Table of Contents

Introduction: Kivas, Moradas, and the Secrets of the Nuclear Age

I. Four Magic Mountains
1. Phaedrus's Ghosts
2. The Depth of the Atom
3. The Height of the Sky
Tesuque Interlude: The Riddle of the Camel

II. "The Cold, Gray Cave of Abstraction"
4. The Demonology of Information
5. The Undetermined World
6. The Democracy of Measurement
San Ildefonso Interlude: The Mystery of Other minds

III. "A Fever Matter"
7. The Dawn of Recognition
8. The Arrival of the Fittest
9. In Search of Complexity
10. In the Eye of the Beholder
Truchas Interlude: The Leap into the Unknown

Conclusion: The Ruins of Los Alamos

About the Author

George Johnson writes regularly about science for the New York Times. He has also written for National Geographic, Slate, Discover, Scientific American, Wired, and the Atlantic, and his work has been included in The Best American Science Writing. A former Alicia Patterson fellow, he has received awards from PEN and the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and his books were twice finalists for the Royal Society’s book prize. He lives in Santa Fe, New Mexico.