
Einstein
A Biography
Jurgen Neffe(Author)
Polity Press
1st Edition
Will be published approx. on 10. July 2007
Book
Hardback
488 pages
978-0-7456-4220-8 (ISBN)
Description
Albert Einstein is an icon of the twentieth century. Born in Ulm, Germany, in 1879, he is most famous for his theory of relativity, which is considered the founding principle of modern physics. He also made enormous contributions to quantum mechanics and cosmology, and for his work he was awarded the Nobel Prize in 1921. A self-pronounced pacifist, humanist, and, late in his life, democratic socialist, Einstein was also deeply concerned with the social impact of his discoveries.
Much of Einstein's life is shrouded in legend. From popular images and advertisements to various works of theater and fiction, he has come to signify so many things: the quintessential absent-minded professor; the gentle eccentric; the pacifist; the super-human genius. In Einstein: A Biography, Jurgen Neffe presents a clear and probing portrait of the man behind the myth. He recounts Einstein's life with detail and accuracy, presenting a comprehensive account of the educational, religious, psychological and historical conditions that enabled Einstein to become the ber-physicist of all time. Unearthing new documents, including a series of previously unknown letters from Einstein to his sons, which shed a new light on his role as a father, Neffe also paints a rich portrait of the tumultuous years in which Einstein lived and worked.
With a background in the sciences, Neffe describes and contextualizes Einstein's enormous contributions to our scientific legacy. He leads his readers through today's institutes and laboratories worldwide, where Einstein's work continues to thrill researchers and scholars.
A bestseller in Germany, Einstein is sure to be a classic biography of the man and proverbial genius who has been called the brain of the [twentieth] century.
Much of Einstein's life is shrouded in legend. From popular images and advertisements to various works of theater and fiction, he has come to signify so many things: the quintessential absent-minded professor; the gentle eccentric; the pacifist; the super-human genius. In Einstein: A Biography, Jurgen Neffe presents a clear and probing portrait of the man behind the myth. He recounts Einstein's life with detail and accuracy, presenting a comprehensive account of the educational, religious, psychological and historical conditions that enabled Einstein to become the ber-physicist of all time. Unearthing new documents, including a series of previously unknown letters from Einstein to his sons, which shed a new light on his role as a father, Neffe also paints a rich portrait of the tumultuous years in which Einstein lived and worked.
With a background in the sciences, Neffe describes and contextualizes Einstein's enormous contributions to our scientific legacy. He leads his readers through today's institutes and laboratories worldwide, where Einstein's work continues to thrill researchers and scholars.
A bestseller in Germany, Einstein is sure to be a classic biography of the man and proverbial genius who has been called the brain of the [twentieth] century.
Reviews / Votes
"Neffe gives us the full Einstein, warts and all. Crucially, he is as sound on the physics as he is sensitive to the great physicist's troubled personal life."-- Jon Agar, University of Cambridge
"Neffe has written the most current and dynamic Einstein biography now on the market. His words magnificently restore Einstein to life."
-- Handelsblatt
"An intelligent, beautifully crafted narrative, enhanced with ample documentation, makes this book a pleasure to read ... This work will set the standard for all future biographies."
-- Spektrum der Wissenschaften
"Neffe's extraordinary ability to convey complex information in a manner that will appeal to a general audience in just under five hundred dazzling pages is particularly evident in the passages on Einstein's theories of the dual nature of light, of gravitation, and of spacetime, which are cleverly incorporated into accounts of the history of physics."
-- Neue Zuercher Zeitung
More details
Language
English
Place of publication
Oxford
United Kingdom
Publishing group
John Wiley and Sons Ltd
Target group
Professional and scholarly
Product notice
Laminated cover
Dimensions
Height: 237 mm
Width: 164 mm
Thickness: 45 mm
Weight
869 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-7456-4220-8 (9780745642208)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions

Persons
Juergen Neffe is affiliated with the Max Planck Institute for the History of Science.
Content
Translator's Preface Prologue: The Immortal: Einstein's Secret
1. His Second Birth: The Fateful Year 1919
2. How Albert Became Einstein: The Psychological Makeup of a Genius
3. "A New Era!": From Industrialist's Son to Inventor
4. Of Dwarfs and Giants: A Brief History of Science, According to Einstein
5. The Burden of Inheritance: Einstein Detectives in Action
6. "Elsa or Ilse": The Physicist and the Women
7. The Miraculous Path to the Miraculous Year: Einstein's Angels
8. Squaring the Light: Why Einstein Had to Discover the Theory of Relativity
9. Why Is the Sky Blue? Einstein-A Career
10. "Dear Boys . . . Your Papa": The Drama of the Brilliant Father
11. Anatomy of a Discovery: How Einstein Found the General Theory of Relativity
12. Lambda Lives: Einstein, "Chief Engineer of the Universe"
13. Spacetime Quakes: The Theory of Relativity Put to the Test
14. His Best Foe: Einstein, Germany, and Politics
15. "I Am Not a Tiger": Einstein, the Human Side
16. A Jew Named Albert: His God Was a Principle
17. The End Justifies the Doubts: Einstein and Quantum Theory
18. Of the Magnitude of Failure: The Quest for the Unified Theory
19. From Barbaria to Dollaria: Einstein's America
20. "People Are a Bad Invention": Einstein, the Atomic Bomb, McCarthy, and the End
Notes
Bibliography
Acknowledgments
Index
1. His Second Birth: The Fateful Year 1919
2. How Albert Became Einstein: The Psychological Makeup of a Genius
3. "A New Era!": From Industrialist's Son to Inventor
4. Of Dwarfs and Giants: A Brief History of Science, According to Einstein
5. The Burden of Inheritance: Einstein Detectives in Action
6. "Elsa or Ilse": The Physicist and the Women
7. The Miraculous Path to the Miraculous Year: Einstein's Angels
8. Squaring the Light: Why Einstein Had to Discover the Theory of Relativity
9. Why Is the Sky Blue? Einstein-A Career
10. "Dear Boys . . . Your Papa": The Drama of the Brilliant Father
11. Anatomy of a Discovery: How Einstein Found the General Theory of Relativity
12. Lambda Lives: Einstein, "Chief Engineer of the Universe"
13. Spacetime Quakes: The Theory of Relativity Put to the Test
14. His Best Foe: Einstein, Germany, and Politics
15. "I Am Not a Tiger": Einstein, the Human Side
16. A Jew Named Albert: His God Was a Principle
17. The End Justifies the Doubts: Einstein and Quantum Theory
18. Of the Magnitude of Failure: The Quest for the Unified Theory
19. From Barbaria to Dollaria: Einstein's America
20. "People Are a Bad Invention": Einstein, the Atomic Bomb, McCarthy, and the End
Notes
Bibliography
Acknowledgments
Index