Transporting readers to the moment of discovery, this history of the big ideas of modern physics dips as often into biography and gossip as the actual experiments. The three great theories of modern physics—general relativity, special relativity, and quantum mechanics—were formed through trial and error, in and out of the lab, and the men who birthed these big ideas led equally large lives. Told from a front row seat, the stories culled from 40 years of working alongside the likes of Bohr, Schrouml;dinger, Pauli, and Einstein are both humorous and unbelievable. Their work is full of controversy, professional jealousy, competition, and the elation that comes when something is finally understood. Lab rats and lay readers alike will find enlightening the lessons of science and humanity available in this narrative of the quest to understand the mysteries of the universe.