wshier's review
3.0
I realize that it is difficult to write about Einstein without some pretty serious math--nice effort at making it understandable. But, the better parts of the book deal with his personality and relationships. I guess the unified field theory is coming back into vogue????(whatever it is)
adambwriter's review against another edition
5.0
Enjoyed this so much that I'm going to begin Isaacson's biography of Leonardo da Vinci next.
https://roofbeamreader.com/2021/06/25/mostly-history/
https://roofbeamreader.com/2021/06/25/mostly-history/
wunder's review
5.0
A great biography and a really unusual person. Isaacson makes the man and the science clear. The period when Einstein was working on special and general relativity is by far the most interesting and dramatic, but he's an interesting man throughout. Einstein managed to be both rigorously principled and a gentle and sweet person.
deannepeter's review
5.0
I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It helped me to understand Einstein both as a scientist and as a man. Like many people he struggled in his personal life while at the same time holding up very high ideals of the way that all mankind should be treated. The book helped to clarify that although Einstein's general theory of relativity inevitably led to the creation of the atom bomb, he was not involved in the design of it...or its' deployment in WWII.
theredpanda17's review
2.0
DNF. Nothing wrong with the writing or book. Just not something I was compelled to finish
aqualing's review
4.0
"He was a loner with an intimate bond to humanity, a rebel who was suffused with reverence."
The story of Einstein has always been an inspiring one. You can rarely find another genius who made such impactful contribution yet remained such a modest and humanistic mind. His persistent childlike spirit in pursuing his scientific dream and rational/liberal vision of politics echo with my own philosophy. What had been his essence as a scientist and human being is once again refreshing in a world full of creative trends, narcissism and killing.
However, there is one point made in the book that I absolutely disagree. Despite his failure to find a solution to his so-called unified field theory, contrary to what the book claims, what Einstein tried to do wasn't futile nor illusional. What theoretical physicists have been struggling to achieve in string theory, which rose since the 60s, is a unified Ultimate Theory, M-theory. It will be heavily depending on Riemann's mathematics, which Einstein had been relying upon. And exactly as Einstein had lamented, it's the lack of the perfect mathematical equation(s)-not physical evidence-that deters the climax. I wouldn't say he was exactly on the right track but what he did in the last few decades was definitely not useless. His essential view of the universe has been adopted by string theory. It only proved again his pioneering insight of the law of nature.
The story of Einstein has always been an inspiring one. You can rarely find another genius who made such impactful contribution yet remained such a modest and humanistic mind. His persistent childlike spirit in pursuing his scientific dream and rational/liberal vision of politics echo with my own philosophy. What had been his essence as a scientist and human being is once again refreshing in a world full of creative trends, narcissism and killing.
However, there is one point made in the book that I absolutely disagree. Despite his failure to find a solution to his so-called unified field theory, contrary to what the book claims, what Einstein tried to do wasn't futile nor illusional. What theoretical physicists have been struggling to achieve in string theory, which rose since the 60s, is a unified Ultimate Theory, M-theory. It will be heavily depending on Riemann's mathematics, which Einstein had been relying upon. And exactly as Einstein had lamented, it's the lack of the perfect mathematical equation(s)-not physical evidence-that deters the climax. I wouldn't say he was exactly on the right track but what he did in the last few decades was definitely not useless. His essential view of the universe has been adopted by string theory. It only proved again his pioneering insight of the law of nature.
leilatre's review against another edition
4.0
Another audiobook of a long, well-written biography. These are my favorite sorts of audiobooks. This one was narrated by Edward Hermann and he was a joy to listen to (RIP). There were parts of this book that were too technical for this non-physicist, but the payoff of learning about his philosophy in his later life were worth the slog through the middle of the book (I might not have felt this way if I'd tried to read the physics stuff instead of listening to it).
Maybe it's related to the recent passing of Elie Wiesel, but the moral courage of Einstein in his later life had me near tears a number of times today. And that pushed the book from 3.5 stars (a bit overly thorough in parts and repetitive) to a solid 4 stars.
Maybe it's related to the recent passing of Elie Wiesel, but the moral courage of Einstein in his later life had me near tears a number of times today. And that pushed the book from 3.5 stars (a bit overly thorough in parts and repetitive) to a solid 4 stars.