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See more: An illustrated version of this article will be published within the next two weeks on our CultureLab books and arts blog

IN HIS latest book, Erwin Schrödinger and the Quantum Revolution, prolific science writer John Gribbin tells a fascinating tale of scientific endeavour starring Schrödinger – a man as complex and unpredictable as the phenomena he studied. As the major players in the book show, the German-speaking world dominated science in the first half of the 20th century, and nowhere more so than in quantum physics.

From Max Born to Ludwig Boltzmann, Friedrich Hasenöhrl to Werner Heisenberg, Gribbin expertly elucidates the relationships and discoveries that shaped Schrödinger’s thoughts, including his lengthy correspondence with Albert Einstein, which led to the famous cat-in-the-box thought experiment in 1935.

Yet what sets Gribbin’s book apart is the elegance with which it delivers a simple but neglected truth: that each of us is a product of our times. Gribbin addresses the myriad forces which shape both the process of scientific discovery and those making the discoveries. From the fortunes of nations to the work of peers, political ideologies to romantic affairs and religious convictions, he deftly identifies the influences that sculpted Schrödinger and his pivotal role in the quantum revolution.

Anyone wishing to dip their feet in the muddy waters of quantum physics will enjoy this scientific soap opera. But it should be required reading for those eager to understand how the process of scientific discovery really works.