85 Seconds to Midnight: A Physicist's Argument Against Rearmament

by Carlo Rovelli

A warning to humankind from one of the world’s greatest physicists
'What drives these pages is the guilty conscience of my profession, theoretical physics. My sole aim is to help avert what seems to me to be the unintended, yet scarcely avoidable, end point of the current politics of the governments we have nuclear war.'
The world is rearming and embroiled in endless conflict. The Doomsday Clock has now been set to 85 seconds to midnight, with the risk of nuclear war the highest it has ever been. Why do we always fail to learn from the past?
In this urgent book, acclaimed physicist Carlo Rovelli reframes the history of nuclear from how the atomic bomb was born to why Germany didn't build it and why the US used it, to the narrowly averted disasters of the Cold War and the political brinkmanship careering out of control today.
As he grapples with the legacy of his scientific forebears, Rovelli spotlights the true nature of the decisions being made by leaders around the world today. A timely and ardent warning, this searing reckoning with short-sighted politics is essential reading for anyone seeking sanity at our moment of greatest peril.

Carlo Rovelli 2026 (P) Penguin Audio 2026

Genres: Nonfiction, Politics, Science

112 pages, Paperback

Published June 23, 2026

About the author

Carlo Rovelli is an Italian theoretical physicist and writer who has worked in Italy and the USA, and currently works in France. His work is mainly in the field of quantum gravity, where he is among the founders of the loop quantum gravity theory. He has also worked in the history and philosophy of science. He collaborates regularly with several Italian newspapers, in particular the cultural supplements of Il Sole 24 Ore and La Repubblica.

Reviews

[Miguel · Rating 2 out of 5]

I get the general arguments against nuclear rearmament, and I would agree.

I guess this book just further solidifies how much I appreciate Rovelli’s physical reasoning but not his political line. Some of the argumentation is just asserted, and often only really benefits from the powers of hindsight.

For instance, he argues that the Germans made the rational choice in not throwing resources into their atomic bomb project, while the Americans made the irrational one. It was argued that the American bomb was not even ready before the Germans capitulated, therefore it was irrational to have supported it. It is difficult to apply this reasoning to the scientists and the government during the war, as they did not possess a crystal ball to tell them exactly that the bomb would not matter. Similarly, it is difficult to say that the Germans were rational, given the fact that they lost the war.

In modern times, he argues against arming Ukraine, by simply saying it prolongs the war. He argues that the West armed Ukraine and sanctioned Russia under the expectation that it would immediately cripple Putin and end the war. I find this to be far from the truth, given that Western intelligence expected Kyiv to fall in weeks, if not days. It took months for Biden to approve the weapons Ukraine was asking for, and then hold off for fear of Putin escalating.

I find that, like some thinkers on the Left, there is a lot of charity given to actions by Russia and China, simply because they seem to stand against the West.

[Anton · Rating 2 out of 5]

Rovelli is one of my favourite authors — I auto-purchase anything he releases. This slim essay is a passionate pacifist plea, paired with an insightful perspective on the history of the atomic bomb. I was particularly drawn to his account of the circumstances surrounding the use of the bomb on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

However, the author’s perspective on the war in Ukraine is myopic. He views it through a Cold War lens — which is, incidentally, a Kremlin talking point. A more apt parallel is Nazi Germany: Ukraine is better understood as a replay of the Austrian Anschluss, one that went very badly for the aggressor this time. This is not something that can be explained away, accommodated, or conceded to — it is an act of cruelty and evil. Any appeal to appeasement here is either naive or disingenuous.

[Abdul Alhazred · Rating 1 out of 5]

Extremely short and still not worth reading. The title is taken from the current state of the "Doomsday Clock", a project led by the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, which Rovelli takes very seriously on this matter, even though the clock measures nothing and is an awareness project so in the doldrums of attention they broadened their mission (and risk assessment) to include climate change. What proportion of the threat is nuclear vs climate is not made clear, nor what expertise the atomic scientists have on the latter, but we can rest assured headlines will be made whenever the "clock moves closer to midnight".

Rovelli's assessment of the development of nuclear arms is Captain Hindsight proudly declaring they weren't necessary to win WWII, and the Nazis weren't making one anyway, so it was pointless. Since he points out the physicist contemporaries thought they were, and that it was necessary, the only point being made is "we now know it didn't turn out that way".

