Stranger and Stranger. How the Theory of Relativity, Rock and Roll, and Science Fiction Defined the 20th Century

The 20th century irrevocably changed people's perceptions of knowledge, space, time, the cosmos, psyche, society, progress, and art. Moreover, it was a deeply strange era, in which distinguishing a visionary from a madman is not that simple, but without understanding it, we are unlikely to grasp what is happening now. Historian and journalist John Higgs suggests looking at the past century from the perspective of the history of ideas and the gradual penetration of the concept of relativity into all spheres of life. Why did the century of discord and fragmentation end with universal networkization? What can science fiction and pop culture tell us about its philosophy and psychology? How did scientists and artists, without colluding, come to the same images? And finally, what should we expect from the 21st century if the previous one was full of wars and tragedies?