Einstein: Visionary Scientist [Hardcover]

John B. Severance (Author)

Book Description

Age Level: 10 and up | Grade Level: 5 and up

Albert Einstein expanded the way we understand our universe and helped create a framework for modern physics with his groundbreaking theory of relativity. In this detailed and well-balanced biography, illustrated with exceptional archival photographs, John B. Severance recounts Einstein's life from his privileged childhood and disappointing early career to his later recognition as one of the most respected and beloved scientists of this century. The author identifies Einstein's complex theories and makes clear why his ideas are still the basis of work by today's top physicists. He also reveals many of Einstein's inner complexities and eccentricities, exploring the personal and public controversies that followed him throughout his life. What emerges is a picture of a brilliant, compassionate, yet imperfect man whose remarkable theories gave the world an enormous push into the future.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Severance, whose previous biographies focused on men of social and political action (Gandhi; Thomas Jefferson), here does a commendable job of conveying both the complicated ideas that revolutionized the study of physics and the life of the thinker behind them. Opening with a discussion of Einstein's place in the history of science, the narrative then shifts to a chronological account of Einstein's life, discussing his difficulties in school, his groundbreaking early theoretical papers (published before he had even earned his Ph.D.), his work as a professor and researcher, and the fame that dogged his later years. Throughout this account of his professional work, Severance weaves in less-flattering details of Einstein's personal lifeAhis fathering of an out-of-wedlock child; his estrangement and divorce from his first wife; his second marriage, in which he often acted more like a child than a husbandAand touches upon lesser-known aspects of the scientist's public life, such as his pacifism (setting the record straight about the fact that he was "never directly involved" with creating the atomic bomb) and his involvement in the Zionist movement. Severance's writing occasionally stumbles (e.g., "The political scene of 1933 indicated that Einstein's days in Europe were numbered"), and he has difficulty giving readers a sense of what Einstein was like as a person rather than just as a thinker. Otherwise, this is a solid introduction to the life and times of one of the 20th century's most innovative minds. Age 10-14. (Aug.)
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From School Library Journal

Grade 6 Up-Chronicling the life of one of science's greatest minds, this book follows Einstein's life from his birth in Germany through his childhood in Austria to his death at Princeton. In an inviting, easy-to-read format, the text covers not only the scientist's professional career, but also includes a substantial amount of information on his personal life. Einstein is depicted as a brilliant man often frustrated and distracted by the people and events around him. The well-chosen, black-and-white photographs complement the printed matter, as do the numerous reminiscences and quotes from Einstein's friends and family. Severance does a superb job of relating the historical events of World War II and conveying how strongly they affected Einstein's views and work. While acknowledging that a good background in mathematics and physics is needed to completely understand Einstein's concepts of space-time, the author makes the theories comprehensible and accessible to general readers and offers students a valuable tool for reports. A balanced and thorough look at a visionary and his place in history.
Maren Ostergard, Bellevue Regional Library, WA
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 10 and up
  
• Hardcover: 144 pages
• Publisher: Clarion Books (August 23, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0395931002
• ISBN-13: 978-0395931004
• Product Dimensions: 9.4 x 7.9 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,073,966 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #41 in Books > Children's Books > Science, Nature & How It Works > Inventions & Inventors
  • #92 in Books > Biographies & Memoirs > People, A-Z > ( E ) > Einstein, Albert

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars An Excellent Summary of Einstein's Life, July 13, 2011

By 

Herbert L Calhoun "paulocal" (Falls Church, VA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Einstein: Visionary Scientist (Hardcover)

This delightful little book covers a lot of ground and does it very well indeed. It is a good substitute (or preparation for) reading Ronald Clark's "Einstein: The Life and Times," which it draws on from time to time.

What is most refreshing is that not only is it easy reading, dealing mostly with Einstein's big concepts and the important events in his life, but also it takes the reader on a few side trips with vignettes that further humanizes an already profound human being and Scientist. One would think that anyone who has read as many books on Einstein as I have, that there would be little new to discover, yet this author kept coming up with new tidbits on Einstein's life that I had never heard of. For instance:

For the first time I learned why Einstein was awarded the Nobel Prize for his discovery of the law of the photoelectric effect rather than for either of his relativity theories: No one on the Nobel prize committee could understand his relativity theories and thus feared that if they proved wrong, the committee would have egg on its face?

Also, for the first time I learned that Leo Szilard (who drafted a letter sent to Roosevelt warning about the dangers of a Nazi A-bomb) had been a graduate student of Einstein's, while Einstein was teaching at the University of Berlin. As well, that Lise Meitner (who explained to her German colleague (Otto Hahn) the meaning of the results of the first splitting of an atom of Uranium) had attended an Einstein lecture.

And that Einstein had turned down an offer to work on the Manhattan Project. Had he accepted, he would have been denied a security clearance anyway since Hoover thought he was a Communist and had him trailed for the rest of his life. But then there is also the simple explanation the author gives of Einstein's genius: Most of his spectacular work was done wholly within his head as a result of mind experiments that came about just when the world needed new explanations.

Einstein had the power of imagination to see possibilities beyond the clockwork world that Newton had created. When a New York Times reporter asked him to define relativity in a few sentences, Einstein responded: "It was formerly believed that if all material things disappeared out of the universe, only time and space would be left. According to the relativity theory, however, time and space disappear together with the [material] things." Three stars

1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars a good book, April 10, 2001

By 

Rae Reagan (moretown, Vermont United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Einstein: Visionary Scientist (Hardcover)

john severance is a good nonfiction writer besides this book he has wroght books like gandhi:great soul,artist and thomas jeforson.Most people in the world know the name albert einstein and the famous E=MC2, but the theory of relativity and his life in general is on known of but with this book will help you under stand it a bit better,did you know he won the nobel prize well he did for physics.

4 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Einstein:Visionary Scientist, June 6, 2002

By 

Virgil Xu (Cerritos, CA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Einstein: Visionary Scientist (Hardcover)

I chose this book because one day I had nothing to do so I went to the library and saw this book. The book was about Albert Einstein. I thought about some things about him, but didn't really find something important about him so that made me want to read this book. I wanted to know how his life was and how did he become so smart. I learned many new things in the book about Albert Einstein. The book was really easy to understand and had some pictures of him doing things.
I recommend this book to anybody who wants to learn more about Albert Einstein. There are many surprising things in this book. One thing was that when Albert was taking his first violin lessons he flung a chair at his teacher. His parents quickly hired another teacher. When Albert was little his parents complained that he was too heavy and also that his head was too large and square shaped. They worried that their son was going to become retarded, but they were wrong. At the age of twelve Albert was really interested in math so he asked a medical student named Max Tameley to lend him some books on math. By the age of thirteen Albert was already past the level of Tameley's.
My favorite part of the story was when Albert Einstein was about at the age of six and taking his first violin lesson. He got mad and all of a sudden through a chair at the chair. I never knew that Albert had a really bad temper when he was a little kid. I always thought that he was a nice little young boy who liked to study and work. The book also says that whenever his sister, Maja, saw that Albert's face was pale she would run away and find cover because she knew that he would throw things. Once Albert almost hit her with a bowling ball and once he did hit her with the handle bar of a hose.