Einstein: His Life and Universe: Walter Isaacson: 9780743264747: Amazon.com: Books
Top Customer Reviews
By D. Buxman TOP 500 REVIEWERVINE VOICE on April 15, 2007
Format: Hardcover Verified Purchase
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In my experience, biographies of great scientists often leave the reader in a fog of technical complexity. While this book is not "Physics in One Simple Lesson," Walter Isaacson did a wonderful job of telling the story of the man and making the scientific aspects sufficiently understandable to be useful in grasping the magnitude of Einstein's intellect. This book is meticulously researched and sourced, yet written in a witty and entertaining way that makes reading it a pleasure. The central lesson that I was left with was the importance of independent thinking in any context. Einstein made it clear that conventional wisdom is often neither practical, nor wise. I was struck by his resiliance in his early years and his good humor in really tough times. I also appreciated the fact that the author was willing to examine all aspects of Eintein's personality, both favorable and unfavorable.
By Wayne Klein HALL OF FAMETOP 500 REVIEWERVINE VOICE on April 11, 2007
Format: Hardcover
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Walter Isaacson's biography of Einstein creates a fuller better rounded image of one of the finest minds of the 20th Century than many biographies of Einstein. Although it's not without its flaws, Issacson's book covers much of Einstein's life pointing out both his successes and flaws as both a person and physicist.
We learn that as a child Einstein suffered from what could be echolalia (which is where you mutter a phrase to yourself multiple times before saying it to others). Issacson notes both Einstein's debt to Hume, Planck and philosphers such as Kant in helping develop both his world view and his breakthroughs in science. To his credit Isaacson also points out that the man that came to embody the modern view of physics and became a hero who had feet of clay; Einstein gave up his daughter for adoption without ever seeing her and spent much of his time away from Mileva (who would eventually become his first wife) while she was pregnant for a variety of reasons some understandable some not. The young Einstein was brash,egotistic and obnoxious (or you could call him overly confident) often pointing out flaws in papers by the very professors he was seeking jobs from. He also charts Einstein's difficult path to his professorship including his stint working in the Swiss patent office.
Isaacson does cover Einstein's support for the development of the atomic bomb (although this is a relatively small section of the biography) and mentions that Einstein later regreted his support and the bombing that occurred in Japan during World War II. When Einstein came up with his famous equation, he never imagined it would help pave the way for for mass destruction. He was conflicted over his role in the development of the atomic bomb feeling both responsibility and guilty over his role and how it led to the deaths of those in Japan and the arms race. This guilt shaped his role in leading the charge for a world government that would prevent individual nations from using the atomic bomb. He later stated that if he had known Germany wasn't going to be able to develop the atomic bomb, he "never would have lifted a finger" to prompt the United States to develop this weapon of mass destruction. He never forgave the German people for their role in trying to exterminate Jews and others prohibiting sale of his books in post-war Germany and stated that he felt the country should continue to be punished for what occurred. Isaacson addresses some of the contradictions of the man of peace who contributed and supported war showing that while Einstein had his absolute convicitions they could sometimes shift depending on the circumstances. Einstein never pretended to be perfect and Isaacson does a good job of portraying the flawed but brilliant human being at the core of all that brain power. The biggest surprise for me was discovering that he unwittingly had an affair with a Soviet spy and the fact that he refused to believe in Black Holes even though there was clear evidence (some of it in his theories)because it didn't fit his elegant view of the universe.
