Book Description
Everyone has heard of Albert Einstein-but what exactly did he do? How much do kids really know about Albert Einstein besides the funny hair and genius label? For instance, do they know that he was expelled from school as a kid? Finally, here's the story of Albert Einstein's life, told in a fun, engaging way that clearly explores the world he lived in and changed. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

Full of Information!
I thought Who Was Albert Einstein? was a great book. Hats off to Jess Brallier! I have read this book two or three times, which is rare for me, since I do not like to re-read things, so that must tell you how good this book is! I learned a lot of things like he was born on March 14, 1879, he had two wives, he wasn't the best father (in his own words), his brain is floating around in a jar today, 52 years after his death, and many more interesting things! You should read this book, and I would even recommend it to adults!!!

perfect for my 3rd grader
I thought this was a great book for my daughter who is in 3rd grade. She enjoys biographies and was interested in getting to know more about Albert Einstein. She read this one in about a week, a faster reader could finish it in a day or two. I have a few other selections from this series in my wish list.

wonderful series
This book contains many facts about Albert Einstein that may be new to you.Although I have several books about this man, this remains my favorite. In fact when a student's father accidentally spilled his coffee on it, I knew I had to get a new one for the classroom library.

Great subject for a children book
Great subject for a children book. I got this series of books for my daughter and she really enjoyes reading them. Great read and educational too.
... Read more

Book Description
From a young age Albert Einstein was curious and very smart. But that didn't mean life was easy for him. In fact, being so smart sometimes made things harder for him! Read all about his life, and find out why Albert Einstein is known as the genius of the twentieth century.

... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Great easy to read biography
For kids who are not quite sure biographies are cool, this will lead them into Einstein's life with ease. Reading level is about third-grade, illustrations are great (I love one with him sticking out his tongue), glossary, bibliography, timeline, website referrals at the back will help kids who are doing research. Part of a series that also includes Wright Brothers, Teddy Roosevelt, other intriguing characters. History IS biography and this is a good way to get kids interested in both. ... Read more

Book Description
From being a mediocre high school student in Germany to becoming a world-renowned physicist living in Princeton, N.J., the life and work of Albert Einstein is clearly explained in a question-and-answer format for younger readers. The combination of easy-to-read text, large photographs and illustrations, and simple experiments, clearly explain Einstein's scientific work, such as the "Theory of Relativity."

A time line and index provide supplementary materials. ... Read more

Book Description

For the first time in paperback, here is a newly expanded edition of the best-selling book that was hailed as "setting a new standard" for quotation books. Tens of thousands of readers have enjoyed The Quotable Einstein and The Expanded Quotable Einstein, with translations into twenty-two languages. This updated edition--which appears on the 100th anniversary of Einstein's Special Theory of Relativity and the 50th anniversary of Einstein's death--offers more than 300 new quotations, or over 1,200 altogether. Nearly all are by Einstein himself and a few are about the self-professed "lone wolf" Time magazine named "Man of the Century" at the turn of the millennium.

The New Quotable Einstein also includes a new section, "On Aging," and fresh material has been added to the appendix-from a touching account by Helen Dukas of Einstein's last days to a day-by-day summary of Johanna Fantova's telephone conversations with Einstein during the final year and a half of his life.

Also included are a poem called "Einstein," by Robert Service; and three virtually unknown verses to the song "As Time Goes By" (made famous in the movie Casablanca) that refer to Einstein. New photographs have been selected to introduce each section of the book.

Through well-documented quotations and supplementary information, The New Quotable Einstein provides a bigger and better biographical account of this multifaceted man-as son, husband, father, lover, scientist, philosopher, aging widower, humanitarian, and friend. It shows us even more vividly why the real and imagined Einstein continues to fascinate people across the world into the twenty-first century.

• 300-plus new quotations, more than 1,200 in all
• A day-by-day summary of Johanna Fantova's phone conversations with Einstein toward the end of his life
• A touching account of Einstein's last days
• A new section, "On Aging"
• Three virtually unknown original verses of the song "As Time Goes By" (from the movie Casablanca) that refer to Einstein
• Robert Service's poem "Einstein"

Customer Reviews (2)

Einstein's mind on many matters...
I have long loved quotes and especially quotes from Einstein, becaues like many great men, he did not think solely in one area on science. He thought greatly about many things. that doesn't mean that he was a perfect man. Far from it. He had major problems with personal relationships, was lacking in parenting skills, was very often not a great husband. Yet he tried to his utmost to use his immense intelligence to the good of mankind. I think he found it easier to deal with humans on a group basis, rather than an individual one. That does not mean that he did not leave an immense area of thought from which we can learn and put into use in our own lives.

Calaprice does a great job of sorting through the many quotes that were attributed to Einstein, but were not actually his. HOw best to get your ideas into print than to state they were words from the premier physicist and statesman of his time. I've seen some I often wondered about and shall have to change the way my mind memorized these statements (they are still often quite good statements).

It does not surprise me to see how greatly, especially in areas such as religion that Einstein changed his views: especially in organized religion. But his basics remained the same. That man and woman can work in science and other fields to achieve greatness, and that greatness can be used for good or for evil. As with the discovery of fission of the atom, it is evident that we decide our own fate, and that that decision is made on an individual basis.

Sometimes, when I am overwhelmed with work, or just life in general, I like to go get this quote book and randomly read through Einstein's thinking process. I don't always agree with, but he always makes me think. I cannot think of a better book to get on this anniversery of his life and death.

Karen Sadler,
Science Education,
University of Pittsburgh,
Chemistry,
CCAC

On the whole excellent
I was overjoyed when the first edition came out. Here in one small volume were many of Einstein's most famous lines.I was even happier when new expanded editions came out.I have used the book almost as an index to my collection of books about Einstein (and I have a dozen of them).

But I noticed one problem in the editing.In the first edition, in the chapter "On Religion, God, and Philosophy," Einstein is quoted as saying "I see only with deep regret that God punishes so many of his children for their numerous stupidities, for which only he can be held responsible; in my opinion, only his nonexistence could excuse him."In the "expanded" edition, the word "only" (the first one) was removed.Well, this changes the meaning a lot, given what we know about Einstein's denial of free will in man.With the word "only" removed, God's guilt is lightened, as though suggesting there are other culprits, but in so doing she also distorts Einstein's meaning.I was startled enough by this that I went to the science library at the University of Toronto, and double-checked Einstein's words in the multivolume "Collected Papers of Albert Einstein."The word "only" appears in both the German original ("nur") and the English translation.Over and over Eisntein denied that human beings have free will, and so objectively there is no one to blame for our crimes but God - if, as Einstein said, He even existed.

Initially I suspected the editor of deleting "only" deliberately - after all, the "censored" version appears in both the second and third editions.But I'm now satisfied that this was an honest editing error and I have been reassured that it will be corrected in the next edition.

On the whole, the quotes are quite reliable.And the sources are very wide, including not only Einstein's own collected papers but the Einstein Archive and other secondary writings (such as memoirs).There must be materials that may be new and interesting even to Einstein scholars.

