Young Einstein: From the Doxerl Affair to the Miracle Year

by L. Randles Lagerstrom

The myth is well-known. In 1905 an unknown 26-year-old clerk at the Swiss Patent Office, who had supposedly failed math in school, burst on to the scientific scene and swept away the hidebound theories of the day. The clerk, Albert Einstein, introduced a new and unexpected understanding of the universe and launched the two great revolutions of twentieth-century physics, relativity and quantum mechanics. The obscure origin and wide-ranging brilliance of the work recalled Isaac Newton’s “annus mirabilis” (miracle year) of 1666, when as a 23-year-old seeking safety at his family manor from an outbreak of the plague, he invented calculus and laid the foundations for his theory of gravity. Like Newton, Einstein quickly became a scientific icon--the image of genius and, according to Time magazine, the Person of the Century.

The actual story is much more interesting. Einstein himself once remarked that “science as something coming into being ... is just as subjectively, psychologically conditioned as are all other human endeavors.” In this profile, the historian of science L. Randles Lagerstrom takes you behind the myth and into the very human life of the young Einstein. From family rifts and girlfriend troubles to financial hardships and jobless anxieties, Einstein’s early years were typical of many young persons. And yet in the midst of it all, he also saw his way through to profound scientific insights. Drawing upon correspondence from Einstein, his family, and his friends, Lagerstrom brings to life the young Einstein and enables the reader to come away with a fuller and more appreciative understanding of Einstein the person and the origins of his revolutionary ideas.

About the cover image: While walking to work six days a week as a patent clerk in Bern, Switzerland, Einstein would pass by the famous "Zytglogge" tower and its astronomical clocks. The daily juxtaposition was fitting, as the relative nature of time and clock synchronization would be one of his revolutionary discoveries in the miracle year of 1905.

Genres: Science, Nonfiction, Physics, Biography

90 pages, ebook

First published January 1, 2013

Reviews

[Gary Davis]

I am reading this as part of an online course (MOOC) on the basics of special relativity. The book is a close look at the formative years of Einstein's life. A nice intro.

[Relentless]

This is actually a much better summary than the version by Walter Isaacson, whose book was full of less important personal life details. This book, instead, walk through the most important part of Einsteins early life - the thought process of how he come to his miracle year via more than a decade of deep thought around the foundations of physics, finding the contradictions and eventually come up with the conclusion of Time was suspect. Navigating through the difficulties was his admirable perseverance and curiosity. The book was recommended by the coursera course of "Understanding Einstein: the special theory of relativity" by Stanford University and really a good read for beginners like myself.

[Dmytro]

The book is briefly focused on Einstein’s Miracle Year when he published his most famous works and the preceding years to understand the context.

The book is a good finding for those who want to understand the context in which Einstein discovered his special theory of relativity.

[Tanzim Hassan]

Essential background

This understanding of why he pursued what he pursued helps in appreciation of his work even more. Being an icon of science didn’t spare him of the everyday challenges of life and relationships that we ordinary folks face today.

[Jenette]

Excellent! The author of this book is a Professor at Standford University. I had the opportunity to take Mr. Lagerstrom's class on Einstein's Special Theory of Relativity through Stanford. If you want to more fully understand Einstein's Speical Theory of Relativity, the linear equations that explain it, and his miracle year of 1905, this is an excellent book to start with.

[Sijmen]

This was excellent. Comprehensive but concise, not afraid to get into some of the technical details of Einstein’s work, and hard to put down. I expected something either much dryer is less in depth, instead I was positively surprised.

[Amanda Gardner]

I read this as recommended reading for a class. I finished it in two evenings, so it, needless to say, kept me interested!

[Maria Barnes]

Good book about the great man with a little bit of science in it

[Rubens Peculis]

Concise with excellent anecdotes.

[Liliana]

A quick and very interesting look to the life of one of the greatest minds.