Einstein

by Jeremy Bernstein

Book by Bernstein, Jeremy

Genres: Science, Biography, Nonfiction, Physics, Biography Memoir, Philosophy, History

208 pages, Paperback

First published April 30, 1973

Reviews

[Mark Reynolds · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this Einstein biography. Bernstein has a way of getting to the heart of Einstein's method of working, which is very interesting for me as a physicist. There are more technical biographies, like Abraham Pais's "Subtle is the Lord," and some that focus on the person, like the recent "Einstein" by Walter Isaacson. But this has the right mix of biographical details, physical acheivments (without being overly technical), and a unique insight into what made him so great. Bernstein is himself a physicist, which I think is a requirement for anyone to write a proper biography of a physicist.

[Kai · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is less a biography than an introduction to Einstein's thinking. I felt that it really hit the mark of being informative without overwhelming the uninitiated. Obviously, Einstein must have been a very interesting character, and anecdotes (some amusing, some more serious) are used to lighten up the more theoretical focus. In fact, while I certainly would be lying if I said I understood everything, this was pretty easy to read through.

After an Introduction - whose purpose within the rest of the book escapes me, as I have to admit - the book is structured according to the three principal fields to which Einstein made his main contributions, i.e. special relativity, general relativity, and quantum theory. My knowledge of physics (or the natural sciences in general, for that matter) is very limited, so most of the principles discussed here were new to me. Sure, some things belong to the stock-in-trade of science-fiction, but it still was a very exciting book for me to see the ideas developed in a more systematic, and historically structured, way.

Actually, it's not only about mind-bending ideas such as gravitation influencing light (and in this way bending space and slowing-down time); I was surprised to find many interesting contributions to the philosophy of science. In fact, especially in the years leading to the special theory of relativity, Einstein's unique feature seems to have been that he did conceptual work rather than conducting experiments. His use of thought-experiments certainly must feel more familiar to modern (analytical) philosophers than to scientists. So, a priori thinking might lead to better understanding of the empirical world after all. Moreover, the ideas on the role of observable properties and the soundness of non-observable theoretical entities (such as atoms) goes to the heart of my philosophical interests.

I was also quite impressed about Einstein as a person. I love to think that there really was this unseriousness and cynicism to his social demeanor, with no regard for authority and social standing, talking the same way to everyone. Also, you cannot but admire those starving artists who live their "normal lives" in day-time (working a full-time job in a patent-office, in Einstein's case) and investing all their energy to self-set goals and ideas at night. Incidentally, I remember that in primary school already kids were pointing out that even Einstein wasn't that good at math in school - I was surprised to find that there actually was some truth to it. At the university he was a middling student and pursued mathematics only so far as it really seemed necessary. So, his more conceptual musings are seldom accompanied by heavy-duty formulae.

The quote that maybe impressed me the most, and that maybe casts a negative light on this somewhat voyeuristic last paragraph, came near the end of the book: "Because of a peculiar popularity which I have acquired, anything I do is likely to develop into a ridiculous comedy." (in a letter to the Queen of Belgium) Oh, and it turns out that he actually did say this thing about the dice and of God not throwing it.

Rating: 4/5

[Oliver Stone · Rating 2 out of 5]

slime stein. smart guy, married his cousin, game is game

[فؤاد · Rating 3 out of 5]

آينشتاين در اواخر عمرش از آزمايش هايى كه در دارالفنون كرده بود چنين ياد كرده است:

از آن جا كه مجذوب تماس مستقيم با آزمايش بودم بيشتر وقتم را در آزمايشگاه مى گذراندم. وقت را طورى تنظيم كرده بودم كه در خانه آثار كيرشف و هلم هولتس و هرتس و ديگران را بخوانم. اما مشكل كار اين بود كه آدم مجبور بود درس هاى مختلف را براى امتحان در مغز خود بچپاند، خواه آن ها را دوست داشته باشد خواه نداشته باشد. اين اجبار چنان اثر بازدارنده اى بر من داشت كه پس از گذراندن امتحان نهايى تا مدت يك سال از هر مسئله علمى بيزار بودم. اجبارى كه هر انگيزه راستين علمى را خفه مى كرد.
در واقع، اين كه روش هاى نوين تعليم و تربيت تاكنون كنجكاوى مقدس براى پژوهش را كاملاً خفه نكرده، كم از معجزه نيست، زيرا اين گياه كوچك و ظريف گذشته از انگيزه بيشتر با نياز به آزادى رشد مى كند، و بدون آزادى بى چون و چرا مى خشكد و پژمرده مى شود. خطايى بزرگ است اگر بينگاريم كه لذت ديدن و جستجو كردن را مى توان از راه اجبار يا وظيفه ايجاد كرد. من فكر مى كنم كه اگر جانور وحشى گوشتخوارى را هم به زور تازيانه مجبور كنند حتى وقتى كه گرسنه نيست پيوسته بدرد و ببلعد، آن جانور وحشى برعكس حتى از شكار كردن بيزار خواهد شد، خاصه وقتى كه محتواى اين غذاى اجبارى نيز به وسيله ديگران - نه مطابق طبيعت خودش - انتخاب شده باشد.

[Lysergius · Rating 3 out of 5]

What an interesting life you lived Albert.

[Jason Tuhy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved it! I had no idea how much of an impact or how big of a celebrity figure he was