Most importantly the author manages to give understandable explanations of Einstein's theories and how he came up with many of them. One can't understand Einstein's world without understanding his world view or the way that his papers/theories altered the world we live in today. I'd recommend this book for the compelling human portrait that Isaacson creates of one of the leading figures of science in the 20th Century. Also recommended--
American Prometheus: The Triumph and Tragedy of J. Robert Oppenheimer
We learn that as a child Einstein suffered from what could be echolalia (which is where you mutter a phrase to yourself multiple times before saying it to others). Issacson notes both Einstein's debt to Hume, Planck and philosphers such as Kant in helping develop both his world view and his breakthroughs in science. To his credit Isaacson also points out that the man that came to embody the modern view of physics and became a hero who had feet of clay; Einstein gave up his daughter for adoption without ever seeing her and spent much of his time away from Mileva (who would eventually become his first wife) while she was pregnant for a variety of reasons some understandable some not. The young Einstein was brash,egotistic and obnoxious (or you could call him overly confident) often pointing out flaws in papers by the very professors he was seeking jobs from. He also charts Einstein's difficult path to his professorship including his stint working in the Swiss patent office.
Isaacson does cover Einstein's support for the development of the atomic bomb (although this is a relatively small section of the biography) and mentions that Einstein later regreted his support and the bombing that occurred in Japan during World War II. When Einstein came up with his famous equation, he never imagined it would help pave the way for for mass destruction. He was conflicted over his role in the development of the atomic bomb feeling both responsibility and guilty over his role and how it led to the deaths of those in Japan and the arms race. This guilt shaped his role in leading the charge for a world government that would prevent individual nations from using the atomic bomb. He later stated that if he had known Germany wasn't going to be able to develop the atomic bomb, he "never would have lifted a finger" to prompt the United States to develop this weapon of mass destruction. He never forgave the German people for their role in trying to exterminate Jews and others prohibiting sale of his books in post-war Germany and stated that he felt the country should continue to be punished for what occurred. Isaacson addresses some of the contradictions of the man of peace who contributed and supported war showing that while Einstein had his absolute convicitions they could sometimes shift depending on the circumstances. Einstein never pretended to be perfect and Isaacson does a good job of portraying the flawed but brilliant human being at the core of all that brain power. The biggest surprise for me was discovering that he unwittingly had an affair with a Soviet spy and the fact that he refused to believe in Black Holes even though there was clear evidence (some of it in his theories)because it didn't fit his elegant view of the universe.
Most importantly the author manages to give understandable explanations of Einstein's theories and how he came up with many of them. One can't understand Einstein's world without understanding his world view or the way that his papers/theories altered the world we live in today. I'd recommend this book for the compelling human portrait that Isaacson creates of one of the leading figures of science in the 20th Century. Also recommended--
American Prometheus: The Triumph and Tragedy of J. Robert Oppenheimer
By Jon Hunt on April 28, 2007
Format: Hardcover
Comment 107 people found this helpful. Was this review helpful to you? YesNo Report abuse
Walter Isaacson's sweeping new book about one of the great minds in life is a tribute to Albert Einstein through his life and his work. For those of us who know the renowned physicist through equations and reputation, Isaacson fills in the rest. Einstein's creativity and his abiltity to think far past others added so much dimension to the arena of science while his personal life was just as rich with detail. In "Einstein", the author reveals a dashing history.
As Isaacson says, Einstein wondered early on what it would be like to ride alongside a light beam. This kind of thinking outside the box led to a lifetime of successes and a few failures, as well. The good and the bad are covered here. What is so striking about this book is that the reader seems to grow with the subject. One cheers Einstein on in his youth as he throws convention out the window, bucks hierarchy and generally goes his own way. Later in life, as Einstein becomes more reasoned (but nonetheless no less radical) we understand the transformation. This is the key to the enjoyment of reading "Einstein"...the humanness of his person shines.
There are a couple of chapters which took me by surprise and are terrific additions to the book. One is titled "Einstein's God", a look at how science and religion may or may not be reconciled in Einstein's eyes, and a chapter on the "Red Scare". That Einstein should have lived through the McCarthy era and had the wits to comment on it is fortuitous, indeed.
"Einstein" may just be the best read of the year. Isaacson's narrative style flows and while there are a lot of technical points about physics necessary to the the story, it never for a minute lets down. I highly recommend "Einstein" and give tribute to Walter Isaacson, whose research and strength as an author gives us such a compelling look at Albert Einstein.
