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Einstein: His Life and Universe

by Walter Isaacson

Einstein: His Life and Universe Cover

ISBN13: 9780743264747
ISBN10: 0743264746
Condition: Standard
All Product Details

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Staff Pick

In preparing this engaging biography of the world's most famous smart guy, Isaacson enlisted the aid of several physicists including Murray Gell-Mann, Brian Greene, Lawrence Krauss, and Douglas Stone. As a result, this is much more than an "Einstein slept here" biography; it is an exploration of his influences and contributions to physics, all placed within the context of the times Einstein lived in. Isaacson also made use of newly opened archives, yielding a more complete picture of Einstein than was available to previous biographers. If you have already read an Einstein biography or two, or have even read a few popular books on relativity, don't make the mistake of thinking there's nothing here for you. Isaacson's Einstein is recommended for anyone interested in the professor's physics and philosophy.
Recommended by Doug, Powells.com

Synopses & Reviews

Publisher Comments:

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.

Review:

"Isaacson has admirably succeeded in weaving together the complex threads of Einstein's personal and scientific life to paint a superb portrait." Arthur I. Miller, author of Einstein, Picasso

Review:

"Once again Walter Isaacson has produced a most valuable biography of a great man about whom much has already been written. It helps that he has had access to important new material. He met the challenge of dealing with his subject as a human being and describing profound ideas in physics. His biography is a pleasure to read and makes the great physicist come alive." Murray Gell-Mann, winner of the 1969 Nobel Prize in Physics and author of The Quark and the Jaguar

Review:

"Isaacson's treatment of Einstein's scientific work is excellent: accurate, complete, and just the right level of detail for the general reader. Taking advantage of the wealth of recently uncovered historical material, he has produced the most readable biography of Einstein yet." A. Douglas Stone, Professor of Physics at Yale

Review:

"I found so much to admire; there are many places where I just had to cheer what Isaacson had written." Dudley Herschbach, Professor of Science at Harvard

About the Author

Walter Isaacson, the CEO of the Aspen Institute, has been chairman of CNN and the managing editor of Time magazine. He is the author of Benjamin Franklin: An American Life and of Kissinger: A Biography, and the coauthor of The Wise Men: Six Friends and the World They Made. He lives in Washington, D.C., with his wife and daughter.

Table of Contents

CONTENTS

Acknowledgments

Main Characters

CHAPTER ONE

The Light-Beam Rider

CHAPTER TWO

Childhood, 1879-1896

CHAPTER THREE

The Zurich Polytechnic, 1896-1900

CHAPTER FOUR

The Lovers, 1900-1904

CHAPTER FIVE

The Miracle Year: Quanta and Molecules, 1905

CHAPTER SIX

Special Relativity, 1905

CHAPTER SEVEN

The Happiest Thought, 1906-1909

CHAPTER EIGHT

The Wandering Professor, 1909-1914

CHAPTER NINE

General Relativity, 1911-1915

CHAPTER TEN

Divorce, 1916-1919

CHAPTER ELEVEN

Einstein's Universe, 1916-1919

CHAPTER TWELVE

Fame, 1919

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

The Wandering Zionist, 1920-1921

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

Nobel Laureate, 1921-1927

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

Unified Field Theories, 1923-1931

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

Turning Fifty, 1929-1931

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

Einstein's God

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

The Refugee, 1932-1933

CHAPTER NINETEEN

America, 1933-1939

CHAPTER TWENTY

Quantum Entanglement, 1935

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

The Bomb, 1939-1945

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

One-Worlder, 1945-1948

CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

Landmark, 1948-1953

CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

Red Scare, 1951-1954

CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

The End, 1955

EPILOGUE

Einstein's Brain and Einstein's Mind

Sources

Notes

Index

What Our Readers Are Saying

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Michael.Barnett2, January 2, 2010 (view all comments by Michael.Barnett2)
Are not we all human.
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Product Details

ISBN:
9780743264747
Author:
Isaacson, Walter
Publisher:
Simon & Schuster
Subject:
Scientists - General
Subject:
History
Subject:
Relativity
Subject:
General Biography
Subject:
Physicists
Subject:
Relativity (physics)
Subject:
Biography-Scientists
Copyright:
Edition Description:
Trade paper
Publication Date:
20080531
Binding:
TRADE PAPER
Grade Level:
General/trade
Language:
English
Illustrations:
Y
Pages:
704
Dimensions:
9.25 x 6.125 in

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Einstein: His Life and Universe Used Trade Paper
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Product details 704 pages Simon & Schuster - English 9780743264747 Reviews:
"Staff Pick" by ,

In preparing this engaging biography of the world's most famous smart guy, Isaacson enlisted the aid of several physicists including Murray Gell-Mann, Brian Greene, Lawrence Krauss, and Douglas Stone. As a result, this is much more than an "Einstein slept here" biography; it is an exploration of his influences and contributions to physics, all placed within the context of the times Einstein lived in. Isaacson also made use of newly opened archives, yielding a more complete picture of Einstein than was available to previous biographers. If you have already read an Einstein biography or two, or have even read a few popular books on relativity, don't make the mistake of thinking there's nothing here for you. Isaacson's Einstein is recommended for anyone interested in the professor's physics and philosophy.

"Review" by , "Isaacson has admirably succeeded in weaving together the complex threads of Einstein's personal and scientific life to paint a superb portrait."
"Review" by , "Once again Walter Isaacson has produced a most valuable biography of a great man about whom much has already been written. It helps that he has had access to important new material. He met the challenge of dealing with his subject as a human being and describing profound ideas in physics. His biography is a pleasure to read and makes the great physicist come alive."
"Review" by , "Isaacson's treatment of Einstein's scientific work is excellent: accurate, complete, and just the right level of detail for the general reader. Taking advantage of the wealth of recently uncovered historical material, he has produced the most readable biography of Einstein yet."
"Review" by , "I found so much to admire; there are many places where I just had to cheer what Isaacson had written."
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