This fascinating book assembles human stories about physicists and mathematicians. Remarkably, these stories cluster around some general themes having to do with the interaction between scientists, and with the impact of historic events -- such as the advent of fascism and communism in the twentieth century -- on scientists' behavior. Briefly, but lucidly, some of the beautiful science that brought these scientists together in the first place is explained.Author's webpage: freund9.googlepages.com/peterfreundwritings.