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Einstein:

His Life and Universe (Google eBook)
Front Cover
79 Reviews
Simon and Schuster, Apr 10, 2007 - Biography & Autobiography - 624 pages
By the author of the acclaimed bestseller Benjamin Franklin, this is the first full biography of Albert Einstein since all of his papers have become available.

How did his mind work? What made him a genius? Isaacson's biography shows how his scientific imagination sprang from the rebellious nature of his personality. His fascinating story is a testament to the connection between creativity and freedom.

Based on newly released personal letters of Einstein, this book explores how an imaginative, impertinent patent clerk -- a struggling father in a difficult marriage who couldn't get a teaching job or a doctorate -- became the mind reader of the creator of the cosmos, the locksmith of the mysteries of the atom and the universe. His success came from questioning conventional wisdom and marveling at mysteries that struck others as mundane. This led him to embrace a morality and politics based on respect for free minds, free spirits, and free individuals.

These traits are just as vital for this new century of globalization, in which our success will depend on our creativity, as they were for the beginning of the last century, when Einstein helped usher in the modern age.

  

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Review: Einstein: His Life and Universe

User Review  - Ralph Hermansen - Goodreads

Walter Isaacson did a excellent job bringing Albert Einstein back to life in our minds. His technical book advisors include the biggest names in physics. After all, a story about Einstein is a story ... Read full review

Review: Einstein: His Life and Universe

User Review  - Bob Nichols - Goodreads

As presented by Isaacson, Einstein's early success as a thinker can be largely credited to his relative isolation from academic physics. That, combined with his intelligence and anti-authoritarian ... Read full review

All 45 reviews »

Related books

Contents

chapter
1
chapter
8
chapter three
32
chapter four
50
chapter five
90
chapter
107
chapter seven
140
The Wandering Professor 19091914
158
chapter fifteen
336
chapter sixteen
357
Einsteins God
384
chapter eighteen
394
chapter nineteen
425
Quantum Entanglement 1935
448
chapter twentyone
471
chapter twentytwo
487

chapter nine
189
chapter
225
chapter eleven
249
chapter twelve
263
chapter thirteen
281
chapter fourteen
309
chapter twentythree Landmark 19481953
508
chapter twentyfour
524
chapter twentyfive
535
epilogue
544
Sources
553
Copyright

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Common terms and phrases

Popular passages

Page viii - Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance you must keep moving...
Page 1 - You seem to maintain that one should always obey the law, however bad. I cannot think you have realized the implications of this position. Do you condemn the Christian martyrs who refused to sacrifice to the emperor? Do you condemn John Brown? Nay, more, I am compelled to suppose that you condemn George Washington, and hold that your country ought to return to allegiance to Her Gracious Majesty Queen Elizabeth II. As a loyal Briton I of course applaud this view, but I fear it may not win much support...
Page xxii - If this seems surprising, it is because we underestimate the boldness of Einstein in stating the principle of relativity as an axiom and, by keeping faith with it, changing our...
Page 1 - Your fine letter to The New York Times is a great contribution to a good cause. All the intellectuals in this country, down to the youngest student, have become completely intimidated. Virtually no one of "prominence" besides yourself has actually challenged these absurdities in which the politicians have become engaged. Because they have succeeded in convincing the masses that the Russians and the American Communists endanger the safety of the country, these politicians consider...
Page xxii - Einstein, it is meaningless to speak of motion relative to the ether. He likewise denies the existence of absolute simultaneity. As far as this lecturer Red Scare 529 munist country to come here where you could have freedom. Don't abuse that freedom sir.
Page xv - Miller, emeritus professor of history and philosophy of science at University College, London, is the author of Einstein, Picasso and of Empire of the Stars.

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About the author (2007)

Walter Isaacson, the CEO of the Aspen Institute, has been chairman of CNN and the managing editor of Time magazine. He is the author of Einstein: His Life and Universe; Benjamin Franklin: An American Life; and Kissinger: A Biography, and the coauthor of The Wise Men: Six Friends and the World They Made. He lives in Washington, DC.

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