Cat's Cradle is the fourth novel by American writer Kurt Vonnegut, first published in 1963. It explores issues of science, technology, and religion, satirizing the arms race and many other targets along the way. After turning down his original thesis, in 1971 the University of Chicago awarded Vonnegut his Master's degree in anthropology for Cat's Cradle. The title of the book derives from the string game "cat's cradle." Early in the book it is learned that Felix Hoenikker was playing cat's cradle when the bomb was dropped, and the game is later referenced by his son, Newton Hoenikker. After... World War II, Kurt Vonnegut worked in the public relations department for the General Electric research company. GE hired scientists and let them do pure research, and his job was to interview these scientists and find good stories about their research. Vonnegut felt that the older scientists were indifferent about the ways their discoveries might be used. The Nobel Prize-winning chemist Irving Langmuir, who worked with Vonnegut's older brother Bernard at GE, became the model for Dr. Felix Hoenikker.
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| Author: | Kurt Vonnegut |
| Genre: | Science Fiction, Satire, Speculative fiction |
| Year published: | 1963 |
| Number of editions: | 23 |