Einstein in Love: A Scientific Romance

by Dennis Overbye

In Einstein in Love, Dennis Overbye has written the first profile of the great scientist to focus exclusively on his early adulthood, when his major discoveries were made. It reveals Einstein to be very much a young man of his time-draft dodger, self-styled bohemian, poet, violinist, and cocky, charismatic genius who left personal and professional chaos in his wake. Drawing upon hundreds of unpublished letters and a decade of research, Einstein in Love is a penetrating portrait of the modern era's most influential thinker.

Genres: Biography, Science, History, Nonfiction, Physics

432 pages, ebook

First published January 1, 2000

About the author

Overbye received his B.S. in physics from M.I.T.—where he was a member of the Alpha Mu chapter of Phi Kappa Sigma—in 1966. He started work towards a master's degree in astronomy from U.C.L.A. in 1970.

Overbye started his career by working as a scientist for Boeing and then other companies. In 1976 he became assistant editor at Sky and Telescope magazine. From 1976 to 1980 he was a senior editor at Discover Magazine. Subsequently, he embarked on a freelance career, during which time he published articles in Time, Science, The Los Angeles Times, and The New York Times, among other publications.

He has written two books: Lonely Hearts of the Cosmos, about scientists and their quest to understand the universe, and Einstein in Love, dealing with Albert Einstein's youth and the controversy surrounding the degree to which Einstein's first wife, Mileva Marić, contributed to the theory of relativity. He joined the staff of The New York Times in 1998 as deputy science editor, then switched to full-time writing. In 2014 he was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize for Explanatory Reporting.

Overbye lives in New York City with his wife, Nancy Wartik, their daughter Mira Overbye and two cats.

Reviews

[Satyajeet · Rating 2 out of 5]

0.5 star for the title
0.5 star for the content
1 star for the spine to write a book about Einstein!

The only good thing about this book was its compelling title. I picked it up because of that, even after bad reviews, and boy was it disappointing.
Long story short, I did not like this book. I realized this midway, so I started speed-reading it. Every once in a while, the author’s voice becomes so loud (and narrow), the focal point gets lost. 
I reckon maybe the reason behind this, was the subject person of the book - Einstein. It must be very hard to write about him. I mean writing a book about Einstein’s ‘work’ is understandably hard, but here author tried writing both about his ‘work’ and ’personal’ life simultaneously.
A misfit’s failed relationships with everyone and other drama surrounding it, just like it happened with Steve Jobs’ personal life, explained some of his theories briefly in a simplified version, and add a few contradictory opinions on a conspiracy, add some more so-called ‘facts’ that were never proven, and you have this book.

[Elizabeth Louden · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting survey of both Einstein's life and scientific work.
This was my first biography of Einstein, so I do not have a good comparison for quality - I honestly don't read many biographies in general! I enjoyed learning about the more human side of the most famous physicists.
In terms of the science content, the survey of physics at the time was as interesting and enjoyable as Einstein's life. I did think some of the explanations could be cleaned up. I have a PhD in physics... if I need to read a passage multiple times to de-convolute the authors meaning, I'm sure the average reader may find it a tad frustrating as well.

[Rebecca · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was worried at first that the author’s evident admiration for Einstein, & sometimes lyrical story style, would lead him to give a rosier account than he deserves. But the story is fair & very well researched. Although the author didn’t make as much of Einstein’s references to “our theory” when writing to Mileva as he should have. I learned a lot & really liked how the physics, perhaps Albert’s only true love, interlaced. I remain Team Mileva.

[Jim French · Rating 4 out of 5]

Like most biographies I've read the first part of Einstein in Love is more interesting than the last part--there's more novelty, exploration, adventure, discovery, optimism, uncertainty when he's struggling then when he becomes an icon.

[Augustine Kobayashi · Rating 4 out of 5]

In my youth, I read several books on Albert Einstein. Naturally, they put emphasis on what the Theory of Relativity was and how Einstein came up with it. Not much about his personal life, so this book fills the blank in what I know of Einstein’s life nicely. This biography however isn't just idle gossip. Rather, it is about how his personal relationships with friends and lovers and wives affected his work. It is a bold attempt to entwine his personal life story and the evolution of relativity ideas. This style may have worked for some while failing to impress others, as can be seen in other reviews. In fact, any reader after the juicy details of his love life, scandals, etc, would be disappointed. Also that the claim that he stole his wife’s work does not sound true, based on this book. Mileva certainly helped: she was a great inspiration in the early stage of Einstein's career. But the relativity theory wasn’t perfected overnight, and, Einstein had to struggle for the next decade without his wife’s help. In fact, she might have delayed the whole process. But, from Mileva’s point of view, the opposite might have been true. Einstein perfected his theory by interacting with other scientists all his life (I wonder if he was alive today, how many emails he was exchanging with fellow scientists!) and Mileva alone cannot claim to be sole the inspiration for relativity. In any case, you can never know about one’s personal life. At least from this book, I learnt that Einstein stayed put in Germany during WW1, which I didn’t know, and the war made him and his many acquaintances make some hard choices.