In his foreword Freeman Dyson claims Einstein had a "darker side" - for example, with respect to his family.Well, I'm sorry, but Einstein never pretended he was a saint.He was in some ways only an ordinary human being with a very extraordinary brain.He was certainly no great father or husband.But Einstein never asked anyone to censor his biography for him, making him look better than he was.If he cheated his wife, he did so virtually openly.So I think Dyson's point is really pointless.Besides, the term "darker side" misleads people into thinking that Einstein must have done some evil deeds which he tried to keep away from view.Newton's deceitful conduct in the priority dispute certainly suggests a nasty side to his personality.Nothing of the kind was ever in Einstein's character or conduct.Einstein had a temper, and he could be grumpy, or sexist, or rude, or over-the-top in his words on occasion.And that's about as far as his "dark side" gets. So what?He never did anything remotely criminal or unethical or even deceitful, for those of us wondering what this "dark side" means.(Incidentally, Dyson's assertion that the Japanese show "exquisite taste" in admiring Einstein and Hawking defies common sense. It's not just the Japanese but the whole world over who have such "exquisite taste"; nor is it just Einstein and Hawking whom the Japanese admire. The Japanese admire all sorts of people, some of whom would not be considered terribly heroic by us.Dyson is a great mathematical physicist, but I'm familiar enough with Dyson's many writings to know this guy doesn't always say sensible things.)Returning to Dyson's foreword, his story about armed Israeli soldiers commandeering Einstein's files at Princeton, NJ on a dark and rainy Christmas night, possibly breaking American laws, while good enough for a cheap movie scene, sounds too fantastic to be believable.His implication is that Einstein's dirty laundry is now safely and deliberately hidden in the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.Unless you're a connoisseur of conspiracy theories, you can safely dismiss this notion.Unless the files are physically destroyed, archivists will dig them out sooner or later.There is no reason to believe that non-Israeli Einstein specialists are denied access to them.I can't say I'll never be surprised by new revelations, but I doubt any will be interesting enough by now because the most important of Einstein's deeds and words and beliefs are already well known.What's yet to be revealed is most likely not interesting enough.(If someone could somehow find a manuscript proving Mileva doing most of the original mathematical thinking in Special Relativity, that would be an example of interesting new revelations.)

This book is very good as a general introduction to Einstein the man and even to his physics to a limited extent.The quotes are well-chosen and cover a good range.On the other hand, I wouldn't call it an Einstein concordance.For one thing, it is too short to be any such thing.For another, only an expert about Einstein AND his physics - like Abraham Pais - is qualified to compile a "concordance."(It would help that this expert also knew Einstein personally, though this is perhaps not necessary.)

This book is thus not the real thing - but surely a handy enough substitute.Its merits still far outweigh its imperfections.Here in one handy volume you can find Einstein's views on wide range of subjects, from politics to women to pipesmoking to Germans and Jews and of course physics.Not all of us will agree with everything he said.But in my opinion, Einstein's insights in philosophy, the scientific method, and music are devastatingly penetrating.And this book gives a fair and representative sample of these.(For those of you who are really interested in Einstein's "darker side," look for his tough opinions on Germans.For me, Einstein's bitter views of Germans come closest to showing his so-called "darker" side.Close but not quite though.Given all those dumb things Germans did in his lifetime, who can blame him?)

Two indexes, one for subjects and another for key words, make this book particularly user-friendly.

Calaprice has done Einstein admirers like myself a fine service.And the timing of this edition is good.Not only is 2005 the 100th anniversary of Special Relativity (1905), but April 18, 2005 is also the 50th anniversary of Einstein's death.



... Read more

Book Description
To the majority of people Einstein's theory is a complete mystery. Their attitude towards Einstein is like that of Mark Twain towards the writer of a work on mathematics: here was a man who had written an entire book of which Mark could not understand a single sentence. Einstein, therefore, is great in the public eye partly because he has made revolutionary discoveries which cannot be translated into the common tongue. We stand in proper awe of a man whose thoughts move on heights far beyond our range, whose achievements can be measured only by the few who are able to follow his reasoning and challenge his conclusions. There is, however, another side to his personality. It is revealed in the addresses, letters, and occasional writings brought together in this book. These fragments form a mosaic portrait of Einstein the man. Each one is, in a sense, complete in itself; it presents his views on some aspect of progress, education, peace, war, liberty, or other problems of universal interest. Their combined effect is to demonstrate that the Einstein we can all understand is no less great than the Einstein we take on trust. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (11)

Enlightning
The book could have been structured a little better, but noone can argue with the words of Einstein.Several of the quotes in the book are about random and old-time topics that were lost on me, only being 23.However, this is still an amazing glipse into the man that changed the 20th Centery.

Brilliant Scientist and Great Humanitarian
Albert Einstein as I see it was one of the greatest humanitarians that ever lived. His brilliance and simplicity of thought shines through on many of his complex theories. You come away saying "Why didn't I think of that? It is so simple!" Einstein's humor is dazzling to match and rounds out my perception of this wonderful unique human being. I enjoyed this book.

There is a more comprehensive and cheaper book out there!!!
+++++

This book (first published in 1934) contains brief writings of physicist Albert Einstein (1879 to 1955), one of the most creative intellects of the twentieth century.It contains articles (speeches, letters, statements, etc.) from early in his career.

This book gives a personal portrait of the man behind the scientific legend.

The book itself is divided into four parts:

(1) The world as I see it (about 30 articles).This is my favorite part.
(2) Politics and pacifism (almost 20 articles).Einstein was a pacifist (one who opposes the use of force under any circumstances).
(3) Germany (3 articles).Einstein was born in Ulm, Wurttemberg, Germany.(He later emigrated to the United States in late 1932.)
(4) The Jews (just over 10 articles).Einstein was Jewish.

Finally, if this book is so good, then why did I give it the rating I did?Two reasons.

First, there is a much more comprehensive book that also has gathered Einstein's writings.It is called "Ideas and Opinions" (first published in 1954 and sold by Amazon).It contains almost all the articles (it excludes seven) contained in "The World as I See It." As well, it contains selected articles from other publications (most notably the books "Out of my Later Years" and "Mein Weltbild.")

As well, the book "Ideas and Opinions" has a fifth part called `Contributions to Science' (which contains almost 20 articles).Here, Einstein discusses topics such as relativity, theoretical physics, science, and gravitation.He even gives tributes to such people as Isaac Newton and Copernicus.

Second, this book's price.It costs $9.20 and you get 65 articles.But the hardcopy version of "Ideas and Opinions" costs about $6.00 and you get 120 articles (almost double the amount)!!(Note that all prices quoted are as of May 2006.)

In conclusion, instead of this book, I recommend the more comprehensive and cheaper book called "Ideas and Opinions."In my opinion, this recommended book is the definitive collection if Albert Einstein's popular writings!!!

+++++

great book!
I found this book in my uncle's library. After hearing some islamist authors were interpreting Einstein's book as a proof of "science without religion is not science etc" I have decided to read this book . Then I realized those writers never really read this book and they were talking non sense it was just a sentence from this book.
The book is nice, he is not only a scientist also a philosoph. It helped me to look at some of the things with a different point of view.

