
Splinters of Infinity
Cosmic Rays and the Clash of Two Nobel Prize-Winning Scientists over the Secrets of Creation
Mark Wolverton(Author)
MIT Press
Published on 12. March 2024
Book
Hardback
256 pages
978-0-262-04882-8 (ISBN)
Description
The riveting story of a modern age scientific feud between two Nobel Prize-winning scientists over the nature of cosmic rays and the universe.
Set in a revolutionary era of physics and science when a series of rapid-fire discoveries was upending our understanding of the universe, Splinters of Infinity by Mark Wolverton tells a little-known story: the tale of two of America's foremost physicists, Robert Millikan (1868-1953) and Arthur Compton (1892-1962), who found themselves locked in an intense, often deeply personal, conflict about cosmic rays. Confirmed in 1912, cosmic rays-enigmatic forms of penetrating radiation-seemed to raise all new questions about the origins of the universe, but they also offered the potential to explain everything-or reveal the existence of God.
In engaging, accessible prose, Wolverton takes the reader through the twists and turns of the Millikan-Compton debate, one of the first major public examples of how heated the controversies among scientists could become-and the lengths that scientists would go to settle their disputes. What set them apart, at least in most cases, Wolverton shows, was their ability to concentrate finally on what mattered: the science. Along the way, Wolverton probes the forever elusive question, still unanswered today, about where cosmic rays come from and what they reveal about black holes, distant galaxies, the existence of dark matter and dark energy, and the birth of the universe, concluding that these splinters of infinity may not hold the keys to the secret of creation but do bring us ever closer to it.
Set in a revolutionary era of physics and science when a series of rapid-fire discoveries was upending our understanding of the universe, Splinters of Infinity by Mark Wolverton tells a little-known story: the tale of two of America's foremost physicists, Robert Millikan (1868-1953) and Arthur Compton (1892-1962), who found themselves locked in an intense, often deeply personal, conflict about cosmic rays. Confirmed in 1912, cosmic rays-enigmatic forms of penetrating radiation-seemed to raise all new questions about the origins of the universe, but they also offered the potential to explain everything-or reveal the existence of God.
In engaging, accessible prose, Wolverton takes the reader through the twists and turns of the Millikan-Compton debate, one of the first major public examples of how heated the controversies among scientists could become-and the lengths that scientists would go to settle their disputes. What set them apart, at least in most cases, Wolverton shows, was their ability to concentrate finally on what mattered: the science. Along the way, Wolverton probes the forever elusive question, still unanswered today, about where cosmic rays come from and what they reveal about black holes, distant galaxies, the existence of dark matter and dark energy, and the birth of the universe, concluding that these splinters of infinity may not hold the keys to the secret of creation but do bring us ever closer to it.
Reviews / Votes
"An interesting reflection of the human nature of science."-Popular Science
More details
Language
English
Place of publication
Cambridge (Massachusetts)
United States
Publishing group
MIT Press Ltd
Product notice
sewn/stitched
Cloth over boards
Illustrations
16 BLACK AND WHITE ILLUS.
Dimensions
Height: 231 mm
Width: 157 mm
Thickness: 33 mm
Weight
499 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-262-04882-8 (9780262048828)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions

Mark Wolverton
Splinters of Infinity
Cosmic Rays and the Clash of Two Nobel Prize-Winning Scientists over the Secrets of Creation
E-Book
03/2024
MIT Press
€28.99
Available for download
Person
Mark Wolverton is the author of Nuclear Weapons (MIT Press); Burning the Sky: Operation Argus and the Untold Story of the Cold War Nuclear Tests in Outer Space; A Life in Twilight: The Final Years of J. Robert Oppenheimer; The Depths of Space: The Story of the Pioneer Planetary Probes; and The Science of Superman.
Content
CONTENTS
PRELUDE: SHAKING HANDS WITH MUSSOLINI 1
1 "A VERY INTERESTING DISCUSSION" 5
2 THE PENETRATING RADIATION 15
3A ONENESS ABOUT THE WHOLE OF NATURE 27
4 THE DIN OF BATTLE 39
5 CHALLENGERS 53
6 MOUNTAINEERS, FLIERS, AND SAVANTS 65
7 TRAVEL ARRANGEMENTS 79
8 GLOBETROTTING 93
9 SKYSCRAPING 107
10 THROWING THE GAUNTLET 115
11 THE GATHERING FORCES 129
12 HIGH NOON IN ATLANTIC CITY 141
13 HOORAY FOR THE COSMIC RAYS 153
14 FALLING AND RISING 167
15 RISING AND FALLING 181
16 CREATION AND ANNIHILATION 193
17 QUARRELS IN THE FAMILY 203
18 A SORT OF PEACE 221
POSTLUDE: THE UNITY OF ALL CREATION 231
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 235
NOTES 237
BIBLIOGRAPHY 259
INDEX 263
PRELUDE: SHAKING HANDS WITH MUSSOLINI 1
1 "A VERY INTERESTING DISCUSSION" 5
2 THE PENETRATING RADIATION 15
3A ONENESS ABOUT THE WHOLE OF NATURE 27
4 THE DIN OF BATTLE 39
5 CHALLENGERS 53
6 MOUNTAINEERS, FLIERS, AND SAVANTS 65
7 TRAVEL ARRANGEMENTS 79
8 GLOBETROTTING 93
9 SKYSCRAPING 107
10 THROWING THE GAUNTLET 115
11 THE GATHERING FORCES 129
12 HIGH NOON IN ATLANTIC CITY 141
13 HOORAY FOR THE COSMIC RAYS 153
14 FALLING AND RISING 167
15 RISING AND FALLING 181
16 CREATION AND ANNIHILATION 193
17 QUARRELS IN THE FAMILY 203
18 A SORT OF PEACE 221
POSTLUDE: THE UNITY OF ALL CREATION 231
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 235
NOTES 237
BIBLIOGRAPHY 259
INDEX 263