The novel “Cat’s Cradle” by Kurt Vonnegut was published for the first time in 1963.

John, who’d like to be called Jonah, intends to write a book about the day the atomic bomb destroyed Hiroshima. He focuses on Felix Hoenikker, one of the scientists who designed the atomic bomb, seeking out his children and former colleagues to gain information about him.

John/Jonah’s research allows him, among other things, to discover that, before his death, Felix Hoenikker invented ice-nine, a particular form of ice capable of triggering a chain reaction starting from a “seed” with the potential to crystallize all the water on Earth. The writer also discovers that one of the scientist’s sons lives in the Republic of San Lorenzo, where he has become a powerful figure and where many people follow the religion preached by Bokonon.