• September 30, 2021

Einstein: his life and his universe

Walter Isaacson did an excellent job writing this inspiring and enlightening biography of Albert Einstein. The book is meticulously researched and sourced, but written in a clever and entertaining way that makes it a great pleasure to read.

I was very pleased with the way relevant concepts, theories, principles, notions, and experiments (e.g. equivalence principle, relativity of simultaneity, Michelson-Morley experiment, Newtonian notions were introduced and explained in the book of absolute space and time). , etc.) as well as the amount of space given to other physicists whose work had an impact and influence on Einstein’s own work (eg, Plank, Bohr, Lorentz, Minkowski, etc.).

The importance of independent thinking and imagination, and having the courage to abandon conventional wisdom when necessary, was illustrated by many excellent examples throughout the book (for example, Newtonian notions of space and time). Einstein was even more genius than you think. His ability to devise such ingenious thought experiments and see their many far-reaching implications in physical reality was truly astonishing.

To my delight, the book is also filled with great stories that illustrate Einstein’s sense of humor. My favorite story was the one that described her response to Women Patriots after she was asked to deny her a visa to enter the United States. His evocation of the geese that once saved Rome gave me the biggest laugh of all.

This book is well worth it. A must read if you are interested in the history of physics.

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