We then get stunning takes on foreign policy that amount to war is bad, can't we all get along, and calling out those who disagree (who?) as stupid. We also get treated to stunners like how "the problem of nuclear weapons doesn't exist for weak countries" like North Korea - you see, the US is just opposed to it because the nuke would prevent them from attacking North Korea, it limits their power! No comment is made on why the US hasn't then actually attacked NK prior to them having developed a nuke. Just don't think about it.

Other dictators and rogue states are also good, actually (because Rovelli hates the west more in all cases I suppose), Gadaffi for instance is given a tongue bath worthy of Alex Jones, he was taken out because he was a noble scion of African independence. Bizarrely then, amid advocacy against nuclear arms, Rovelli has made it clear he's not against more states having them, even as he also claims the risk of errors is extremely high and why nobody should have them. Why the risk of "errors" doesn't increase with the amount of countries in possession of them is not made clear - given the rest of his opinions, presumably the reason is because that's the standard argument for the current nuclear arms control, and he's just instinctively against it, because "west = bad". To further cement that conclusion he gives some pro-Russian views on the war in Ukraine (they should just give up, and it's wrong to assist them with arms), which seems 180° from his other view that nuclear arms has made the US a warmongering bully that just starts wars and takes what they want, but you see he has such a clever argument around that, that also saves China from criticism over their persecution of Uyghurs and Tibetans - they're just harming people in their (asserted) borders, which makes it okay, unlike aggression that happens over a greater distance, which is wrong.

For a world renowned physicist this is some incredibly embarrassing and naive bullshit you'd expect to hear in a European highschool by "the smartest kid in class".

Alternative: Nuclear War: A Scenario Jacobsen breathes life into the danger that society has grown so numb to that the advocacy groups have to change targets (eg. The Doomsday Clock), by showing what a hair trigger we still live under, and the consequences thereof. It's everything this pamphlet should have been.

[Bill Lawrence · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very short single sitting read from Rovelli and part of a long debate on the responsibility of scientists defined by the invention of the atom bomb. I've lived with it all my life, but it seemed particularly dark in the 1970s - I was only 8 when the Cuban missile crisis hit and I wasn't paying attention. Rovelli writes well, coherently and provides some interesting snippets that I wasn't aware of. However, I am surprised by some of his argument that does deny a certain logic - because things turned out in a certain way, people should have behaved differently before that conclusion. Easy to say with hindsight. Principally. the Manhattan project wasn't necessary as the Germans weren't developing an atom bomb and the allies defeated the Germans before the bomb was tested. Hmm. Leaving that to one side, the argument against the bombs dropped on civilian populations in Hiroshima and Nagasaki is one I can align with. Following this basis, Rovelli then looks at the consequent developments of weapons from the Soviet Union to North Korea and the need of small countries to developed their own nuclear weapons to protect themselves agains larger nations, leading to proliferation and instability.

However, I felt that the great weakness of the book was to ignore cyber warfare and how destabilising that is. Warfare is now being carried out without people even noticing. Even so, a timely volume and the dangers can never be understated. So well worth a couple of hours of anyone's time. And it was thought provoking.

[Mike · Rating 4 out of 5]

85 Seconds to Midnight is a brief, urgent warning about how unsafe the world has become in the nuclear age. Carlo Rovelli uses the Doomsday Clock to state we are closer to nuclear catastrophe than ever, not because of one grand evil plan, but because of countless reckless political choices.

The book is especially strong when it pushes back on the idea that rearmament equals safety. Rovelli argues that modern leaders lack the caution that shaped much of Cold War diplomacy, and that today’s brinkmanship makes accidental escalation more likely, not less.

Part history lesson, part alarm bell, this book is a reminder that nuclear danger never went away. We just got used to living under it.

[Eric · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love Carlo Rovelli. I find all of his books to be a very compelling read. So when I got my hands on a copy of 85 Seconds to Midnight from the UK this weekend (thanks for the fast shipping Blackwell’s!), I had to read it immediately. In this short piece, Rovelli effectively navigates the reader through the history of nuclear weapons and provides some commentary along the way. I’m glad I was able to pick this up and feel like this is a worthy read for just about anyone. It’s short at just shy of 100 pages, and is a quick read that can be done in a single sitting (as I did at the pool today).

[Lucky R · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brilliant small book!

[Marisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

interesting little book about the development of the atomic bomb