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cha's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
tense
fast-paced
4.0
I really think this book did the best it could with the canon material it had. It's essentially a fanfiction in play format, and it's a good one, too. It was also a really fast read, and super digestible. I read this as part of a physics class about the topics discussed, so I don't know how challenging the more scientific material might be for someone who didn't learn the things I did this past semester, but I like to think they really do explain it all in "plain words," as they kept reiterating in the play. It's not something I would've read on my own, but it's not bad at all. (I didn't really read the notes after the play, so I really only consumed the two acts of the play itself; I can't speak on that section of the book.)
bahareads's review against another edition
1.0
note: required reading
All this scientific talk in this book went way over my head. I don't remember anything about these scientists. I basically just skimmed the whole book.
All this scientific talk in this book went way over my head. I don't remember anything about these scientists. I basically just skimmed the whole book.
gsiener's review against another edition
4.0
Fascinating read, crazy to think how close to reality this book probably is...
sdiaz's review against another edition
5.0
Amazing play which is worth a read (as well as seeing it live) but the book even adds a little science history as well as Frayn's own history of researching the play in the afterword. Can recommend to anyone but especially to any one interested in physics and natural science.
lnatal's review against another edition
4.0
Drama on 3:
Benedict Cumberbatch, Greta Scacchi and Simon Russell Beale star in Michael Frayn's award-winning play about the controversial 1941 meeting between physicists Bohr and Heisenberg, part of a joint Radio 3 and Radio 4 series of three Michael Frayn dramas for radio - including new adaptations of his novels, 'Skios' and 'Headlong'.
Being a physicist myself, this dialog between Niels Bohr and Werner Heisenberg was widely discussed during my graduation studies.
For further information, please take a look at The Mysterious Meeting between Niels Bohr and Werner Heisenberg.
I also recommend Einstein's book The Evolution of Physics: From Early Concepts to Relativity and Quanta.
A movie Copenhagen (2002) was made based on this story, starring Daniel Craig and Stephen Rea.
Benedict Cumberbatch, Greta Scacchi and Simon Russell Beale star in Michael Frayn's award-winning play about the controversial 1941 meeting between physicists Bohr and Heisenberg, part of a joint Radio 3 and Radio 4 series of three Michael Frayn dramas for radio - including new adaptations of his novels, 'Skios' and 'Headlong'.
Being a physicist myself, this dialog between Niels Bohr and Werner Heisenberg was widely discussed during my graduation studies.
For further information, please take a look at The Mysterious Meeting between Niels Bohr and Werner Heisenberg.
I also recommend Einstein's book The Evolution of Physics: From Early Concepts to Relativity and Quanta.
A movie Copenhagen (2002) was made based on this story, starring Daniel Craig and Stephen Rea.
thepassivebookworm's review against another edition
3.0
I had to read this during this science summer program I joined, as well as watch the movie. Although it was difficult to get through at times, I found the movie to be more tolerant than the play itself. There's really not that much to it--it's just a conversation between the two men who helped create the atomic bomb (if memory serve me correctly) and the wife of one of the guys, but for what it's going for, it can be really entertaining to read and a lot more entertaining to watch with the right actors, in my opinion.
sookieskipper's review against another edition
4.0
Copenhagen explores the "secret" meeting that took place between Heisenberg and Neils Bohr, two Nobel laureates, discussing atom bombs. This incident took place in 1941 and history asserts this specific meeting. Frayn provides a fictional account of this meeting.
Heisenberg, once Bohr's protege, remains with Germany during World War II. This puts him and Bohr on the opposite sides of the war. With scientific minds scattered across Europe and the United States, scientific and technological progress took a competitive turn. Heisenberg is isolated in German given he was a Jew and misses out on Fermi's fission success by two years. Einstein is working on Manhattan project with Oppenheimer. With this background, the play begins with Bohr and his wife waiting for Heisenberg to arrive.
Frayn explores the two scientists based on historical accounts available on the two. They are two men who were once close finding themselves in the opposite side of the war and the argument regarding atom bombs. Frayn explores the intertwined notions of scientific inquiry, genuine research, war propaganda and moral compromises. Its a sad fact that science and technology progresses at an alarming pace when wars are involved. The good, the bad and the ugly are discussed but only on retrospection one would realize the complexity of the times they were living in.
The interconnected nature of science and personality is the essence of the conversation.
Heisenberg, once Bohr's protege, remains with Germany during World War II. This puts him and Bohr on the opposite sides of the war. With scientific minds scattered across Europe and the United States, scientific and technological progress took a competitive turn. Heisenberg is isolated in German given he was a Jew and misses out on Fermi's fission success by two years. Einstein is working on Manhattan project with Oppenheimer. With this background, the play begins with Bohr and his wife waiting for Heisenberg to arrive.
Frayn explores the two scientists based on historical accounts available on the two. They are two men who were once close finding themselves in the opposite side of the war and the argument regarding atom bombs. Frayn explores the intertwined notions of scientific inquiry, genuine research, war propaganda and moral compromises. Its a sad fact that science and technology progresses at an alarming pace when wars are involved. The good, the bad and the ugly are discussed but only on retrospection one would realize the complexity of the times they were living in.
The interconnected nature of science and personality is the essence of the conversation.
mlytylr's review against another edition
5.0
reread. for some dumb reason i only gave this 4 stars the first time??? one of my professors mentioned bohr & heisenberg's famous meeting in a lecture and i instantly remembered this play. this is historical fiction at its best. wow.
qa9's review against another edition
3.0
I'm sure this play is absolutely amazing and advanced in its explanation of a major moment in the history of physics but since I know very little about physics in its most basic form, let alone as it applies to atomic bombs, most of this play went far over my head. I still found the discussions of morality and memory—as well as the theory that we cannot truly understand anything since our perceptions are limited—to be entirely fascinating. I just missed out on all of the other discussions on science.
I had to read this book for my classes at the U this fall. I'm somewhat worried about the discussions I will be required to participate in since I barely remember the characters names now, forget about remembering them in a month or being able to engage in conversations about the science which fueled the whole play.
I had to read this book for my classes at the U this fall. I'm somewhat worried about the discussions I will be required to participate in since I barely remember the characters names now, forget about remembering them in a month or being able to engage in conversations about the science which fueled the whole play.
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