Synopses & Reviews
Blends the brilliance of the scientific genius with the compassion, playfulness, and wit of the private figure
"A fascinating read with more interesting material about Einstein as a human being than I have ever seen before."--Robert Jastrow, astrophysicist and bestselling author
"A thoughtful and captivating account of one whom I had the joy of knowing and loving."--George Wald, Nobel Prize Laureate
His face is one of the most recognized on the planet. His very name is synonymous with genius. Yet, for all the attention and countless biographies, our images of Albert Einstein rarely go beyond the eccentric and larger-than-life scientist unraveling one cosmic mystery after another.
In this engaging popular biography, Denis Brian draws on a wealth of new information recently opened to the public to bring us a broader, more authentic portrait of Einstein than previously available. The first full-scale Einstein life published in 20 years, it is also the first to integrate Einstein's genius with his private and public life to give us a complete impression of the real person.
We meet an Einstein with a gift for friendship, a romantic with a roving eye for women. We confront a man whose countless scientific triumphs were tempered by tragic ironies in his personal life. We encounter Einstein the humanist who showed compassion for the children of others yet neglected his own sons. We learn from his former assistants how they revered Einstein, how he worked at his science, and of his warm relationships with other physicists.
Based on information drawn from new access to the Einstein archives as well as exclusive interviews with colleagues and friends, Einstein: A Life reveals an endearing and sensititve man, but one slightly detached from even those closest to him, as if he inhabited his own world of lofty thoughts and cosmic dreams.
DENIS BRIAN (West Palm Beach, Florida) is the author of The True Gen: An Intimate Portrait of Hemingway by Those Who Knew Him and Genius Talk: Conversations with Nobel Scientists and Other Luminaries.
Review
"A thoughtful and captivating account of one whom I had the joy of knowing and loving." George Wald, Nobel Laureate
Review
"A fascinating read with more interesting material about Einstein as a human being than I have ever seen before....Once I started it, I couldn't put it down." Robert Jastrow, astrophysicist and bestselling author
Review
"An utterly fascinating life of a great scientist full of new insights and very readable." Ashley Montagu
Review
"Exhaustively researched, almost obsessively detailed, written with unobtrusive informality, the book is exemplary as a record of Einstein's personal and professional life." The Spectator, U.K.
Review
"A fascinating, vastly enjoyable, deeply researched and fair account of Einstein the man." Physics World
Review
"Does much to reveal the man behind the image...Brian's intimate work proves that in literature, as in science, taking a careful look can be a rewarding endeavor." Detroit Free Press
Review
"Denis Brian's convincing picture...only makes our wonder grow at Einstein's sublime achievements." The Washington Post
Synopsis
His name is synonymous with genius. His work helped shape the twentieth century and point the way toward the next. In the more than forty years since his death, Albert Einstein has continued to intrigue and inspire new generations. Now, in the first full-scale biography of Einstein to be published in some twenty years, acclaimed author Denis Brian probes the private, public, and scientific personas of the enigmatic man behind the legend. For two decades, Denis Brian pored over the Einstein archives and conducted extensive interviews with the scientist's friends and associates. In the process, he discovered a wealth of absorbing new information, much of it previously withheld by those closest to Einstein including Helen Dukas, his personal secretary, and Otto Nathan, the executor of Einstein's estate. What emerges in Brian's brilliantly drawn life of Einstein is a down-to-earth and always compelling figure. Exploring this staggering legacy in conversation with many of Einstein's contemporaries, Denis Brian penetrates the veil of formulas, theories, and experiments to expand our understanding of their meaning. With incisive, intimate detail, he recreates the world in which Einstein worked, in solitude and with others, revered by his assistants and enjoying warm relationships with other physicists. Also included in Brian's comprehensive portrait are the FBI's investigation of Einstein's alleged communist connections, as well as his efforts on behalf of Europe's Jews during Hitler's rise to power, and his ardent support of the formation of the state of Israel.
