The Second Kind of Impossible: The Extraordinary Quest for a New Form of Matter is the exciting, first-hand story of how Paul Steinhardt, the award-winning physicist and Albert Einstein Professor in Science at Princeton University, predicted a new type of matter – the quasicrystal – shattering centuries-old laws of physics. Steinhardt’s quest to prove the natural existence of quasicrystals takes him on a globe-hopping scientific journey from Princeton to Italy to the remote mountains of far eastern Russia. In a “suspenseful true-life thriller of science investigation and discovery” (Publishers Weekly), readers are taken along for the ride as Steinhardt challenges commonly held assumptions about settled science, refuting skeptics and disproving their notions of impossibility along the way. Read more…

Praise for

The Second Kind of Impossible

“A rip-roaring adventure tale…a book that I could not put down because it was fast-paced and had genuine surprises in every chapter….Steinhardt deserves his place on the A-list because he was right about naturally occurring quasicrystals and science is the better for it.”
–Top Ten Science Books for 2019, Physics World, Hamish Johnston, Read More

“It’s a window on the process of discovery, a blow-by-blow account of a long wrangle with theory and evidence. …The journey is never less than engaging. Steinhardt immerses us in the human stories as well as the maths and physics. This is a book offering a real sense of the collaborative, generous-minded aspect of doing science.”
–The Best Five Science Books of 2019, Barbara Kiser, Nature Books Editor, Read More

The Second Kind of Impossible is the story of such a Don Quixote-ish risk. Beginning as a wild fantasy he first imagined as a curious teenager, it leads to a radical new theory predicting an astonishing form of matter that breaks all the established rules. It is a true life thriller in both the intellectual and physical sense. Of the hundreds of general science books I have read in the last twenty years, I haven’t encountered a science/thriller blend like this.  Read more….
— Jerry Alper, Medium, A conversation with a pioneer of physics

“Picture this. In Russia’s far east, a motley crew of conspirators races against time to solve a mystery hidden for billions of years. The enigma could link a speck of rock found in the dusty basement of an Italian museum to the evolution of the Solar System. To solve it, a brilliant theoretical physicist must overcome impossible odds, Kremlin agents, a vanished package, secret diaries and a trek across a volcanic peninsula.This is no Hollywood blockbuster: it is real-world scientific derring-do.” Read more…
—Sharon Glotzer, Nature Magazine

“It is a thrilling mix of scientific memoir and true detective story. Most importantly, it is a tale of the excitement that drove the author to extraordinary insights far outside his original area of expertise…I refrain from recounting the many astonishing turns of events the team encountered. But suffice to say that a fiction writer could hardly have thought of better plot twists.” Read More…

— Michael Engel, Physics Today

Steinhardt’s new book,The Second Kind of Impossible: The Extraordinary Quest for a New Form of Matter(Simon & Schuster) chronicles his 30-year obsession with a structure called the quasi-crystal, from proving that it could theoretically exist to traveling to remote parts of Russia to discover whether it might be found in nature. The Verge spoke to Steinhardt about the uses of quasi-crystals, why nobody believed it was possible, and how a physicist ended up digging for meteorites.”
—Angela Chen, The Verge

“A rare and compulsively readable blend of science and thriller, The Second Kind of
Impossible tells of the quest to find a new type of matter chat would rewrite the rules of reality. Paul Steinhardt, one of the world’s leading theoretical physicists, takes readers on a wondrous odyssey across multiple decades and continents as, against all odds, he helps topple scientific orthodoxy.”
–Brian Greene, author of The Elegant Universe

“An epic account of two scientific triumphs: a thirty-year theoretical search for understanding and a real-world expedition into the wilds of Kamchatka. It is as if The Origin of Species and The Voyage of the Beagle had been published together in one volume.”
–Freeman Dyson, author of The Maker of Patterns

“A truly amazing adventure story, full of twists and turns, right up to the very end.  It has my strongest recommendation.”
–Sir Roger Penrose, author of The Emperor’s New Mind 

“Scientists, smugglers, and spies — this book is an exciting and enlightening scientific detective story. The tale is about far more than a new form of matter; it is also a thrilling and wonderfully written look at how science works.”
–Walter Isaacson, author of Einstein

“The Second Kind of Impossible is a must read. Even if you have no interest in quasicrystals or five-fold crystalline structures, Steinhardt’s book is a delight. The 364-page book reads like a novel—and a fast-paced, well-written one at that. Steinhardt manages to maintain a quick and thrilling pace without skimping on the science behind the story.” Read more… 
Jeanette Ferrara, Crystallography Times

“The book is a remarkably exciting recounting of the decades, of two steps forward, one step back, of miracle funding, miracle discoveries, fabulous loyalty and teamwork, and ultimate success over the impossible. Steinhardt has peppered the book with humor, humility, personality and humanity. There’s nary a mathematical formula to sully the story. It is a joy to read. Bravo!”
—David Wineberg, Medium

“An intriguing blend of science and international adventure. [Steinhardt] takes readers on a wild ride in search of a new kind of matter…full of intrigue and adventure, culminating with the epic Kamchatka journey….A general audience can and should enjoy this original, suspenseful true-life thriller of science investigation and discovery.”
—Publishers Weekly

“An admirable popular account of the quasicrystal, an oddball arrangement of atoms that seems to contradict scientific laws…A gripping scientific quest…Readers will enjoy this enthusiastic introduction to a weird but genuine new form of matter.”
—Kirkus Reviews

“Cutting-edge science as high adventure.”
—Booklist

“Steinhardt does a masterful job of making a complex subject more accessible…The quest-filled narrative along with the author’s casual style create an extremely readable work that gives insight into the work involved in scientific discovery.”
—Library Journal