The world as Einstein sees it
This volume consists of writings of Einstein collected in the year 1932. Another Amazon reviewer has pointed out that it omits Einstein's writings on science which he rightfully says is something like speaking about Mozart without speaking about his music.
Yet Einstein was already by 1932 a world - figure. And one of the great tests of his life, and proofs of his being , beside a great genius, a very decent and moral human being , was the way he reacted to the Nazis.When they were beginning their racist attacks on the Jews, Einstein proudly announced his Jewish origin. Instead of trying to play up to authority as did for instance Heidegger he showed an ability to sacrifice his own private position within Germany , then the great center of scientific research.
This volume contains a chapter on his relation to the Germany of the time. It also contains a more extensive chapter on his relation to the Jews, to the building of a homeland , to the conception of peace between Jew and Arab in the Holy Land.
The volume opens with Einstein's reflections on the meaning of life, and on the way he sees the world. They come , I think, very much out of his own sense of himself. Einstein highly prized the private individual. He believed that the individual did not exist to be absorbed in or be a slave to the State, but rather the State existed in order to enable individuals to pursue their lives and creative endeavors. In this work he champions the political system of the United States because he believes it best enables individuals to find their way to real creative and productive human endeavor.
He says,"The real valuable thing in the pageant of human life seems to me not the State, but the creative, sentient,individual , the personality: it alone creates the noble and sublime."
Einstein in his humble away talks about the dependence of the individual, of himself on the contributions of so many others in society.
And he talks about the fundamental values for which he has lived, Truth, Goodness and Beauty.
When one thinks of the other outsized giant of science, Newton and compares Einstein with him, one is again struck at how remarkable it is that a person of Einstein's incredible genius in scientific work, should also have been in so many ways a decent, sane, moral human being.
Mankind is enriched by his being one of us. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

Awesome Book (And Series!)
I think the "Childhood of Famous Americans" Series is absolutely incredible! Whoever came up with the idea so long ago really had a creative mind! I own Albert Einstein, Benjamin Franklin, Jacqueline Kennedy, John F. Kennedy, Abigail Adams, John Adams, Eleanor Roosevelt, and Franklin D. Roosevelt, and I have read every one.
I think that this book was my favorite of all. I bought it a couple of days ago and read it in one day! It shares Albert's own personal stories of when he was a boy and a teenager, like all of them do, and they follow him up to adulthood. Again, great book (and series!)

Great book
Very well written, and easy for a child to read and understand. Also quite inspirational.

Einstein: German, not American
What the hell? Childhood of famous Americans?

The great Man was a German Jew, who only moved to America in later life.

Keep rewriting history and telling your kids that every great thing invented in all time was done so by an "American". Hollywood would be proud.

Great book
This was an ultimate book about Einstein's life. ... Read more

Amazon.com
As a scientist, Albert Einstein is undoubtedly the most epic among 20th-century thinkers. Albert Einstein as a man, however, has been a much harder portrait to paint, and what we know of him as a husband, father, and friend is fragmentary at best. With Einstein: His Life and Universe, Walter Isaacson (author of the bestselling biographies Benjamin Franklin and Kissinger) brings Einstein's experience of life, love, and intellectual discovery into brilliant focus. The book is the first biography to tackle Einstein's enormous volume of personal correspondence that heretofore had been sealed from the public, and it's hard to imagine another book that could do such a richly textured and complicated life as Einstein's the same thoughtful justice. Isaacson is a master of the form and this latest opus is at once arresting and wonderfully revelatory. --Anne Bartholomew

Read "The Light-Beam Rider," the first chapter of Walter Isaacson's Einstein: His Life and Universe.

Five Questions for Walter Isaacson

Amazon.com: What kind of scientific education did you have to give yourself to be able to understand and explain Einstein's ideas?

Isaacson: I've always loved science, and I had a group of great physicists--such as Brian Greene, Lawrence Krauss, and Murray Gell-Mann--who tutored me, helped me learn the physics, and checked various versions of my book. I also learned the tensor calculus underlying general relativity, but tried to avoid spending too much time on it in the book. I wanted to capture the imaginative beauty of Einstein's scientific leaps, but I hope folks who want to delve more deeply into the science will read Einstein books by such scientists as Abraham Pais, Jeremy Bernstein, Brian Greene, and others.

Amazon.com: That Einstein was a clerk in the Swiss Patent Office when he revolutionized our understanding of the physical world has often been treated as ironic or even absurd. But you argue that in many ways his time there fostered his discoveries. Could you explain?

Isaacson: I think he was lucky to be at the patent office rather than serving as an acolyte in the academy trying to please senior professors and teach the conventional wisdom. As a patent examiner, he got to visualize the physical realities underlying scientific concepts. He had a boss who told him to question every premise and assumption. And as Peter Galison shows in Einstein's Clocks, Poincare's Maps, many of the patent applications involved synchronizing clocks using signals that traveled at the speed of light. So with his office-mate Michele Besso as a sounding board, he was primed to make the leap to special relativity.

Amazon.com: That time in the patent office makes him sound far more like a practical scientist and tinkerer than the usual image of the wild-haired professor, and more like your previous biographical subject, the multitalented but eminently earthly Benjamin Franklin. Did you see connections between them?

Isaacson:I like writing about creativity, and that's what Franklin and Einstein shared. They also had great curiosity and imagination. But Franklin was a more practical man who was not very theoretical, and Einstein was the opposite in that regard.

Amazon.com: Of the many legends that have accumulated around Einstein, what did you find to be least true? Most true?

Isaacson: The least true legend is that he failed math as a schoolboy. He was actually great in math, because he could visualize equations. He knew they were nature's brushstrokes for painting her wonders. For example, he could look at Maxwell's equations and marvel at what it would be like to ride alongside a light wave, and he could look at Max Planck's equations about radiation and realize that Planck's constant meant that light was a particle as well as a wave. The most true legend is how rebellious and defiant of authority he was. You see it in his politics, his personal life, and his science.

Amazon.com: At Time and CNN and the Aspen Institute, you've worked with many of the leading thinkers and leaders of the day. Now that you've had the chance to get to know Einstein so well, did he remind you of anyone from our day who shares at least some of his remarkable qualities?

Isaacson: There are many creative scientists, most notably Stephen Hawking, who wrote the essay on Einstein as "Person of the Century" when I was editor of Time. In the world of technology, Steve Jobs has the same creative imagination and ability to think differently that distinguished Einstein, and Bill Gates has the same intellectual intensity. I wish I knew politicians who had the creativity and human instincts of Einstein, or for that matter the wise feel for our common values of Benjamin Franklin.

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Book Description
By the author of the acclaimed bestseller Benjamin Franklin, this is the first full biography of Albert Einstein since all of his papers have become available.

How did his mind work? What made him a genius? Isaacson's biography shows how his scientific imagination sprang from the rebellious nature of his personality. His fascinating story is a testament to the connection between creativity and freedom.

Based on newly released personal letters of Einstein, this book explores how an imaginative, impertinent patent clerk -- a struggling father in a difficult marriage who couldn't get a teaching job or a doctorate -- became the mind reader of the creator of the cosmos, the locksmith of the mysteries of the atom and the universe. His success came from questioning conventional wisdom and marveling at mysteries that struck others as mundane. This led him to embrace a morality and politics based on respect for free minds, free spirits, and free individuals.

