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Einstein: The life and times

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This gem is not only well-researched and clearly written; it is a deeply moving overview of the life of the world's greatest scientist, not just as a theoretical physicist, but as a human being struggling to be true to himself in trying times.

Although Clark does explain a bit about special and general relativity, he does so only to aid one's understanding of why Einstein's contributions were so crucial. You will see Einstein as a curious boy, as a troubled student, as a young man making his way in the world, and then as a post office clerk who worked on physics when his bosses weren't looking.

You will see the tide slowly turn as physicists of his day began to take this uncredentialled but highly original thinker seriously. And then the day dawns when an experiment proves that gravity indeed bends light....and Einstein wakes up famous.

The book is also full of those charming anecdotes one loves to hear about Einstein, ever the absent-minded professor and "dropper of conversational bricks," such as the performance in which, armed with a violin but off rhythm, the greatest living physicist is chided by the director: "Einstein, can't you count?"

What comes through best is Einstein as a great-hearted and humble man who wanted "to know God's thoughts"; a man of conscience troubled by the wars and other injustices of his time and (unlike most of us) actively trying to do something productive about them; and most of all, a profound man whose central mood, known to every child but never to be outgrown in the inwardly alive adult, was his loving awe of the unknown.

This is probably the most widely read biography on Einstein and with good reason: the author does a fine job of detailing the life of the man who pretty much dominated 20th century physics. It is a cliche now to say that his theories changed the way physicists think about the natural world, and his demeanor and politics continue to be the rage in so-called popular culture. Young students of physics usually get their first taste of advanced mathematical formalism when being introduced to his general theory of relativity, and the author, even though he is not a physics educator, actually does a decent job of explaining the concepts that Einstein was responsible for in his life work. The author does not leave out the politics of the man who continues to be known for his Zionism, and the reader will finish the book with an appreciation of the complexity of his thinking and his personal adherences to this point of view. Some readers may be perplexed on his associaton with the mustard gas researchers Walther Nernst and Fritz Haber, but put in context, as the author does with clarity, readers will see the reasons for this along with Einstein's commitment to the development of atomic weapons.

The author also conveys the excitement surrounding the experimental confirmation of some of Einstein's theories, particularly the photoelectric effect and the bending of the light around the Sun. In addition, the reader can appreciate more the concern among many physicists at the time of Einstein's use of "high-brow" mathematics in general theory of relativity. Now of course, such concern has definitely subsided, for today's theories of gravitation are laden with highly estoric constructions from mathematics. Einstein, as the author notes, was very young when he developed his theories. Modern theories of gravitation, such as superstring and M-theories require such a high level of mathematics that physicists who make contributions in these theories generally spend many years obtaining this background. It is interesting to reflect on how Einstein would have reacted to these theories and elementary particles physics. It is also interesting to ask whether Einstein's politics would be the same if he were alive today, given the current situation in the Middle East. In addition, computers were not available to Einstein in the way there are now to all physicists. Would Einstein have taken to computers? To computational physics? His general theory of relativity is now one of the main applications of high performance computing and symbolic programming.

Whenever they compile the list of the best biographies of the 20th Century, this book will definitely be on the short list. It's a masterpiece. Clark presents a thorough, erudite, and accessible account of Einstein's life and work. He begins by relating Einstein's early struggles and his years at the Swiss Patent Office, where he read and analyzed technical reports. Then came the great relativity theory and the subsequent success and reknown. The flight from Nazi Germany to Princeton, the building of the atomic bomb during WW II (he regretted this association the most in his life), and the myths that developed around his life with the public (he hated the public adulation; when he died he didn't want his house on Mercer Street in Princeton to become a shrine) also get their fair and judicious treatment. Einstein was a great scientist who had developed some of the most complicated theories in physics, and Clark is excellent in trying to explain them for the general reader. But he is best when capturing Einstein the man. Clark writes with the confidence of a master, even majestically. It's a long book and not a fast read, but the time spent with Clark and his magnificent subject is time very well spent. One even wishes for more at the end. A brilliant work.

This book is an excellent documentary record as far as the details are concerned, and a good read. Einstein is not presented as a demigod or absent-minded genius, but as a simple human being who liked his job. Clark penetrates Einstein's mind and environment well. A friend and myself, both young wide-eyed scientists, even found it inspiring -- but don't let that put you off.

This is an exceptionally well written biography of perhaps the greatest scientific genius in human history.Clark superbly conveys the story of Einstein`s journey through physics,the world wars & Zionism.Be warned,though:the book`s encyclopedic nature & voluminous content ensures that reading it till the end is pie in the sky for people who are not used to heavy reading & deep contemplation on the topics discussed.