[Teresa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Don't be fooled by the title, or even the leaf description: The book is more signficant for it's overview of the major players in theorhetical physics during Einstein's young life. But, that doesn't mean you won't be slightly disillusioned for having read it; it's disappointing, if expected, to learn how selfish and, in the end, vaguely unseemly Einstein was.

[Hildeberto · Rating 2 out of 5]

Very boring biography of Einstein focused on his relationships. At least, I got to know a lot of details about how his women helped him with math :)

[Rachel Horwell · Rating 2 out of 5]

That was one long hard read. I'm glad to say "Raus!" to this book. I had hoped to understand a bit more about what Einstein contributed to physics but I'm still feeling very confused. Big thinker but what a miserable person. This book could have been written with a lot less detail and more flow...it felt like the author wanted to include every tiny detail ...a better edit would have helped. What miserable relationships he had, he was a rogue but the women were hard to warm to either. Strange relationships.
I enjoyed the setting as the European cities I have visited and it was interesting to think of what they would have been like at that time.
Quotes I liked:
Albert didn't mind waiting. "Oh no, the kind of work I do can be done anywhere. Why should I be less capable of reflecting about my problems on the Potsdam bridge than at home?"
Disproving causality would always be problematic, because you could never be sure that you had properly accounted for all the effects on any given situation".
"I enjoy controversies. In the manner of Figaro: 'would my noble lord venture a little dance? He should tell me! I will strike up the tune for him'"
Albert was a member of a passivist organization called 'Association of People of the Same Opinion.'

"Nothing is so difficult as to turn down Nicolai. The man who is so sensitive in other respects that the growing of grass is a loud noise to his ears seems almost deaf when the noise involves a refusal. I therefore raise my voice with the strength of a young bull just reaching maturity and say - shout - solemnly, passionately, "NO!" (the musci stops, two bars rest, follow by an elegiac piano.)

[David Meyer · Rating 4 out of 5]

I agree with many people's comments that the title feels at least a little disingenuous. The book does deal with Einstein's personal life, but much of the book is also spent discussing the science he did and the scientists he worked with. It's always amazing to read about this era of history and realize just how many of these now (and some then) famous scientists knew each other, both through frequent letters and as personal friends. The book, which delves into plenty of physics, much of which was above my head as physics often is, really shines in its descriptions of the relationships Einstein had with both friends and lovers, and I can understand readers wanting the focus to have been more focused in that area. While the topic makes for some interesting reading, one might want to avoid it if Einstein is your hero and you're hoping to find a great description of a stand-up guy. The author avoids giving much personal analysis, but it's hard to imagine many readers having too many positive thoughts on the ways Einstein conducted himself in his person life.

[Naman Narain · Rating 5 out of 5]

Started off by reading Einstein by Walter Isaacson. But I found the author too focused on finding explanations (and putting on his own) on what made Einstein a genius. I dropped it mid way.

This book, however, focuses on Albert as man without the burden of 'genius', following his intellectual journey and his personal relationships. The picture that emerges is more clear and authentic. That Dennis is PhD in physics makes it for fun to read as he truly understands the material and helps translate it lucidly for non-physicists.

Have never said it for another book but if there was an option for 6 stars, I would have gone with that.

[Don · Rating 3 out of 5]

This well written biography deals primarily with Einstein's youth and young adulthood and served as a nice companion piece to Marie Benedict's work of historical fiction, THE OTHER EINSTEIN. I will admit that my mind wandered a bit while I was reading, but I think that has more to do with me than with this book; if you follow my reviews, you will know that this is the third book I've read on the subject since 2019 began. So now I'm on to other things.

[Francesca Williams · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read "Einstein in Love" fifteen years ago and I'm about ready to read it again, since the details have gotten fuzzy. I enjoyed being able to see the details of Einstein's private life and relationships. It made him more human.

