The Quantum Rebels: How Hitler's War on Physics Accidentally Created the Modern World

The Quantum Rebels: How Hitler's War on Physics Accidentally Created the Modern World by John Willis is a gripping narrative of how ideology and prejudice reshaped the course of science—and history itself.

Opening with the tense moments before the Trinity test in 1945, the book traces the unlikely path from Nazi Germany’s purge of “Jewish physics” to the scientific breakthroughs that defined the modern era. When the regime rejected Einstein’s theories as dangerous and un-German, it inadvertently drove the brightest minds—Einstein, Fermi, Meitner, and others—into exile. These displaced scientists would go on to fuel the Allied war effort, laying the foundations for nuclear energy, quantum theory, and much of the 20th century’s technological revolution.

Part history, part cautionary tale, The Quantum Rebels reveals how a war on truth can backfire with world-changing consequences.