These traits are just as vital for this new century of globalization, in which our success will depend on our creativity, as they were for the beginning of the last century, when Einstein helped usher in the modern age. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (175)

The man behind the science!
This is a great biography of one of the greatest and most recognizable icons of our age. Since my early days in school I recognized the face of Einstein and knew that he was the smartest man in the world. I also knew the formula E=mc2 but had no idea what it meant, nor what it stood for except that it had something to do with the speed of light. It was a simple and easy formula to look at, and one that was easily memorized. I knew nothing of the life of Einstein or his real contributions to science.

I found out what E=mc2 was all about just two years ago when I picked up a book by David Bodanis entitled, "E=mc2, a biography of the world's most famous equation." I finally understood what this famous formula that I had memorized since an early age was all about. Now through Isaacson's biography of Einstein, I finally know the man!

The author has a great writing style that makes Einstein come alive through the pages. His writing captivates you, and you'll find yourself reading throughout the night. He not only explains how Einstein's mind worked; his early years; his marriages; his politics...but also delves into the science of Einstein. You'll get to finally understand his theory of relativity and what E=mc2 is all about. Being a science buff, this made this biography more appealing. I love discovering the mysteries of our universe, and who else to read than the man who discovered them? For example, Einstein's equations predicted that the universe is dynamic--expanding or contracting. This contradicted the prevailing view that the universe was static. In 1929 astronomer Edwin Hubble found that the universe was indeed expanding, thereby confirming Einstein's work. Einstein also predicted the `Black Holes'. We are still living in Einstein's Universe--his fingerprints are all over.

Einstein was a rebel and nonconformist from boyhood. Isaacson relates a story of the child Einstein crying when seeing a German army marching by in perfect synchronization. Nothing could be more horrifying to this fiercely independent mind than such mindless collective action. He once remarked in 1901, "A foolish faith in authority is the worst enemy of truth." He embraced a morality and politics based on respect for freedom of spirit and individuality. He was against violence and wars, and was against compulsory military duty. He resigned his German citizenship in order not to attend the military, and was for a long while a man without a country. He was stateless until 1901, when he was granted Swiss citizenship. Like Socrates, he referred to himself as a citizen of the world.

Tyranny repulsed him, and he saw tolerance as a necessary condition for a creative society. Though later in life he was associated with the atomic bomb, he never had anything to do with its development. True, his theories made possible the atomic bomb, but being mistrusted by the American government--wrongly accused of being a communist by the FBI, who had a long file on him--he was not included in the Manhattan project. However, it was Einstein who wrote President Franklin D. Roosevelt and persuaded him that the Germans might be developing an atomic bomb, and that the US should quickly develop one before them. Some historians believe that if it wasn't for Einstein, the US might have not developed the atomic bomb during World War II. But Einstein was wrong: the Germans were nowhere near developing an atomic bomb. He later stated that if he had known Germany wasn't going to be able to develop the atomic bomb, he would have never prompted the United States to develop this weapon of mass destruction.

Einstein was on vacation when he heard the news that an atomic bomb had been dropped on Japan. Almost immediately he was part of an international effort to try to bring the atomic bomb under control, forming the Emergency Committee of Atomic Scientists. He also warned that a World Government should be formed to keep nations in check. Einstein backed Oppenheimer and opposed the development of the hydrogen bomb, instead calling for international controls on the spread of nuclear technology. Einstein was increasingly drawn to antiwar activities.

What made Einstein come up with such out-of-this world theories that went against all known science at the time? In fact, he pretty much made Newtonian science obsolete. According to Einstein, his genius was due to his slow learning. Einstein used to say that his slow learning made him ponder over a problem much longer than the average person--much much longer! For example, he used to wander whether anything was faster than the speed of light; and what would a light beam look like if you could run alongside it? If light were a wave, then the light beam should appear stationary, like a frozen wave. Even as a child, though, he knew that stationary light waves had never been seen, so there was a paradox. He would spend entire days pondering this problem. Einstein also says that his fascination with a compass he was given as a gift when he was five years old made him inquisitive and scientifically minded. "What was this invisible force that was driving the compass needle to always point north?" he would ask himself. Einstein questioned conventional wisdom and marveled at mysteries that struck others as mundane.

Einstein became deeply religious at age 12, even composing several songs in praise of God and chanting religious songs on his way to school. This began to change, however, after he read science books that contradicted his religious beliefs. Later in life when asked if he believed in a God, he said that he believes in a God that would not punish his creation. He believed there was an "old one" who was the ultimate lawgiver. He did not believe in a personal God that intervened in human affairs but instead believed in the God of the 17th-century Dutch Jewish philosopher Benedict de Spinoza--the God of harmony and beauty. He wrote: "I'm not an atheist and I don't think I can call myself a pantheist. We are in the position of a little child entering a huge library filled with books in many different languages....The child dimly suspects a mysterious order in the arrangement of the books but doesn't know what it is. That, it seems to me, is the attitude of even the most intelligent human being toward God."

Contrary to popular belief, Einstein did not flunk at math. In fact, he was a brilliant mathematician! Because of his exceptional math scores, he was allowed into the polytechnic. He was also not a mad professor who secluded himself in his lab. Einstein was in fact a playboy of sorts, and had many lovers. He is also believed to have fathered a few children he never knew about. There is also a popular belief that Einstein's wife, Mileva Maric, produced much if not all of his mathematics for his theory of relativity before their divorce. Read this book to correct misconceptions you might have had about Einstein.

The author describes Einstein's early marriage and his first daughter that till today no one knows who she is or how (and when) she died. The chapters on Einstein as a father and family man were fascinating.

An interesting and amazing fact is that Einstein could not secure a teaching job at a university for many years after he had discovered the theory of relativity and the formula E=mc2. Was it because he was a Jew? He was labeled as a bad teacher by many of his colleagues and former teachers. Another interesting fact is that Einstein did not win the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1921 for his work on relativity, but for his explanation of the photoelectric effect.

Despite his association with the Zionist cause, Einstein's sympathies extended to the Arabs who were being displaced by the influx of Jews into what would eventually be Israel. His message was a prophetic one. "Should we be unable to find a way to honest cooperation and honest pacts with the Arabs," he wrote Weizmann in 1929, "then we have learned absolutely nothing during our 2,000 years of suffering." If the Jews did not assure that both sides lived in harmony, he warned friends in the Zionist movement, the struggle would haunt them in decades to come.He was labeled naïve (Hardcover, p. 381). Einstein was later offered the presidency of Israel, but he refused it.

On a funny note, Einstein was asked to appear alongside actor Charlie Chaplin during the Hollywood debut of the film `City Lights'. When they were mobbed by thousands, Chaplin remarked, "The people applaud me because everybody understands me, and they applaud you because no one understands you." Einstein asked Chaplin, "What does it all mean?" Chaplin replied, "Nothing."

What was Einstein's biggest blunder? It was not the cosmological constant, as he once remarked. Einstein did not believe in quantum physics, and opposed this new and emerging science. Einstein would engage in a series of historic private debates with Niels Bohr. Through a series of sophisticated "thought experiments," Einstein tried to find logical inconsistencies in the quantum theory, particularly its lack of a deterministic mechanism. Thus his famous quote, "God does not play dice with the universe." To which Neils Bohr is famously quoted as telling him, "Einstein, stop telling God what to do!" In 1935 Einstein's most celebrated attack on the quantum theory led to the EPR (Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen) thought experiment. According to quantum theory, under certain circumstances two electrons separated by huge distances would have their properties linked, as if by an umbilical cord. Under these circumstances, if the properties of the first electron were measured, the state of the second electron would be known instantly--faster than the speed of light. This conclusion, Einstein claimed, clearly violated relativity. Experiments conducted since then have confirmed that the quantum theory, rather than Einstein, was correct about the EPR experiment.