Synopsis
Seit ber 20 Jahren ist dies die erste umfassende Einstein-Biographie. Der anerkannte Autor Denis Brian untersucht die private, ffentliche und wissenschaftliche Seite der legend ren Pers nlichkeit dieses r tselhaften Mannes. Geschickt beleuchtet Brian Einsteins eigenartig-neugierigen Charakter, die Tr ume und Ereignisse, die den k nftigen Wissenschaftler vorangetrieben haben auf seiner unglaublichen Reise zu den Gipfeln des Erfolges und weltweiter Anerkennung. Einsteins Lebenswerk ver nderte schlie lich die Sichtweise der Wissenschaft von der Welt, angefangen bei seinem ersten Entwurf der revolution ren Relativit tstheorie 1905 bis hin zur Entwicklung der Atombombe (und seiner umstrittenen Position als Gegner des nachfolgenden nuklearen Wettr stens). Der Autor erforscht Einsteins berw ltigendes Erbe in Gespr chen mit vielen Zeitgenossen. Auch l ftet Brian das Geheimnis der Formeln, Theorien und Experimente, damit wir ihre Bedeutung und Tragweite besser verstehen k nnen. Mit Pr gnanz und Liebe zum Detail entf hrt er uns in die Welt, in der Einstein arbeitete, zur ckgezogen oder gemeinsam mit anderen; von seinen Assistenten wurde er verehrt und mit anderen Physikern seiner Zeit pflegte er freundschaftliche Beziehungen. (10/97)
Synopsis
Ronald W. Clark's definitive biography of Einstein, the Promethean figure of our age, goes behind the phenomenal intellect to reveal the human side of the legendary absent-minded professor who confidently claimed that space and time were not what they seemed.
Here is the classic portrait of the scientist and the man: the boy growing up in the Swiss Alps, the young man caught in an unhappy first marriage, the passionate pacifist who agonized over making The Bomb, the indifferent Zionist asked to head the Israeli state, the physicist who believed in God.
Synopsis
Acclaim for Einstein: A Life
"Denis Brian's convincing picture . . . only makes our wonder grow at Einstein's sublime achievements." --The Washington Post
"Does much to reveal the man behind the image . . . Brian's intimate work proves that in literature, as in science, taking a careful look can be a rewarding endeavor." --Detroit Free Press.
"A fascinating, vastly enjoyable, deeply researched and fair account of Einstein the man." --Physics World
"Exhaustively researched, almost obsessively detailed, written with unobtrusive informality, the book is exemplary as a record of Einstein's personal and professional life." --The Spectator (U.K.)
"An utterly fascinating life of a great scientist full of new insights and very readable." --Ashley Montagu
"A fascinating read with more interesting material about Einstein as a human being than I have ever seen before . . . Once I started it, I couldn't put it down." --Robert Jastrow astrophysicist and bestselling author
"A thoughtful and captivating account of one whom I had the joy of knowing and loving." --George Wald Nobel Laureate
About the Author
DENIS BRIAN is the author of The True Gen: An Intimate Portrait of Hemingway by Those Who Knew Him and Genius Talk: Conversations with Nobel Scientists and Other Luminaries. He lives in West Palm Beach, Florida.
Table of Contents
Partial table of contents:
Childhood and Youth.
To Zurich and the Polytechnic.
seeking a Position.
The Schoolteacher.
Private Lessons.
The Patent Office.
The Special Theory of Relativity.
To Prague and Back.
The War to End All Wars.
Danger Signals.
Einstein Discovers America.
The Nobel Prize.
The Perfect Patient.
Einstein in California.
Weighing Options.
A New Life in Princeton.
Settling In.
Family Matters.
Politics at Home and Abroad.
World War II and the Threat of Fission.
Einstein Goes to War.
The Atomic Bomb.
The Birth of Israel.
The FBI Targets Einstein.
Conversations and Controversies.
The Oppenheimer Affair.
The Last Interview.
Einstein's Legacy.
Appendix.
Notes.
Bibliography.
Index.