Einstein: His Life and Universe
This book is in a Controlled Release!
1 journaler for this copy...
Given to me by friend and neighbor James, who only wants that I pass it on to someone else when I'm done.
Interesting story about Einstein and about his theories as well as his life. The book is abridged and I could hear where it was cut from time to time, and wished it were not abridged. But still worth hearing.
We get to know a little about Einstein as a boy (no, he did not fail math) and the significant influences in his life. Throughout the book we are reminded how important those influences were: were he not prone to flouting authority, questioning assumptions, taking chances, it is likely he would never have entered into thinking about physics the way that he did.
In his early life he was lucky to go to a school that emphasized "thought experiments". "What if...." Einstein was a theoretical rather than a practical physicist, one who relied on others to test his theories. His mind wandered freely, and it's true that he was "absent-minded" in regular life yet totally focused when working.
In school he met a young woman who was also pursuing the sciences, who was especially good at math. She was small and not beautiful and prickly at times, but he fell for her. Einstein's parents did not want him to marry her, and this led to a life of clandestine love for a time. A time during which she became pregnant and, while living in Serbia she gave birth. Einstein was still in Switzerland at the time and never saw his daughter. Nothing is known for certain of what became of her.
After the two finally married Marij gave birth to two sons. By all accounts, their father took an interest in them both, yet was not well able to cope when he found that his younger son had severe mental difficulties.
Einstein wanted love and a family but his life revolved around physics. He became increasingly distant from his wife and children, although later tried to mend at least his relationship with his sons.
The book discusses the development of each of Einstein's major theories by providing a lay person's explanation of the theory and a summary of the world's response to it. The physics really provide the core of the book. Yet we see the family man and the political man as well, especially in response to World War II. Einstein renounced his German citizenship to avoid joining the military there, and while he became a pacifist early on, later supported military might to rid the world of Hitler.
The book provides a good basic understanding of the man and his work. I came away from it distressed by his lack of public acceptance of his daughter and his lack of full involvement in family life. Yet I do believe that we can't have it all. If he had been a better family man would he have been as good a physicist? Unlikely. And that is where his head and heart both took him.
We get to know a little about Einstein as a boy (no, he did not fail math) and the significant influences in his life. Throughout the book we are reminded how important those influences were: were he not prone to flouting authority, questioning assumptions, taking chances, it is likely he would never have entered into thinking about physics the way that he did.
In his early life he was lucky to go to a school that emphasized "thought experiments". "What if...." Einstein was a theoretical rather than a practical physicist, one who relied on others to test his theories. His mind wandered freely, and it's true that he was "absent-minded" in regular life yet totally focused when working.
In school he met a young woman who was also pursuing the sciences, who was especially good at math. She was small and not beautiful and prickly at times, but he fell for her. Einstein's parents did not want him to marry her, and this led to a life of clandestine love for a time. A time during which she became pregnant and, while living in Serbia she gave birth. Einstein was still in Switzerland at the time and never saw his daughter. Nothing is known for certain of what became of her.
After the two finally married Marij gave birth to two sons. By all accounts, their father took an interest in them both, yet was not well able to cope when he found that his younger son had severe mental difficulties.
Einstein wanted love and a family but his life revolved around physics. He became increasingly distant from his wife and children, although later tried to mend at least his relationship with his sons.
The book discusses the development of each of Einstein's major theories by providing a lay person's explanation of the theory and a summary of the world's response to it. The physics really provide the core of the book. Yet we see the family man and the political man as well, especially in response to World War II. Einstein renounced his German citizenship to avoid joining the military there, and while he became a pacifist early on, later supported military might to rid the world of Hitler.
The book provides a good basic understanding of the man and his work. I came away from it distressed by his lack of public acceptance of his daughter and his lack of full involvement in family life. Yet I do believe that we can't have it all. If he had been a better family man would he have been as good a physicist? Unlikely. And that is where his head and heart both took him.
Reserved for paperbackswap.
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