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Greenwood Biographies

Albert Einstein: A Biography

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Albert Einstein remains one of most famous scientists in world history. His image is instantly recognizable by even the most scientifically uninformed person―for many people, Einstein personifies genius. But who was Einstein really? What was he like as a person? What did his science actually mean? This fresh biography of Albert Einstein provides students and general readers a concise, accessible introduction to the life and science of this revolutionary man. Underneath his genius, Einstein was an ordinary person, with human frailties and weaknesses, but also with charm, modesty, a wry sense of humor, and idiosyncrasies. Readers will understand why he was named the Person of the Century by Time magazine.

Albert A Biography will cover the entire history of this brilliant physicist's life and career, his early education, during which he was an excellent student, contrary to what is commonly believed; Einstein's struggles to find an academic position, which led him to work as a clerk at the Swiss patent office during the same period he was formulating his most famous and revolutionary theories; his troubled marriages and family life; Einstein's rise to international fame, and his use of that fame to fight for world peace; and Einstein's major contributions to physics, explained in ways that can be understood by anyone who wishes a fuller understanding of his scientific theories. The book includes a bibliography of secondary works that are useful for further reading, and a timeline of important dates in the life of Einstein.

200 pages, Hardcover

First published June 30, 2005

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Alice Calaprice

19 books3 followers

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5 stars
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
6 reviews1 follower
July 11, 2020
This is a really good book with all the information. Gives a deep insight into the scientific aspects too. But the timeline keeps jumping back and forth and made it hard to follow.
Profile Image for Maan.
24 reviews19 followers
September 19, 2019
Great reading. I am not really a reviewer because i do not have any idea what to write in reviews. So i basically give the reviews ans stars to books only that i feel little strongly about at least. I would say i really loved this book. Its simple written and has interesting style of writing and it definitely doesn’t feels like a Wikipedian article.

Albert’s life was a chanced one and he didn’t hustled struggled to achieve any fame because he doesn’t walked to it in first place. All he struggled really was for his first good job which sadly he got when in fact he knew he was more than just a famous person. He just was type of a guy to do what he likes and thats all. No buzz really.

Although he was smart but his life at the end made me pretty sad! It seems like the fate of all good men. I meant his last 30 years were treated by American politicians, government, the world politics as merely as of a ordinary person. Nobody really went up with his pacifist views.

I am sure he must have disappointed in almost every human being at some point especially when some scientists made Atomic Bombs and than some politicians dropped it.

I don’t think he had a good life externally! He should have had spent more of his time doing sailing and hiking than wasting his wonderful life for those McCarthians all over the world.

Read this biography to understand how greatest men ends up feeling so disappointed by their generation.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Profile Image for Jay Dave.
17 reviews14 followers
August 27, 2017
"I do not know how the third world war will be fought, but I can tell you what they will use in the fourth - Rocks! " - Albert Einstein

This was my first Non-Fiction book rather the first Biography I read.
It's true that it's tough to read a non-fictitious book than a fiction book. Indeed it took me a lot of time to complete this masterwork. But ultimately it was worth the time.
One of the authors Alice Calaprice was a senior editor at Princeton University Press for 20 years. Where Einstein spends his last years in the USA. She was in charge of editing and production of collected papers of Albert Einstein. So the point is this book covers almost everything about him in a very minute detail.

I was certainly interested in phenomenon like Photoelectric Effect. LASER, Uncertainty Principle but this book took my interest to the new level. Even a layman in science will be able to understand almost 85% of the book. Of course, there will be a part where a scientific background is expected. The most intriguing thing I found was the religious view of Einstein, he always kept himself away from Religious Dogma. He was a proud of his Jewish Roots even after seeing what happened in Germany during Hitler's time. He held a deep faith in the laws and harmony of nature that he called "Cosmic Religion".

Here is my favorite quote, In 1926 in a letter to Physicist Max Born, he said
"Quantum Mechanics is very worthy of regard, but an inner voice tells me that this is not yet the right track. The theory yields much, but it hardly brings us closer to the old one's secrets. I, in any case, am convinced that He(God) doesn't play dice!

The physics he established in the early part of the 20th century has led to technological and scientific advances unprecedented in human history!
Profile Image for Amit Kumar.
16 reviews
March 4, 2018
The jaico publication books are one of the best. This book is the first in the series of the biographies of the great personality. it is great piece of writing .
4 reviews1 follower
April 26, 2020
Alice and Trevor have beautifully described life of the greatest scientist ever! It's very interesting to read how the world (politically) and the world of science esp. Physics have evolved along with Albert Einstein..It was my first biography from Jaico. I liked it..4/5 because sometimes, I was getting confused with the shuffling of dates...
Profile Image for Kalle Wescott.
838 reviews16 followers
April 10, 2022
I read /Albert Einstein: A Biography/, by Alice Calaprice and Trevor Lipscombe.

I didn't know how many other aspects of physics Einstein contributed to other than the things he is famous for - amazing.

Profile Image for Sathya Narayanan.
7 reviews
September 4, 2015
Albert Einstein was a semi-god as far as I am concerned. This book simply makes us put ourselves in the shoes of Albert Einstein and make us live and wonder how he would have lived. As you read the book, we will have an opportunity to delve into the thought process of Einstein. When as a reader when we try to do that we will simply be lost in the way as the great scientist had his own thought process for sure. The book makes a great read and stimulates us to think like Einstein. Overall, it gives us a clear picture about the life of Einstein. The struggles he had and how he overcame it. It also explains very well about his great works. Einstein did not just leave his works for us to praise him rather he has given the other who follow him a direction in the field of Physics. The book vividly does what it has to do.
12 reviews
February 26, 2016
Albert's was a pleasure read about how he started his career as a patent technician and leading to be one of the most influential scientists of the 20th century. The author described Albert Einstein well enough, so I could understand but have some thoughts while reading. It's always a pleasure of mine to learn more on how the world and things work around us and I liked reading about one of the many people to help us learn about the world we they used to and we still live in now.
Profile Image for Shaharyar Amjad.
33 reviews16 followers
February 28, 2015
I liked the book. The way writer described his scientific achievements and theory of relativity it made whole a lot easier. Yet I think it mostly described his life and his achievements should've been described in detail.
Profile Image for Mayur Agrawal.
3 reviews
October 15, 2015
Not bad , not good.
Stories goes on. It gets interesting sometimes is you are into science and technology.
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews

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