"A biography of two maverick scientists whose intellectual wanderlust kick-started modern genomics and cosmology. Max Delbruck and George Gamow, the so-called ordinary geniuses of Segrè's third book, were not as famous or as decorated as some of their colleagues in midtwentieth-century physics, yet these two friends had a profound influence on how we now see the world, both on its largest scale (the universe) and its smallest (genetic code). Their maverick approach to research resulted in truly pioneering science. Wherever these men ventured, they were catalysts for great discoveries. Here Segrè honors them in his typically inviting and elegant style and shows readers how they were far from "ordinary". While portraying their personal lives Segrè, a scientist himself, gives readers an inside look at how science is done--collaboration, competition, the influence of politics, the role of intuition and luck, and the sense of wonder and curiosity that fuels these extraordinary minds."-- Provided by publisher.

When Max and Geo first met -- Max grows up -- Geo grows up -- Göttingen and Copenhagen -- Particle or wave? -- Max's and Geo's early careers -- Copenhagen, 1931 -- Zurich, 1931 -- Max, Bohr, and biology -- Max, Berlin, and biology -- Geo escapes from Russia -- The Russia Geo left behind -- Geo comes to America -- The sun's mysteries revealed -- Max leaves Germany -- Max in the New World -- Fission. -- Supernovae and neutron stars -- Max meets Manny and Sal -- Hitting the jackpot -- What is life? -- The phage grows up -- Geo and the universe -- Gamow's game -- Bohr, Geo, and Max -- Back to Germany -- The new Manchester -- Alpha, beta, gamma -- Big Bang versus steady state -- DNA -- The double helix -- Geo and DNA -- Geo begins again -- Max begins again -- The molecular biology that was -- The Phage Church Trinity goes to Stockholm -- The triumph of the Big Bang -- The cosmic microwave background radiation -- Cosmology's new age -- Einstein's biggest blunder -- Duckling or swan? -- After the Golden Age -- The unavoidable and the unfashionable -- Mr. Tompkins arrives -- Geo's and Max's final messages.