When there is a book that I find very absorbing, I form very vivid memories of where I was and what was happening in my life when I read it. That is the case with "Einstein in Love."

[Kereen · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked parts of this book. I enjoyed to read about his family story, the science section was rather boring for me.

[Shenanigan]

Ten years ago at the AAAS, Dennis Overbye, author of the classic Lonely Hearts of the Cosmos, found himself on a rainy Sunday afternoon in an auditorium watching a handful of historians and physicists arguing about whether Einstein's first wife Mileva had actually invented relativity. This was an eye opener to him, to put it mildly. He was astounded that there could be any mystery about either the origin of relativity or about Einstein's life. He had just assumed that he was so famous and so recent that everything that could be known about him was known.

What followed was a 10-year investigation in which Overbye immersed himself in Einstein's life and wrote his recently published book, Einstein In Love.

"Romantically speaking, Einstein always felt — and always told his girlfriends — that Paradise was just around the corner," he says," but as soon as he got there, it started looking a little shabby and something better appeared. I've known a lot of people like Albert in my time. During this project I have felt lots of shocks of recognition. I feel like I got to know Albert as a person, and I have more respect for him as a physicist than I did when I started, simply because I have more a sense of what he actually did — and how hard it was — than before. If he was around now, I'd love to buy him a beer ..... but I don't know if I'd introduce him to my sister."

[Frank Kearns · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this book! Full disclosure: the author, Dennis Overbye, is a friend of mine from a long time ago. This book explores Einsteins's life, but what I find fascinating is the exploration of the science along with the life, and the personal interaction between the two. I got a lot out of reading about the intellectual context: his peers, his rivals, and their personal interaction.

Einstein is revealed as an alive, and flawed, person. His treatment of the various women in his life is not what one would call exemplary. Still, anyone who is interested in Einstein in particular, or interested in general in the world of scientists as human beings, should enjoy this book.

I also recommend Overbye's other book, "Lonely Hearts of the Cosmos."

[Anna · Rating 3 out of 5]

I started, but never finished this book. It's actually quite dense, and requires more concentration than you'd imagine. I suppose I should have anticipated that in a book about Einstein, but this is supposed to be about his life rather than his work...with a man like Einstein, those two things are intertwined so inextricably, you have to address them simultaneously. I liked the parts I did read, but since it obviously couldn't hold my attention, 3 stars. I'll give it another try eventually.

[Trixie B · Rating 2 out of 5]

I like romance, biographies, and Einstein, and I am not feeling this book. I'm tempted to stop reading it, but I have to truly loathe a book before I put it down unfinished. It's not that this is terrible, it's just not particularly dynamic; The information is conveyed in a very rote fashion, and the author makes no attempt to create tension, even where the "plot" would allow for it. I'm hoping there's a better biography on Einstein out there - if you know of one, please recommend it.

[Sarah Fowler Wolfe · Rating 3 out of 5]

A lot more physics than love, after all. If you're looking for an overview of Einstein's life and work--including all the major physicists of the time--and just a smidgen of personal life, here it is. Rather misleading title and jacket description, but still a well-done biography of a great but flawed man.

[Sierra · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pretty heavy on the science, good look into (different aspects of) the life of the genius.

[John · Rating 2 out of 5]

biography,nonfiction,science

[Mo · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book... Einstein has always fascinated me and to see the relationship he had with his soul mate and first wife, was an interesting treat.

[Janice · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed this one, although some of the science/math information was WAY over my head. Einstein was a very interesting person when you look past the major impact he had on academia.

[Tom · Rating 3 out of 5]

I loved Overbye's Lonely Hearts of the Cosmos, was expecting great things from this, but it left me rather flat.

[بسام · Rating 5 out of 5]

extrem delighful

[Yu-Shih · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cute fiction with historical reference to letters of Einstein's as a young man.

[Ronnit]

Helaas niet op tijd kunnen uitlezen (bib-boek)... Als ik deze voor een schappelijke prijs ergens op de kop kan tikken, neem ik zeker mijn tijd om deze onder handen te nemen.

[Mattia Carlini · Rating 2 out of 5]

Un libro affascinante quasi quanto un personaggio a cui non serve presentazione alcuna. Purtroppo, oltre ad essere un libro affascinante, è anche tecnico e il voto "basso" è dovuto al fatto che non avevo, non ho e probabilmente non avrò mai le capacità per comprenderlo totalmente.