Einstein's other blunder was his obsession, beginning in 1925, with discovering a unified field theory--an all-embracing theory that would unify the forces of the universe, and thereby the laws of physics, into one framework. Einstein preferred simple, elegant theories to complex ones. No such theory has ever been found. However, many leading physicists today are trying to finish Einstein's ultimate dream of a "theory of everything."

Einstein is generally considered the most influential physicist of the 20th century. His face has become a symbol for genius; his name has become a synonym for genius. The author asks, "Would Einstein have been so famous if he looked different?" This is the man who once remarked, "Imagination is more important than knowledge." This is a book everyone should read!

An intimate look at a free-thinking genius
Walter Isaacson has given us a warm personal biography of one of the great minds of science. This eminently readable tome is thoroughly researched and unfailingly engaging. In the best narrative tradition, Isaacson allows the narrative of Einstein's life to flow along its own course, focusing our attention as we imagine Einstein focused his.

To say the least, Albert Einstein was an interesting fellow. The characterizing feature of his early life, before he uncovered the relationship between time, space, matter and energy at the age of 25, is independence of mind. Though others may have seen him as a rebel, Einstein seems merely to have been sure of himself, a trait tempered by his deep reverence for the mysteries of the universe. The man who emerges is humble and approachable. His independence re-emerges as a defining life theme near the end of his life, with a virtuosic display of defiance against McCarthy-era witch-hunting.

Einstein's period of great scientific accomplishment lasted for only fifteen years, roughly from the ages of twenty-five to forty. He spent the remainder of his professional career in an unsuccessful pursuit of a unified theory of physics.

His personal relationships were problematic throughout his life. By his own account, both his marriages failed, though he did remain with his second wife until her death. As her death approached, he buried himself deeply in his work. Apparently this was his way of avoiding the naked truth of life, an aversion that led him to avoid the music of Beethoven, which he found too deeply personal, in favor of that of Bach and Mozart, which to his ear expressed the beauty of mathematical precision. He had only sporadic contact with his two sons, one of whom suffered from a progressive mental disorder.

Isaacson's epilogue reads like a brilliantly conceived love letter. Here again, as throughout the book, the author marries his profound respect and admiration for his subject with unfailing professional detachment. By letting the story tell itself, he has given us the closest thing possible to a posthumous, in-person autobiography.

A sound biography that strains to cover all the bases
Isaacson has writen a thorough, pleasant and even-handed biography of an extremely difficult subject and therefore deserves something of a pass because it is very likely impossible for a biographer to do justice to every aspect of a life like Einstein's. In the same way that Einstein fell short of a true unified theory (or so we think) the writer ultimately fails to bring together the myriad wavelengths of the inventor of e=mc(squared). While Isaacson is reasonably successful at explaining the Theory of Relatively to non-physicists he falls down when trying probe the depths of Einstein's motivations and decisions, especially later in life when the author treats his subject like a kindly, old, semi-deranged misanthrope. I also found his snide digs at other biographers unhelpful. Moreover, it is extremely hard to accept this biographer's contention that Einstein had completely lost his way in the study of Space and Time and spent the last 30 years of his life playing with inconsequential equations. The strongest parts of the book deal with Einstein's politics and roots of his pacifism. Perhaps Einstein needs a physicist to write a more respectful, thoughtful book about his life and work as a physicist.

The man and the genius.Isaacson let'syou know how he did it
This is an excellent Einstein biography. I really love it; a real page-turner, completely captured my attention for a couple of days, until I finished with a sensation of wanting for more. No doubt it was very well researched, and includes new details uncovered from Einstein's letters recently made available for the public. Very well written, and Isaacson ability to explain complex science is outstanding, although my guess is that more than a bit of basic knowledge of physics is required to fully grasp the scientific discussions of relativity, quantum mechanics and the like.

The book is particularly insightful in recounting how Einstein developed his theories, just with thought experiments; his rebellious attitude toward authority of any kind; his endless fight against quantum theory (now I do understood what he meant and why he died thinking that God does not play dice); the controversies and interactions with the other scientific giants of his time; and his failure to develop a unified field theory, all of these aspects leading smoothly to the understanding on how he developed not only his revolutionary theories, but his philosophy about science, education, politics, and God. Also, the book goes into deep details on how he went from apolitical to an activist on Zionism, and from a pacifist to a supporter of the US entering WWII; his limited but key role on the US development of the atomic bomb, and afterwards, his regret; closing with his stand against McCarthyism. And because nobody is perfect, the biography shows his main weakness, throughout his life he was a lousy father and husband.

Coming back to the science, I had always been curious in understanding how Einstein came up with his theories without experimentation; even Newton did experiments to develop his laws. This biography explains in minute detail how he did it through his clever thought experiments. Also, the recount presented provides a good idea on how science progresses, from Einstein's fight against the prevailing paradigms in the beginning of his career, to Einstein's stubborn skepticism against the new paradigm he himself contributed to develop, quantum mechanics. Also I found fascinating how the more he used his thought experiments in trying to falsify quantum mechanics, the more the theory got reinforced. A good example on how the real scientific method works, illustrating the importance of an open debate for science to get closer to the truth. Also a really good historic example for those who believe that scientific theories can be proven by consensus.

I highly recommend this book for those interested in modern physics, cosmology, the history of science, philosophy of science, or just Einstein's admirers.

PD: Finally, a word of advice for some readers in order to avoid disappointment based on the majority of positives reviews. Me as well many of the other reviewers who gave five stars to the book, really got carried away, but I think it is very likely that most of us have a decent background on physics, and/or have read a lot about cosmology, or just have a good grasp of hard sci-fi. I was curious to know why some reviewers gave just a few stars to the book, and I found the main reasonfor the low grades is the complexity of the scientific explanations. So, despite Isaacson's clarity in the scientific explanations, some parts of the book are not Carl Sagan stuff. If you have read Hawking's A Brief History of Time, or Paul Davies' God and the New Physics, or any similar books on modern astrophysics and cosmology, and didn't like them, couldn't understand much, or simply got bored, then you probably will be better off with other biography. But if you are really interested in Einstein's life and achievements, my advice is to try and just skip the more technical parts, the book is still very interesting without the technical stuff.

One of the best books about Einstein
I fully recommend this book. Easy to read and follow. It is one of my favourites books.

