on the long-hidden theory. Teaming up with his old girlfriend, a brilliant Princeton scientist, David frantically works out Einstein's final theory to reveal the staggering scope of its consequences. With publishers around the world snapping up rights in twenty-two countries, the book has already become a global phenomenon, and the dynamic characters and gripping plot will keep readers compulsively turning the pages until the very end.

Kasper Wise has a goal of running the 1600 meters in the low four twenties, to gain an athletic college scholarship that will pay for his college-but he attends a small country school, with his two brothers and cousin, that has no history of developing outstanding distance runners. Then Kasper finds he can gain admittance to a major university, if he can excel on a physics examination the school offers. He devotes much of his time studying for this very difficult test and then he must push his body to its physical limits in running everyday. Examining their training regimen and methods to solve physics problems gets detailed attention. The community, confronted by some adverse activities and a stalker following the team's one girl distance runner, leads Kasper into situations that threatens and interferes with his running and studies. Kasper must use his knowledge of the German language to confront a situation and brute intelligence to solve a coded message for an English assignment. Kasper is constantly being pushed to his limits to complete his goals and juggle his limited resources available.

-- A sweeping, comprehensive epic, Hopeful Monsters tells the story of the love affair between Max, an English student of physics and biology, and Eleanor, a German Jewess and political radical. Together and apart, Max and Eleanor participate in the great political and intellectual movements which shape the twentieth century, taking them from Cambridge and Berlin to the Spanish Civil War, Russia, the Sahara, and finally to Los Alamos to witness the first nuclear test. -- Hopeful Monsters received Britain's prestigious Whitbread Award in 1990. -- Praising Mosley's ability to distill complex modes of thought, the New York Times called Hopeful Monsters a virtual encyclopedia of twentieth century thought, in fictional form. -- First U.S. edition by Dalkey Archive ('90), most recent paperback by Vintage ('93).

#1 NATIONAL BESTSELLER "Mind-bending ... A novel full of life-affirming ideas." - Kirkus Reviews (Starred Review) "The cutting edge of science tipping into something new and marvelous ... a startling, fascinating novel." - KIM STANLEY ROBINSON, New York Times bestselling author "Real science and limitless imagination combine in a thrilling story you won't soon forget." - ROBIN COOK, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Coma (and 37 other international bestsellers) "Brilliant ... A riveting and moving story." - RHONDA BYRNE, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Secret. Caro Soames-Watkins, a talented neurosurgeon whose career has been upended by controversy, is jobless, broke, and the sole supporter of her sister, a single mother with a severely disabled child. When she receives a strange job offer from Nobel Prize-winning scientist Sam Watkins, a great uncle she barely knows, desperation forces her to take it in spite of serious suspicions. Watkins has built a mysterious medical facility in the Caribbean to conduct research into the nature of consciousness, reality, and life after death. Helped in his mission by his old friend, eminent physicist George Weigert, and young tech entrepreneur Julian Dey, Sam has gone far beyond curing the body to develop a technology that could solve the riddle of mortality. Two obstacles stand in their way: someone on the inside is leaking intel and Watkins' failing body must last long enough for the technology to be ready. As danger mounts, Caro finds more than she bargained for, including murder, love, and a deeper understanding into the nature of reality. A mind-expanding journey to the very edges of science, Observer will thrill you, inspire you, and lead you to think about life and the power of the imagination in startling new ways.