Emilio Segre is well-known in scientific circles for his creative work in the field of Nuclear Physics. A student of Enrico Fermi in Italy, he participated in the discovery of the elements Technetium and Astatine and the fission properties of Plutonium-239.

In 1959, he shared the Nobel Prize in Physics with Owen Chamberlain for the discovery of the antiproton. This book records the evolution of scientific thought from the works of the "founding fathers" - Galileo, Huygens, and Newton - to the discoveries of Maxwell, Boltzmann, and Gibbs.

Combining his personally engaging style with continuous references to the original work of great physicists, Segre reveals to us the evolution of Physics, as new experiments create new questions. Through the original texts and personal correspondence of the founders of Physics, the author attempts to reconstruct the torturous process of scientific evolution.