Regards
MS ... Read more

Book Description

Book Description
The name of Albert Einstein has become synonymous with supreme wisdom and benignity. Not only was he responsible for the fundamental remapping of our understanding of the physical cosmos, he also left a legacy of outspokenness on the crucial moral, political, and religious issues of the twentieth century. Drawing on an unprecedented number of sources, Albrecht F|lsing throws into fresh relief the remarkable life of Einstein, approaching the man through the science and situating him in the creatively charged times in which he thrived.Albert Einstein is both an engaging portrait of a genius and a distillation of scientific thought. F|lsing sheds light on Einstein's development and the complexity of his being: his childhood idiosyncrasies, his views on war and peace, his stimulating friendships with colleagues, and his intense relationships with women. This is a serious yet highly readable and intimate account of the genius who expanded our understanding of nature and of the singular man who played such an exceptional role in the cultural growth of this century. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (9)

Breathtaking Imagination
At the height of Einstein's career it was joked that only about a dozen people in the entire world actually understood the master's theory of relativity, which leads to the question of whether we mere mortals should even attempt this 882-page tome. The answer is a resounding yes. Albrecht Holsing never forgets that he is writing a biography, not a physics text. The result is a colorful biography of a learning disabled civil servant with perhaps the most fertile imagination in the history of science. Holsing's Einstein is a man without a country, an unabashed lover, an avowed pacifist, a born-again Zionist, bon vivant and alleged subversive. And yes, smart and eccentric as hell.

Between 1905 and 1920 Einstein, a patent claims inspector, produced a series of papers on the subject of physics so outlandish that the world collectively gasped. Put simply, Einstein postulated connections between dimensions that had been considered unbridgeable until his day. He was not a scientist in the way we traditionally think of the discipline. He was in reality a science fiction writer who challenged the white coats to prove he was wrong. Most of the time they could not, to their own amazement. And when they did, he seemed to delight even more. God, he remarked, may be mysterious, but never malevolent. For Einstein the universe was a playground.

Einstein enjoyed wonderful timing. By 1900 the telescope and the microscope had been perfected to the point that the bigness and the smallness of the natural world began crashing into the complacency of Newtonian physics and Euclidean geometry. Einstein, whose own spacial-temporal development was delayed until early adulthood, began to play with possibilities. Is the universe so big that the traditional absolute theorems of geometry might be disproved? Consider the classic geometric postulate that two parallel lines will stretch into infinity without ever touching. Einstein dared to question such a basic law in several ways: if the universe itself is not linear but perhaps curved, the lines would eventually meet. And second, what influence would gravitation play upon these two lines? It was these daring interplays of factors that set Einstein apart and led to his famous speculations about relationships between mass, time, and energy.

It is a credit to Holsing that he is able to describe Einstein's mental journeys as lucidly as he does. This is not to say there is no hard work required. Einstein had a hand in nearly all branches of physics, including optics, electricity, and radiation, and he was in constant dialogue with other noted thinkers of his age, including Niels Bohr and Max Planck. For an older reader unfamiliar with quantum physics, the scientific debates over the nature of light may as well be written in Vulcan. Be that as it may, the faithful reader will probably take away enough science to be dazzled and deeply impressed when Einstein's most audacious speculation-that light is bent by gravitational pull-is dramatically proven during a total eclipse of the sun in 1918.

For all practical purposes, Einstein's creative career ended around 1920, the same time he began to attract respectable university and lecture fees. The years between 1920 and 1955 are remarkable in their own way: Einstein became one of the world's most recognized celebrities in an era of renewed interest in popular science. Like many celebrities he grumbled about the distractions but rarely missed a good dinner. Universities that hired the grand thinker after 1920 did so at their own risk: Einstein traveled widely and allowed his life to be governed by the Muse of creativity. He spent three decades working unsuccessfully to eliminate mathematical kinks from his general theory of relativity. [Ironically, since 1995 astronomical discoveries of the magnitude of dust and gas in the universe have tended to smooth out the rough edges of the relativity theory.]

Although he lived and worked in Germany for many years, Einstein carried a deep-seated suspicion of German militarism. He was disillusioned with the conduct of most of his scientific colleagues during World War I, and he was early to see the direction of Nazi policy. Relocating to Princeton, New Jersey, he lived the final two decades of his life in the United States. As Folsing tells it, the United States government kept Einstein at arm's length, perhaps due to a 1930 speech in which he remarked that if as few as 2% of a nation's draftees refused to serve, its military force would crumble. The speech made Einstein an icon among pacifists, and "2%" buttons became popular leftist items throughout the 1930's. Given Einstein's political leanings, it is one of history's better fortunes that Franklin Roosevelt took seriously Einstein's warnings about German development of a fission bomb. However, Einstein was considered too much of a security risk to be considered for the Manhattan Project and was systematically excluded from any information about the project.

Folsing chronicles the struggles of Einstein's two marriages and the somewhat flagrant adulteries of his middle years. Contrary to popular belief, Einstein was in fact a handsome and captivating younger man. It was only in later years that hygiene and fashion tended to deteriorate, perhaps as a statement of sorts to his prim Princeton neighbors. Folsing captures Einstein's wit: once, when the mayor of his town apologized for sewerage fumes from a treatment plant wafting toward the Einstein residence, the good scientist confessed that on occasion he had "returned the compliment."

Gets his life right, but the science is too dense for me
Albert Einstein led an interesting life, from his beginnings as a mathematical prodigy, to his heyday when he popularized physics, to his old age where his status as a living legend afforded him many opportunities. Folsing does a great job detailing Einstein the man in each of these sections. Generally he uses Einstein's own writings, either in letters or in papers, a technique that some find off-putting but I found useful and relevant.

Two things about this book, though, did trouble me. First, it was overlong. There were some sections that felt either redundant or padded, and did little to provide further insight into Einstein the man. Second, the physics explanations went over my head. As a layman, I wasn't expecting a dumbed-down approach meant to pander to the dimmest of readers. I do have some math background, and usually take to the subject easily. But Folsing never gave me a chance. I went in hoping for some comprehensible explanations regarding the special and general theories of relativity, but got nothing more than page after page of jargon that assumed plenty of prior knowledge. Even an explanation of why they (along with the equation "E=mc2") received critical and popular acclaim was missing.

Now, I'm willing to concede that something got lost in the translation, for the book was originally written in German. Folsing is by trade a physicist, and later a science journalist, so should know his stuff and have the skills needed for concise explanation. I suppose it was enough to ask that he attempt to share some of his knowledge of Einstein's science, while making Einstein's life a gripping and interesting tale.

A wonderful biography of a twentieth century giant..
This is the BEST biography of Einstein that I have read. The writing style is 'European' in that all dimensions of Einstein are explored and referenced.A strong point of this biography is the extensive research and documentation that backs up the text.Einstein's life in science AND out of it are explored thoroughly.My only quibble is that the quality of pictures in the text is shoddy.I have the Penguin edition.I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book.If you want a quick superficial biography try Banesh Hoffman's Einstein (still in print?). If you want a fairly good biography I recommend Denis Brian's Einstein.If you want a very precise and detail biography get this one and enjoy!

An interesting and detailed book.
I felt that this was a first rate reference guide, but as a novel it was lacking in readability. The science and history aspect was outstanding but because of the way it was written and the layout it was difficult to followat times despite its accuracy. Another problem was that there was too muchdetail and some chapters seemed to perpetually drag on. Even though it gotmonotonus at times I learned much about Einstein as a person and hisaccomplishments other than the famous ones such as relativity and lightquanta principiles. All in all despite some problems it was an informativeand facinating book and I enjoyed reading it.

whoa!
way to much information. it was good and all but it had too much info and was a slow read. i didn't liek it too much. too much info! ... Read more

Book Description
Einstein's astonishing theory of relativity transformed every aspect of physics-from the study of atoms to the study of stars. Relativity is described here in simple, accurate language that young readers can comprehend. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (5)

Patronizing And Verbose
This book is patronizing and verbose.For example, there is a passage in which Einstein reflects upon his appearance as he stands before a mirror.Surely this entire episode was invented to fill space since no historian would ever record such mundane private thoughts.This wasted space might have been used to discuss the physics that made Einstein famous.Instead, this book contains long passages on history and politics but only limited discussion of science.

