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bonfireatnight's review
4.0
This is less a biography than an introduction to Einstein's thinking. I felt that it really hit the mark of being informative without overwhelming the uninitiated. Obviously, Einstein must have been a very interesting character, and anecdotes (some amusing, some more serious) are used to lighten up the more theoretical focus. In fact, while I certainly would be lying if I said I understood everything, this was pretty easy to read through.
After an Introduction - whose purpose within the rest of the book escapes me, as I have to admit - the book is structured according to the three principal fields to which Einstein made his main contributions, i.e. special relativity, general relativity, and quantum theory. My knowledge of physics (or the natural sciences in general, for that matter) is very limited, so most of the principles discussed here were new to me. Sure, some things belong to the stock-in-trade of science-fiction, but it still was a very exciting book for me to see the ideas developed in a more systematic, and historically structured, way.
Actually, it's not only about mind-bending ideas such as gravitation influencing light (and in this way bending space and slowing-down time); I was surprised to find many interesting contributions to the philosophy of science. In fact, especially in the years leading to the special theory of relativity, Einstein's unique feature seems to have been that he did conceptual work rather than conducting experiments. His use of thought-experiments certainly must feel more familiar to modern (analytical) philosophers than to scientists. So, a priori thinking might lead to better understanding of the empirical world after all. Moreover, the ideas on the role of observable properties and the soundness of non-observable theoretical entities (such as atoms) goes to the heart of my philosophical interests.
I was also quite impressed about Einstein as a person. I love to think that there really was this unseriousness and cynicism to his social demeanor, with no regard for authority and social standing, talking the same way to everyone. Also, you cannot but admire those starving artists who live their "normal lives" in day-time (working a full-time job in a patent-office, in Einstein's case) and investing all their energy to self-set goals and ideas at night. Incidentally, I remember that in primary school already kids were pointing out that even Einstein wasn't that good at math in school - I was surprised to find that there actually was some truth to it. At the university he was a middling student and pursued mathematics only so far as it really seemed necessary. So, his more conceptual musings are seldom accompanied by heavy-duty formulae.
The quote that maybe impressed me the most, and that maybe casts a negative light on this somewhat voyeuristic last paragraph, came near the end of the book: "Because of a peculiar popularity which I have acquired, anything I do is likely to develop into a ridiculous comedy." (in a letter to the Queen of Belgium) Oh, and it turns out that he actually did say this thing about the dice and of God not throwing it.
Rating: 4/5
After an Introduction - whose purpose within the rest of the book escapes me, as I have to admit - the book is structured according to the three principal fields to which Einstein made his main contributions, i.e. special relativity, general relativity, and quantum theory. My knowledge of physics (or the natural sciences in general, for that matter) is very limited, so most of the principles discussed here were new to me. Sure, some things belong to the stock-in-trade of science-fiction, but it still was a very exciting book for me to see the ideas developed in a more systematic, and historically structured, way.
Actually, it's not only about mind-bending ideas such as gravitation influencing light (and in this way bending space and slowing-down time); I was surprised to find many interesting contributions to the philosophy of science. In fact, especially in the years leading to the special theory of relativity, Einstein's unique feature seems to have been that he did conceptual work rather than conducting experiments. His use of thought-experiments certainly must feel more familiar to modern (analytical) philosophers than to scientists. So, a priori thinking might lead to better understanding of the empirical world after all. Moreover, the ideas on the role of observable properties and the soundness of non-observable theoretical entities (such as atoms) goes to the heart of my philosophical interests.
I was also quite impressed about Einstein as a person. I love to think that there really was this unseriousness and cynicism to his social demeanor, with no regard for authority and social standing, talking the same way to everyone. Also, you cannot but admire those starving artists who live their "normal lives" in day-time (working a full-time job in a patent-office, in Einstein's case) and investing all their energy to self-set goals and ideas at night. Incidentally, I remember that in primary school already kids were pointing out that even Einstein wasn't that good at math in school - I was surprised to find that there actually was some truth to it. At the university he was a middling student and pursued mathematics only so far as it really seemed necessary. So, his more conceptual musings are seldom accompanied by heavy-duty formulae.
The quote that maybe impressed me the most, and that maybe casts a negative light on this somewhat voyeuristic last paragraph, came near the end of the book: "Because of a peculiar popularity which I have acquired, anything I do is likely to develop into a ridiculous comedy." (in a letter to the Queen of Belgium) Oh, and it turns out that he actually did say this thing about the dice and of God not throwing it.
Rating: 4/5
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