It took me nearly 14 years to find this book and in the end it was entirely worth it. It is a large book which is is also a good read. There is so much on Einstein that you feel in the end you really know the man and the era in which he lived. Clark's other biographies are just as good and worth collecting if you can find them.

This is a well- written account of the life of Einstein. It also provides explanations for the general reader of Einstein's great and revolutionary contributions to mankind's understanding of the physical world.
It gives the picture of how one person from relatively humble origins rose to become the very symbol of human genius, and a cultural hero of mankind.
It presents a picture of a more complicated human being by far than is contained by the popular image. It is the picture of a person of enormous dedication, of a startling power to devise in his own mind ' thought- experiments' that would lead to changing completely mankind's conceptions not only of the world but of its own powers.
It is the the story of Einstein's reluctant political involvements, his devotion to peace, his great humanism, his Zionism and contribution to the building of Hebrew University, his opposition to Fascism, his famous letter to President Roosevelt that pushed the Chicago project for building the Atom bomb, his torments of conscience over his discoveries having been used in war.
Most importantly it traces the scientific career of Einstein including the legendary moment of great triumph in 1919 when his general theory of Relativity was experimentally confirmed, and Einstein transformed overnight into a world- famous figure.
It also tells the story of Einstein's struggle for over thirty- five years throughout the whole latter part of his life to devise a unified field theory . This is the story of a great man's frustration, and too his isolation from the great majority of his colleagues in regard to his position on quantum theory, (The famous," God does not play dice with the world")
Clark describes Einstein's fundamental attitude toward Nature and God, his closeness to Spinoza in seeing in an impersonal eternal order of nature the source of Beauty and objective scientific truth.
This is a wonderful book about one of mankind's greatest creative giants.

EINSTEIN: THE LIFE AND TIMES is the definitive and original Einstein bio. While I went round erroneously quoting its title, it is easy enough to find - and a necessity in understanding every moment of Einstein's life, work, thought and history itself.

Clark is not holding back: he explains all there was for a biographer to explain, and he does it with color, vigor and courage. From here you will learn what needs to be understood and known; no silly garbage like what Einstein told his barber or his cook (Einstein had neither).

Instead you will read and enjoy detail that has yet to be matched in its fullness, its richness and its deep respect for a loveable man who may have suffered from autism - it is all here, and God Bless Ronald Clark for undertaking what no one dared before him!

Einstein is one of the greatest scientists of the last century if not the entire span of history. He thought like no one else could think, and bent the rules of space and time that had been accepted for all of history.

Einstein: the Life and Times is a complete account of the life of its famous namesake. Einstein is known for his theory of relativity which included the famous equation E = mc2. The author, Clark, reveals his life as a bit of a paradox: The celebrated scientist who shunned attention, the German-born Swiss citizen, revoked his German nationality, yet worked in Berlin for 18 years. He worked for Pacifism most of his life yet had a hand in creating the Atomic bomb. Although Einstein's life was full of humanity, there is no disputing he accomplished much.

This style and an obsession for details have made the book a tough read, but rewarding to finish. This book will probably never appeal to the average American simply because of its imposing length and complexity in writing style. This book may have lost effectiveness to complication and 880 pages (This book is most certainly one of the most complete accounts of Einstein's life), but it is not deficient in value.

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Prepare to feel time slow down if you approach this black hole of a book.

The thesis of Einstein: The Life and Times is that Albert Einstein was both the preeminent physicist of our age and a saint.

The first claim - Einstein's genius - is manifestly true. Einstein single-handedly established four of the foundational principles of modern physics (statistical mechanics, space-time equivalence, photon quantization, and the covariant formulation of gravitation). But Ronald Clark fails to make the case for genius, preferring in every case to document contemporary opinions rather than share the scientific excitement of the discoveries themselves. In this sense, Clark was intellectually incompetent to be Einstein's biographer.

The second claim, sainthood, is manifestly false. Einstein is consistently described by his friends as inconsiderate, socially inept, and self-centered. His life after 1920 was a scientific wasteland - because of his self-imposed isolation. Outside of physics, his opinions were inconsistent, shallow, and readily manipulated. This biographer, with his frequent Socialist and anti-American embellishments, is just another in a long line of Einstein manipulators.

In spite of Clark's incessant emphasis on Einstein as sui generis, the most consistent theme that emerges from the documentation of his life is the saintliness of other scientists. His fellow physicists deserve credit for recognizing, promulgating, proving, developing, and rewarding Einstein's ideas - and protecting him personally - in spite of the impediments of his personality. It's no wonder that Einstein could maintain such rose-colored pacifism when he lived off of the emotional and financial largess of the international scientific community.