Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #8736 in Books
• Published on: 2007-09-08
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 96 pages

Customer Reviews

A Stubbornly Persistent Illusion
Einstein: His Life and Universe by Walter Isaacson
Reviewed by Mark Bristow
"Now he has departed from this strange world a little ahead of me. That means nothing. People like us, who believe in physics, know that the distinction between past, present, and future is only a stubbornly persistent illusion."
Albert Einstein - physicist, philosopher, humanist, humorist, husband, father, lover, rebel. If, like me, you believe that Einstein was probably the greatest genius of this or any age - and you regard him as rather as a `hero' - then this is most definitely the book for you.
Isaacson has written an incisive and impartial biography of `the Great Man'. Indeed this book is, in many ways, the consummate biography, managing at once to be both sensitive and objective, something which many biographers do not manage. Hagiography this most certainly is not.
The reader can be in awe of Einstein's prominence as a theorist and philosopher. Yet Isaacson makes it abundantly clear that Einstein, in common with every `hero, celebrity or star' was simply human - with all the foibles and failings which that condition entails. Here is a genius we can all relate to - full marks to Isaacson for that achievement.
This might also be one of the finest and most comprehensive biographies of Einstein and therefore should be seen as a benchmark. It is such an easy read that I can heartily advocate this book for the academic student and for the general reader alike. Einstein exuded wisdom, humour and articulacy - traits which Isaacson has managed to reflect though this most erudite of biographies.
The author raises all issues one would wish to discuss with Einstein himself. He then proceeds to extract the full story through a comprehensive and lucid understanding of the many intricate questions which make this book such an enlightening read. Indeed, it is possible to learn about both life and physics from this work.
With increasing archival evidence available through Einstein's own papers, this biography re-constructs this incredible, multi-faceted life story with detail not previously available. Moreover, Isaacson has achieved a noteworthy success in clarifying some of the unavoidably complicated scientific issues, and I certainly speak as the archetypal lay reader. And yet - physics graduates will love it.
The book is now widely, and justifiably, regarded as one of the foremost authoritative works on Einstein. It displays one of the great strengths required of biographical writing: Isaacson has illustrated the astonishing `theatre' of Einstein's momentous journey through science (and life itself) though a luminous and vigorous style of writing. Put simply Einstein's life provides a narrative fusion far too good to require any embellishment.
Moreover, Isaacson's account has the inestimable value of reflecting the origin, development and mellowing of a genius, set against a finely-detailed backdrop of the Twentieth Century - a century which Einstein - arguably more than any other - did so much to define. After all, it was Einstein who was primarily responsible for the two great scientific pillars of our time: relativity and quantum theory, alongside the world's most famous equation: e=mc2. And all achieved through an almost childlike inquisitiveness and simplicity, which Einstein himself summed up: "Imagination is more important than knowledge."