Synopses & Reviews
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
"With the help of many witty, candid letters, Mr. Isaacson offers a wonderfully rounded portrait of the ever-surprising Einstein personality." Janet Malsin, New York Times
Review
"Isaacson's biography really takes off...when Einstein arrives in the USA in 1921." USA Today
Review
"While everyone has at least a fuzzy knowledge of Einstein...much of his basic biography is at least unexamined and probably unknown...by the mainstream audience Isaacson's book targets." Christian Science Monitor
Review
"Walter Isaacson's big new biography of Albert Einstein is sure to be one of the most admired and popular books of this year. Whatever your background in science, Einstein: His Life and Universe is a joy and a revelation to read rich in detail, insightful, superbly researched and written.... Isaacson brings this history to life with the qualities that defined Einstein himself: a breadth of vision, a freedom from conformity, an underlying humanism and sense of humor." Cleveland Plain Dealer
Review
"Like its subject, Walter Isaacson's ambitious biography of Albert Einstein radiates intelligence, wit and eloquence." Miami Herald
Review
"To Isaacson's credit, Einstein: His Life And Universe conveys the dizzying concepts of physics in a way most lay readers (this one certainly qualifies as that) can grasp....While everyone has at least a fuzzy knowledge of Einstein the shock of unkempt hair, the use of his name as a synonym for genius and an enduring, iconic pop-culture familiarity much of his basic biography is at least unexamined and probably unknown, as well, by the mainstream audience Isaacson's book targets." Erik Spanberg, The Christian Science Monitor (read the entire CSM review)
Review
"Einstein was many things: physicist, mathematician (it's a myth that he did poorly in math at school), revolutionary, socialist, pacifist, humanist. That's a whole lot of ists to keep straight, but Isaacson does an excellent job of presenting a complete picture of Einstein as all of the above and more." Doug Brown, Powells.com (read the entire Powells.com review)
Synopsis
From the bestselling author of Benjamin Franklin comes the first full biography of Albert Einstein since all of his papers have become available a fully realized portrait of this extraordinary human being and great genius.
Synopsis
By the author of the acclaimed bestsellers Benjamin Franklin and Steve Jobs, this is the definitive biography of Albert Einstein.
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.
Synopsis
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.
About the Author
Walter Isaacson,the president of the Aspen Institute, has been the chairman of CNN and the managing editor of Time magazine. He is the author of the New York Times bestseller Benjamin Franklin.
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