TY - BOOK AU - Wolverton,Mark TI - Splinters of infinity: cosmic rays and the clash of two Nobel Prize-winning scientists over the secrets of creation SN - 9780262048828 PY - 2024///] CY - Cambridge, Massachusetts PB - The MIT Press KW - Millikan, Robert Andrews, KW - Compton, Arthur Holly, KW - Cosmic rays KW - Research KW - History KW - Cosmology N1 - Includes bibliographical references and index; Prelude : shaking hands with Mussolini -- "A very interesting discussion" -- The penetrating radiation -- A oneness about the whole of nature -- The din of battle -- Challengers -- Mountaineers, fliers, and savants -- Travel arrangements -- Globetrotting -- Skyscraping -- Throwing the gauntlet -- The gathering forces -- High noon in atlantic city -- Hooray for the cosmic rays -- Falling and rising -- Rising and falling -- Creation and annihilation -- Quarrels in the family -- A sort of peace -- Postlude : the unity of all creation N2 - "Splinters of Infinity is set in a paradigm-shattering era of physics and science, as a series of rapid-fire discoveries and new ideas completely upend humanity's conception of the universe. Among these revolutions, America's two foremost physicists, Robert Millikan and Arthur Compton, find themselves locked in an intense, often deeply personal, conflict about cosmic rays, one of the era's most fascinating and puzzling discoveries: cosmic rays seemed to promise a path into the deepest heart of science, a chance to answer questions that might just explain everything -- or reveal the mind of God"-- ER -