Good bio of America's favorite wacky scientist
I read this book in elementary school and fully understood it.This book provides a good biography of Albert Einstein, a good introduction to the world of physics at the beginning of the 20th century, and how Einstein's theory of relativity changed it.The book traces Einstein's life from birth in Germany, his move to Switzerland where he made a name for himself while moonlighting as a patent office clerk, and his move to the USA to escape the Nazis.

The book balances both Einstein's scientific achievements and his political ones too.The latter include his letter to the US president on the possibilities of nuclear weapons, and his later stance of pacificism and nuclear disarmament.Another plus of this text is its willingness to address Einstein's Jewishness, how this affected his life and career, and how he dealt with bigotry and prejudice due to his faith and heritage.The book does leave out Einstein's marital problems, which is probably the best for a book addressed to pre high school students.Overall a good book.

My views on Albert Einstein
Albert Einstein and the Theory of Relativity is a pretty good book but I had a little bit of hard time under standing some of it. This Bibliography was on Albert Einstein who is know for his many theories and thoughts like E=mc2. Albert Einstein was born on March 14, 1879 in Ulm Germany. He was the son of Hermann and Pauline Koch Einstein. He had a younger sister, Maria, whom he called Maja born in 1881 Hermann moved the family to Munich when Einstein was two. When he was five he was given a compass and he started to become curious about how things work. Albert wasunhappy early on in school because he had been told it was a place to learn about ideas and far -away places. But it was a place to memorize and repeat lessons. A lot of his learning came on his own. He won the noble pirze in 1921 and was named TIME magazine's "Person of the Century." He was a very inspiring and impressive scientist. He did not just work as a scientist for Germany, but in many countries. It was very interesting to learn about all he accomplished and what his discoveries meant to our world.

Einstein and the Theory of Relativity
In 1879 Albert Einstein was born in Ulm, Germany. He moved to Munich, Germany when he was a baby. When Einstein was a child, he witnessed the town theater being lighted up by his father and uncle's D.C. generator. In that time his town did not have electricity. Later that night he was marveled by the power of light. He was determined to find the secret behind light and the way it worked.
As a child Einstein did not enjoy school at all. He usually daydreamed in class and was not interested in what the rest of the class was doing.He also hated the teachers and the way they taught.He thought they were like the military, strict and very unimaginative. Soon his family left for Italy and left Einstein behind to finish school. He became the class clown and was later expelled from school. The author tells all the things that Einstein went through as a child, as a young adult, and as a man.
What I liked about the book was all the theories, experiments, and the way the author describes everything so thoroughly. I recommend this book for people who are interested in famous American heroes or are just interested in Albert Einstein. I really hope you read this book.

My Science Students Say "This book is really cool"
I am a 5th grade science teacher and require my students to read and report on a scientist biography each semester.This book does an excellent job of retelling the story of Einstein's life, including his lifechallanges (personal and academic).The book deals with the Nazi rise topower of the 30's and its effects of the scienctific community.This isall done while still giving a accurate and understandable explaiation ofEinstein's work.And, most importantly, my students really enjoy it. ... Read more

Book Description
A new edition of the most definitive collection of Albert Einstein's popular writings, gathered under the supervision of Einstein himself. The selections range from his earliest days as a theoretical physicist to his death in 1955; from such subjects as relativity, nuclear war or peace, and religion and science, to human rights, economics, and government. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (40)

Another Side of Einstein
Einstein is good for more than complicated equations. This book shows that he is able to balance the logical and the philosophical. Even though this was written decades ago, Einstein's take on America and world is spot-on. Much of what he warned could happen has happened. Deep.

Magnifying glass, please!
I like the book, but didn't realize the print would be so small!I can hardly read it.

If you really want to know what Einstein said read this book
Einstein's ideas about religion are here in his own words so you don't have to trust does who want to distort them to their own convenience.

These book is writen in a very easy to understand way because as Einstein himself stated "if something can be explained then it can be explained clearly.

The ideas he clearly explains are brilliant and they are about a lot of the things he was interested in his life.

Depends on your purpose
If your purpose is simply reading Einstein's articles on issues like world politics, morality, peace, human beings, etc. than this is the book for you. Personally, I wanted the best of his articles, articles that you really want to read because of their specific nature or subject. This is not such a book. Simply a collection of articles.

Window Into One of the Greatest Minds of Modern History
This books offers a series of articles written by Einstein on all subjects of life, such as Religion, Politics, War, the Jewish People, and Science.Not only was Einstein a brilliant scientist, he could grasp elements of human life that could rival that of any great philosopher.

Einstein approaches all of the topics with a pragmatism and clarity that is accessible to any reader, which is rare among many intellectuals.It is very interesting to contrast his opinions before, between, and after the world wars and see the further emphasis he puts on his calls for reform around the world.While some might see some of Einstein's socialist tendencies as negative, they are, as stated in the title of the book, only one man's opinion and should be treated as such.

The only reason I give this book 4 stars instead of 5 is the fact that some of the articles seem to be quite similar, repeating themes and ideas that were previously discussed.Also, while someone with a little science background should be able to understand most of the scientific articles, they could be somewhat difficult to get through at times.

Overall, this book provides a great opportunity to read about Einstein's ideas and opinions as a man, not just as a scientist. ... Read more

Book Description
Albert Einstein, among the greatest scientists of all time, was also a man of profound thought and deeply humane feelings. His collected essays offer a fascinating and moving look at one of the twentieth century's leading minds.

Covering a fifteen year period from 1934 to 1950, the contents of this book have been drawn from Einstein's articles, addresses, letters and assorted papers. Through his words, you can understand the man and gain his insight on social, religious, and educational issues. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Essays of the last fifteen years
This volume collects essays of the last fifteen years of his life. The work has sections on 'Convictions and Beliefs' 'Science and Life' ' Public Affairs' ' Personalities' and 'His own people: The Jews"
The work features expositions of some of Einstein's major scientific work.
Among the personalities written about are Gandhi who Einstein greatly admires, Newton, Kepler, Planck, Madame Curie, Langevin, and lesser known figures Paul Ehrenfest,Carl von Ossietsky.
Einstein writes much about the terrible changes in Germany he saw in his own lifetime, the rise of Nazism and Anti- Semitism.
He writes about the creation of a national homeland for the Jews, his own Zionism, and his own connection with the Jewish people.
He writes too about his conception of world- peace, about the threat to the world brought about something he is no small part a contributor to, the harnessing of the atom.
In writing about himself in the opening section of the work he says, "I do the thing which my own nature drives me to do. It is embarassing to earn so much love and respect for it."
He celebrates the life of thought , of the solitary individual .
Einstein is the greatest modern example of Keynes dictum of howit is 'ideas' that change the world. He is the example of how one man alone, thinking,transformed our understanding ofnature, and our power to change it.
In these essays the main interests of Einstein's life are touched upon. He writes with clarity and modesty.
An invaluable opportunity to be in touch with ' the Mind that defined an Age'.