As Isaacson says, Einstein wondered early on what it would be like to ride alongside a light beam. This kind of thinking outside the box led to a lifetime of successes and a few failures, as well. The good and the bad are covered here. What is so striking about this book is that the reader seems to grow with the subject. One cheers Einstein on in his youth as he throws convention out the window, bucks hierarchy and generally goes his own way. Later in life, as Einstein becomes more reasoned (but nonetheless no less radical) we understand the transformation. This is the key to the enjoyment of reading "Einstein"...the humanness of his person shines.
There are a couple of chapters which took me by surprise and are terrific additions to the book. One is titled "Einstein's God", a look at how science and religion may or may not be reconciled in Einstein's eyes, and a chapter on the "Red Scare". That Einstein should have lived through the McCarthy era and had the wits to comment on it is fortuitous, indeed.
"Einstein" may just be the best read of the year. Isaacson's narrative style flows and while there are a lot of technical points about physics necessary to the the story, it never for a minute lets down. I highly recommend "Einstein" and give tribute to Walter Isaacson, whose research and strength as an author gives us such a compelling look at Albert Einstein.
By Odysseus on January 12, 2008
Format: Hardcover
17 Comments 192 people found this helpful. Was this review helpful
It's often unfair to rate a book relative to its reputation, but sometimes it is necessary to do so to offset the impression given by other advance billings. I found Isaacon's Einstein to be a serviceable biography, nothing more; certainly not the tour de force I half-expected it to be based on its having climbed to #1 on the best-seller list. Among biographies I read in 2007, Neal Gabler's life of Disney, and Leigh Montville's Babe Ruth bio ("The Big Bam") were certainly superior. So too was Whittaker Chambers's haunting "Witness" (though this was a 50th-year anniversary re-release). Even Bill Bryson's light and unpretentious "The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid" far outshined this book in the biography/memoir category.
Isaacson's book provides the salient details of Einstein's life, and does a fair if unspectacular job of bringing the gist of Einstein's theories into focus for the layman. Biographies of scientists, artists and philosophers can sometimes be frustrating reads when the life narrative isn't as interesting as the subject's body of work. This places a burden on the biographer to convey the aesthetic flavor and force of the subject's work (or, in other words, "what all the fuss was about.") Isaacson does a fair job of this. It's virtually impossible to fully do it with Einstein while omitting nearly all the math, but at least Isaacson manages to get it done without losing the essence of what made Einstein's work fascinating.
The larger problem with the book is the author's reduction of Einstein's personality to a few summary points, repeating those over and over, even to the point of jamming virtually every life event into tight pigeonholes. Specifically:
-- Einstein, we are told, was repulsed by conformity. Isaacson relates a story of the child Einstein crying when seeing a Germany army marching by in perfect synchronization. Nothing could be more horrifying to this fiercely independent mind than such mindless collective action. Isaacson argues that Einstein's determination to go his own separate way was one of the vital elements of his unique genius.
-- Einstein's non-conformity enabled him to avoid running with the pack, even in the political arena. A pacifist for some of his adult life, he had the good sense to eschew pacifism in the age of Hitler.
-- Einstein didn't do as badly in school, nor as badly at mathematics, as is often stated, though he was hardly a leading mathematician.
-- Einstein had an ambivalent attitude toward his own fame. On the one hand, he was amused by the buffoonery of celebrity culture, and went out of his way to deflate its pretentions. But he cultivated an image of indifference to fame that outstripped the reality that he quite enjoyed it.
-- Einstein was often cruel or indifferent to those closest to him, but he deeply felt, especially late in life, moral obligations to humanity at large.
-- Einstein was a willing scientific revolutionary early on, but later become something of a scientific conservative. He was never able, for example, to fully accept the achievements of quantum mechanics.
-- Einstein preferred simple, elegant theories to fiddly, complex, clunky ones.
