Product Description

'By the end of the astonishing E=mc2, a dedicated reader will have achieved, if only by osmosis, an understanding of Einstein's theory of relativity and feel quite at ease dining with Nobel Prize winners. It's a lucid, even thrilling study: the very best kind of science journalism. I didn't know I could know so much.' Fay Weldon, Books of the Year, Washington Post

In 1905, Albert Einstein produced five historic papers that shattered many cherished scientific beliefs. One of those papers introduced the theory of special relativity and his legendary equation, E=mc2. Generations have grown up knowing that equation changed the shape of our world, but without understanding what it really means and why it is so significant.

In this fascinating biography David Bodanis tells the story of one of the greatest scientific discoveries in history. He looks at the elements 'e', 'm' and 'c'; and honours the scientists whose landmark discoveries paved the way for Einstein. He plots the course of the equation through the twentieth century, showing how our lives have been revolutionized by its applications; and looks far ahead to the future.

But as with any biography, it is the human stories that really ignite the subject - stories of love, courage and tragedy, of near misses, disappointments and disasters that, brought together by Bodanis in this remarkable book, turn Einstein's seemingly impenetrable theory into a dramatic and accessible human achievement.

'Both informative and highly readable...E=mc2 is a wonderful romp through Einstein's famous formula.. this is everything a popular science book should be' DAILY EXPRESS

'Bodanis himself seems like an intellectual thermonuclear explosion, a kind of Jonathan Miller on speed...This is an outstanding introduction to relativity by a gifted practitioner of popular science' INDEPENDENT

'With skill and plenty of colourful anecdotes Bodanis traces the intellectual ancestry of E=mc2...fast moving and entertaining' THE TIMES

'E=mc2 reveals, amongst other wonders, how many women physicists were involved in the story. Which makes this morally improving, as well as fascinating reading' George Walden, Books of the Year, SUNDAY TELEGRAPH

'The book fizzes in the readers imagination' TIMES EDUCATIONAL SUPPLEMENT

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #51725 in Books
• Published on: 2001-08-03
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 352 pages

Amazon.co.uk Review
E = mc2. Just about everyone has at least heard of Albert Einstein's formulation of 1905, which came into the world as something of an afterthought, but far fewer can explain his insightful linkage of energy to mass. David Bodanis offers an easily grasped gloss on the equation: mass, he writes, "is simply the ultimate type of condensed or concentrated energy," whereas energy "is what billows out as an alternate form of mass under the right circumstances."

Just what those circumstances are occupies much of Bodanis's book, which pays homage to Einstein and, just as important, to predecessors such as Maxwell, Faraday, and Lavoisier, who are less well known than Einstein today. Balancing writerly energy and scholarly weight, Bodanis offers a primer in modern physics and cosmology, explaining that the universe today is an expression of mass that will, in some vastly distant future, one day slide back to the energy side of the equation, replacing the "dominion of matter" with "a great stillness"--a vision that is at once lovely and profoundly frightening.

Without sliding into easy psychobiography, Bodanis explores other circumstances as well: namely, Einstein's background and character, which combined with a sterling intelligence to afford him an idiosyncratic view of the way things work--and a view that would change the world.--Gregory McNamee

Review
'Bodanis himself seems like an intellectual thermonuclear explosion, a kind of Jonathan Miller on speed... This is an outstanding introduction to relativity by a gifted practitioner of popular science1 Independent

About the Author
David Bodanis is a writer and academic. His previous books include The Secret House and The Secret Family. Davis Bodanis lives in London.

Customer Reviews

Expanding spaceships and other stories
This is a very enjoyable ride through the story of the world's most famous formula. It's classed as popular science but it could just as easily be classed as popular history. The pure science content is firmly set in its historical context and against the personal foibles and character of the principal protagonists. This makes for a highly digestible blend of learning and anecdote.

The book's great strength is in its use of accessible examples to illustrate the science. I've struggled with descriptions of the theory of relativity before and lost them about the time that the train starts stretching as it passes the stationery observer. David Bodanis builds up visual examples with easy to follow logic. He has an instinctive understanding of the layman's instinctive 'difficult' questions that block their understanding and he does not shirk them.

I picked up on this book following its namecheck in Bill Bryson's "A Short History of Nearly Everything". Their styles are similar and if you liked that you will like this.

Very poor and misleading - minus 5 stars if allowed
This is one of the worst science books I have ever read. It has so many flaws it is hard to list them all; the biographies in many places are completely inaccurate and biased. Heisenberg is damned with no references what-so-ever to any saving graces, even though any science historian will tell you that this is no simple matter. There is no mention of the trivial errors that Heisenberg made in calculations which would have speeded up the German atom bomb and which Heisenberg claimed later were deliberate. All the biographies are completely one-sided and with no depth.
The science is wrong in many places. Continually he writes that kinetic is given by, E=mv^2 when the correct answer is half that. His so-called derivation of this formula is that some scientists measured that E=mv was too small so they tried E=mv^2. A useless explanation of an interesting and fundamental point. On the point of using mv (momentum) or mv^2 ((twice) kinetic energy) in calculations, he misses the point that momentum has direction and energy doesn't. A trivial, but very insightful point completely missed.
His thorough and clear explanation (ha!) of the speed of light being an absolute limit is misleading also. Apparently somehow light 'squirts' out elctric and magnetic waves and therefore must always go at the speed of light! ... as a professional physicist this explanation is laughable and is in no-way helping to understand what actually happens.
A further annoying point was his constant reference to his own website for further details. I know that I can find information on the internet, but here I decided to read a book. If I wanted to search the net, then I would have done so. If the website contains relevant information, then put it in the book.

Basically I hated this book. It's explanations are often wrong and always awkward, which is especially annoying as there are many good books out there (e.g. books like 'Science Matters'). His biographies are glancing and one dimensional and again so often wrong and misleading. Do not buy this book.

A friendly introduction to the Great man's equation!
A well written "biography" of the well known and often quoted equation presented in a clear style. Not a deep mathematical wade through the complexities but a history of the events leading to the equation being born. The book takes the reader through the gestation period, childhood and adult life. Finishing with it's death in the form of the universes demise. A really entertaining read.