Einstein

Einstein

One of Albert Einstein’s defining traits as a genius was his ability to think in pictures as well as equations. Fittingly, in Einstein: The Life of a Genius, Walter Isaacson supplements his concise biography of Einstein with 180 stunning photographs.

With great flair, Isaacson blends words and images to tell Albert Einstein’s amazing story—from his birth in Ulm, Germany in 1879 and early childhood, to his years at the Zurich Polytechnic and his marriage to Mileva Maric. Here, as well, is a look at the patent clerk whose so-called “miracle year” in 1905 saw papers that birthed special relativity and other bedrock ideas of modern physics.

In a subsequent section of the book, on the Berlin years, we follow Einstein’s painstaking construction of general relativity, his divorce and remarriage to his cousin Elsa and the 1919 solar eclipse expedition that made Einstein a household name by his apparent confirmation of general relativity. Later sections go on to trace his winning of the Nobel Prize, the move to Princeton and his campaigns for arms control and the state of Israel. We also look at his reservations about the consequences of quantum theory and how they were countered by other pioneers such as Niels Bohr.

Alongside the text, vivid images include the earliest photograph of Einstein known to exist, a family portrait of Albert and Mileva with their newborn son Hans Albert and a shot of Einstein in attendance at the 1911 Solvay Conference in Brussels, devoted to problems of “radiation and the quanta.” There is even a photograph from 1941 of Einstein playing the violin during a concert in aid of refugee children.

Drawing on new research and many of Einstein’s personal documents that have only recently been made available to the public, this biography also includes 15 items of removable, facsimile memorabilia, including handwritten notes, drafts of manuscripts and scientific notebooks, as well as unpublished manuscripts, letters, newspaper articles and travel diaries.

Einstein: The Life of a Genius is a fascinating exploration of a fascinating scientist.

Hardcover: 96 pages

Publisher: Harper Collins Publishers ( November 01, 2009 )

Item #: 43-8886

ISBN: 9780061893896

Product Dimensions: 9.75 x 11.0 x 0.0 inches

Product Weight: 37.0 ounces