There, that didn't take so long, did it? The book devotes hundreds of pages to interpreting most of Einstein's life events according to one or the other of these themes. The repetition is vexing, but the bigger problem is that one gets the sense that Isaacson is so determined that these be the defining characteristics of Einstein's life and work, that he allows little room for the possibility of narrative events that collide with the themes.
Most of us have read biographies where every childhood event is treated as though it's a precursor or partial explanation for some later adult event or tendency. And we've read bios that seem to reduce a life to a manifestation of a small number of repeated themes. But human beings are more complex than this, and life narratives are rarely so neat and tidy. It seems unlikely that a man of Einstein's intelligence and complexity would have a life that so unremittingly conformed to the favorite leitmotifs of his biographer. No doubt, Isaacson's interpretations have a sound and convincing basis, but the relentless plumbing of these lines left me rather numb by the end of the book.
Beyond this, the book simply wasn't as engrossing to read as many biographies are.
Certainly a serviceable biography, but not a flawless one.
Isaacson's book provides the salient details of Einstein's life, and does a fair if unspectacular job of bringing the gist of Einstein's theories into focus for the layman. Biographies of scientists, artists and philosophers can sometimes be frustrating reads when the life narrative isn't as interesting as the subject's body of work. This places a burden on the biographer to convey the aesthetic flavor and force of the subject's work (or, in other words, "what all the fuss was about.") Isaacson does a fair job of this. It's virtually impossible to fully do it with Einstein while omitting nearly all the math, but at least Isaacson manages to get it done without losing the essence of what made Einstein's work fascinating.
The larger problem with the book is the author's reduction of Einstein's personality to a few summary points, repeating those over and over, even to the point of jamming virtually every life event into tight pigeonholes. Specifically:
-- Einstein, we are told, was repulsed by conformity. Isaacson relates a story of the child Einstein crying when seeing a Germany army marching by in perfect synchronization. Nothing could be more horrifying to this fiercely independent mind than such mindless collective action. Isaacson argues that Einstein's determination to go his own separate way was one of the vital elements of his unique genius.
-- Einstein's non-conformity enabled him to avoid running with the pack, even in the political arena. A pacifist for some of his adult life, he had the good sense to eschew pacifism in the age of Hitler.
-- Einstein didn't do as badly in school, nor as badly at mathematics, as is often stated, though he was hardly a leading mathematician.
-- Einstein had an ambivalent attitude toward his own fame. On the one hand, he was amused by the buffoonery of celebrity culture, and went out of his way to deflate its pretentions. But he cultivated an image of indifference to fame that outstripped the reality that he quite enjoyed it.
-- Einstein was often cruel or indifferent to those closest to him, but he deeply felt, especially late in life, moral obligations to humanity at large.
-- Einstein was a willing scientific revolutionary early on, but later become something of a scientific conservative. He was never able, for example, to fully accept the achievements of quantum mechanics.
-- Einstein preferred simple, elegant theories to fiddly, complex, clunky ones.
There, that didn't take so long, did it? The book devotes hundreds of pages to interpreting most of Einstein's life events according to one or the other of these themes. The repetition is vexing, but the bigger problem is that one gets the sense that Isaacson is so determined that these be the defining characteristics of Einstein's life and work, that he allows little room for the possibility of narrative events that collide with the themes.
Most of us have read biographies where every childhood event is treated as though it's a precursor or partial explanation for some later adult event or tendency. And we've read bios that seem to reduce a life to a manifestation of a small number of repeated themes. But human beings are more complex than this, and life narratives are rarely so neat and tidy. It seems unlikely that a man of Einstein's intelligence and complexity would have a life that so unremittingly conformed to the favorite leitmotifs of his biographer. No doubt, Isaacson's interpretations have a sound and convincing basis, but the relentless plumbing of these lines left me rather numb by the end of the book.
Beyond this, the book simply wasn't as engrossing to read as many biographies are.
Certainly a serviceable biography, but not a flawless one.
