Markus, 222 Juden
The book 222 Juden verändern die Welt by physicist Mario Markus, published by Georg Olms, is a very timely work. It is both a kaleidoscope of insights into 3000 years of general and religious history and a comprehensive overview of the sufferings and achievements of Judaism. It is a collection of short biographies of 'world-changing' Jewish people as well as an outline summary of successes in modern science - or, in formal terms, it is both a specialist encyclopaedia and a collection of often thrilling short stories, sometimes spiced with dry humour, and much more.
The scientist Markus, son of German Jewish immigrants who were able to escape from the Nazis in time, shares his wish in the preface in straightforward, uncomplicated, one could say 'honest' words - a description which suits the whole book.
Mario Markus, Emeritus Professor of Physics at the University of Dortmund, was born to German Jewish immigrants in Santiago de Chile in 1944. At the age of 20 he went to Heidelberg where he received his doctorate in Physics. 222 Juden verändern die Welt is his ninth book.