Perfect for Travel, Quick Reads
Out of my Later Years is a collection of Einstein's speeches and articles covering not just physics but his thoughts on the social condition of man, of Jews, and of war as well as several speeches about the likes of MaxPlanck, Mahatma Gandhi, and Marie Curie.

As letters and speeches, theseare written as the ordinary man that Einstein once was - very easy to readand understand.Even some of the physics lectures are understandable. Eachis relatively short making this perfect for when you want to read somethingof substance but don't have much time.

The sections on Public Affairsare especially haunting as Einstein presents his arguments for the"global village" and advocated someting akin to the current U.N.- things that began to come into their own after his passing.Inparticular, there is an interchange between him anda group of Communistscientists that underlines the Cold War tension in its height and is achilling read now in the Post Soviet Union age.

A different man
I found Einstein's desire to start a rock band at such an early age very surprising.A man before his time for sure.Singing about relativity while distancing himself from the groupies must have been difficult. Thebook reads like a good guitar riff, jolting one's mind from time to time. Excellent! ... Read more

Book Description
The name "Einstein" evokes images of genius, but was Albert Einstein, in fact, a plagiarist, who copied the theories of Lorentz, Poincare, Gerber, and Hilbert? A scholarly documentation of Albert Einstein's plagiarism of the theory of relativity, "Albert Einstein: The Incorrigible Plagiarist" discloses Einstein's method for manipulating credit for the work of his contemporaries, reprints the prior works he parroted, and demonstrates through formal logical argument that Albert Einstein could not have drawn the conclusions he drew without prior knowledge of the works he copied, but failed to reference. Numerous republished quotations from Einstein's contemporaries prove that they were aware of his plagiarism.

"The appearance of Dr. Silberstein's recent article on 'General Relativity without the Equivalence Hypothesis' encourages me to restate my own views on the subject. I am perhaps entitled to do this as my work on the subject of General Relativity was published before that of Einstein and Kottler, and appears to have been overlooked by recent writers." -- Harry Bateman

"All this was maintained by Poincare and others long before the time of Einstein, and one does injustice to truth in ascribing the discovery to him." -- Charles Nordmann

"[Einstein's] paper 'Zur Elektrodynamik bewegter Koerper' in Annalen der Physik. . . contains not a single reference to previous literature. It gives you the impression of quite a new venture. But that is, of course, as I have tried to explain, not true." -- Max Born

"In point of fact, therefore, Poincare was not only the first to enunciate the principle, but he also discovered in Lorentz's work the necessary mathematical formulation of the principle. All this happened before Einstein's paper appeared." -- G. H. Keswani

"Einstein's explanation is a dimensional disguise for Lorentz's. . . . Thus Einstein's theory is not a denial of, nor an alternative for, that of Lorentz. It is only a duplicate and disguise for it. . . . Einstein continually maintains that the theory of Lorentz is right, only he disagrees with his 'interpretation.' Is it not clear, therefore, that in this, as in other cases, Einstein's theory is merely a disguise for Lorentz's, the apparent disagreement about 'interpretation' being a matter of words only?" -- James Mackaye

"The secret to creativity is knowing how to hide your sources." -- Albert Einstein ... Read more

Customer Reviews (39)

Einstein, the fallen saint
The author of this book makes the point that Einstein's first wife might written much (or all)of the theory of relativity. This contention is reinforcedby the fact that Einstein mysteriously gave all of his Nobel prize money to his first wife, the equally brilliant Mileva Mariæ supposedly as part of a divorce settlement. For decades there has been a continuing rumor that this was done to buy her buy her silence not only about her contributions to the theory of relativity but to other discoveries claimed by Einstein during the period of their marriage which ended in 1916. This period was by far his most productive.

A little about the author
Do a search for Christopher Jon Bjerknes in Google or Yahoo and you will find his authorship of many anti semitic rants and then you'll understand all you need to know about the quality of this book. I gave it one star because if's useful to see how the anti-semitic, anti-Israeli industry manufactures propoganda.

The end of another taboo
That Einstein was not the original genius that his adulators have made him out to be was always known to those more familiar with his "borrowing". However, to my mind this is the first thoroughly documented revisionist treatment of the subject. If nothing else, it should prompt the legions of his admirers to issue forth a rebuttal to the serious charges brought forth. Such is the nature of scholarship.

Like other taboos of contemporary culture, the Einstein question should not be declared hands off from more close scrutiny. Yet judging from the largely ad hominem nature of the contra reviews elicted by this site, one must not be overly sanguine about the possibilities. The reduction of Liberal icons like Albert Einstein to more realistic proportions will not be an easy task, as the case of other media-propelled heroes of the twentieth century such as Marx, Freud, Lenin, and Picasso bears out. Those who have a vested interest in maintaining silence on controversial subjects will not throw up the white flag without a fight-- all the more reason to perservere in the struggle. Let the facts be known and may the chips fall where they may.

Nonsense for the credulous
Readers who have taken Bjerknes's claims seriously should be aware that he wrote the following nonsense about Einstein that is fully in accord with the views of the neo-Nazi Stormfront.org:

"The political Zionists, Albert Einstein chief racist among them, embraced the myth that anti-Semitism is the salvation of the 'Jewish race', in that it forces Jews to segregate against their will and better natures. Einstein hated non-racist Jews, though he himself had married a non-Jew... Jewish racists helped to put Hitler into power in order to herd up the Jews of Europe and force them into segregation."

[...]

John Stachel, Professor Emeritus at the Center for Einstein Studies, Boston University
has a devastating review of Bjerknes's book [...]

Quite Reasonable
I agree with some comments of reviewers that this book could be written in a better style. I can also understand other readers being sceptical of such seemingly "outlandish" claims as Einstein being a plagiarist.

However, I found this book to be an extremely valuable resource of information that is otherwise very difficult to locate. My library has two books by Bjerknes' and I read his book on general relativity first. Both books combined provide some really powerful evidence, and even if you are sceptical, then some good historical information. I canot find his other books.

Material presented in this book shows that the fact that Einstein was not original is a well-known fact in science community. I think these topics should be discussed further.
... Read more

Book Description

China and Albert Einstein is the first extensive study in English or Chinese of China's reception of the celebrated physicist and his theory of relativity. Tracing the influence of Jesuit missionaries in the seventeenth century and Western missionaries and educators in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, as they introduced key concepts of Western physical science and paved the way for Einstein's radical new ideas, Danian Hu shows us that Chinese receptivity was fostered by the trickle of Chinese students sent abroad for study beginning in the mid-nineteenth century and by the openness of the May Fourth Movement (1916-1923).

In a series of biographical studies of Chinese physicists, Hu describes the Chinese assimilation of relativity and explains how Chinese physicists offered arguments and theories of their own. Hu's account concludes with the troubling story of the fate of foreign ideas such as Einstein's in the Chinese Cultural Revolution (1966-1976), when the theory of relativity was denigrated along with Einstein's ideas on democracy and world peace.

China and Albert Einstein is an important contribution to Einstein studies and a landmark work in the history of Chinese science.