Benjamín Labatut’s novel, “Maniac,” explores the lives and work of prominent 20th-century mathematicians and physicists, focusing on their scientific breakthroughs and personal dramas. The author masterfully intertwines historical facts with artistic invention, creating a gripping narrative about genius, obsession, and the price paid for scientific advancement. The book immerses the reader in the world of scientific revolutions, showing how great minds balance on the brink of madness in their quest to unravel the mysteries of the universe. Labatut creates a layered work that is simultaneously an intellectual thriller and a philosophical reflection on the nature of knowledge and the human drive to understand the incomprehensible.