Albert Einstein, a glimpse of his Life, Philosophy and Science

by Ajoy Ghatak

Albert Einstein is still an icon for most people even though many other great scientists of the twentieth century have had more direct impact on our lives than Einstein has. Einstein s enduring public image has to do with the style of his science and social world around him. This book gives a glimpse of his science, philosophy, and his troubled personal life. Einstein once remarked "Most of the fundamental ideas of science are essentially simple, and may, as a rule, be expressed in a language comprehensible to everyone." This book is written according to this belief and contains no equations or complicated scientific data so that even a layperson can have a close look at the genius of one of the greatest scientist ever born.Preface Family History Important dates Einstein s Credo Einstein: The Person of the Century Einstein: His Early Life (1879 1904) Einstein s Annus Mirabilis (1905) Einstein and the Mass Energy Relation: E = mc2 Einstein and the Special Theory of Relativity Einstein and Quantum Theory Einstein: 1906 1920 Einstein and the Nobel Prize Einstein s Two Sons: Hans Albert and Eduard Albert Einstein: 1921 1933 Einstein and the Atom Bomb Einstein: His Pacifism and His Interactions with Gandhi Einstein: His God and His Religion Einstein and His Princetion Years (1933 1955) Appendix A: A Justification of the Mass-Energy Relation Appendix B: The Energy Liberated from the Sun Appendix C: Time Dilation Appendix D: Stimulated Emission Appendix E: The Szilard Petition to President Truman References.

209 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2011

About the author

Ajoy Ghatak is an Indian physicist and author of physics textbooks.Professor Ghatak has written over 170 research papers and more than 20 books. His undergraduate text on Optics has been translated to Chinese and Persian and his monograph on Inhomogeneous Optical Waveguides (coauthored with Professor Sodha) has been translated to Chinese and Russian. In 1995, he was elected Fellow of the Optical Society of America "for distinguished service to optics education and for his contribution to the understanding of propagation characteristics of gradient index media, fibers and integrated optical devices".
He received his M.Sc from Delhi University and Ph.D from Cornell University. After a short stint as a Research Associate at Brookhaven National Laboratory, Professor Ghatak joined the Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi in 1966. He retired as an Emeritus Professor of Physics at IIT Delhi in 2007.