Einstein's Heroes [Hardcover]

Robyn Arianrhod (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 2, 2004

Blending science, history and biography, Einstein's Heroes takes you on a journey of discovery about the phenomenon of mathematics - humanity's universal language and one of our most amazing accomplishments. At the book's centre are the brilliant scientists who inspired Einstein, particularly James Clerk Maxwell, Michael Faraday and Isaac Newton. Together Maxwell and Faraday settled a centuries-old physical dispute, which Newton had left in his wake, establishing mathematics as the ultimate arbiter of physical reality. With the talent of a great storyteller, Arianrhod weaves warmly observed biographies into a passionate argument for the beauty and universality of the language of maths. Einstein's Heroes is an enthralling exploration of the special magic of science, and the lives of some of its most brilliant exemplars.

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

Einstein respected Isaac Newton, Michael Faraday, and James Clerk Maxwell more than all the rest of his scientific forebears. They discovered and formulated the physical theories that enabled his theories of relativity. They communicated directly to Einstein, for despite being Anglophone while he was Germanophone, they shared the language of mathematics (though the largely self-taught Faraday ruefully confessed knowing only the dialect, so to speak, of geometry). That common language is Arianrhod's ground theme as she recaps the work of Einstein's heroes, and the story behind their stories is the development of mathematics into a means not just of accurate physical description of known reality but also of finding further reality. Newton "found" gravity by means of analytical geometry, Faraday "found" electrical fields by noting the behavior of magnetized iron filings, and Maxwell created the laws of thermodynamics by "flipping" Newton's method (from integral to differential calculus) to describe Faraday's fields. Arianrhod's achievement is to so masterfully combine history, biography, and mathematics as to absorb and enlighten even the mathematically maladroit. Ray Olson
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Review

"'Einstein's Heroes reads like a good novel... a remarkable, accessible, inspiring book' Sydney Morning Herald; 'Robyn Arianrhod's passion for mathematics is so infectious, you'll scream "Eureka!" when you read her book.' Herald-Sun; 'Surprising and satisfying - your IQ has risen twenty points by the final chapter.' Australian Book Review; 'Shows how vital the work of scientists is.' Daily Telegraph (Australia)"

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 342 pages
• Publisher: Icon Books (September 2, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1840466103
• ISBN-13: 978-1840466102
• Product Dimensions: 7.9 x 5.2 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.9 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,629,244 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Clear Exposition of Mathematics and its Use in Science, February 23, 2007

By 

G. Poirier (Orleans, ON, Canada) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Einstein's Heroes: Imagining the World through the Language of Mathematics (Paperback)

Despite its title, this book's central themes are: the work of James Clerk Maxwell and the expression of scientific principles in the language of mathematics. In discussing Maxwell's life and work, the author allows a few excursions mainly into the work of Newton and Faraday - work related to that of Maxwell. In addition, the book contains a few digressions on some extremely basic mathematical principles, e.g., basic geometry, basic algebra, elementary graphs, etc. - material that is likely covered at the junior high school level if not earlier. Other material is presented on more advanced concepts such as vectors and vector spaces. The explanations are so clear, basic and painless that this book should be very popular among those who are mathematically challenged but who would like to know more about important scientific developments that have a mathematical flavor. As stated, the prose is quite clear, friendly and engaging. Science buffs that are better versed in mathematics should also enjoy this book because of its fascinating historical and biographical information.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Should be better known, November 28, 2007

By 

magellan (Santa Clara, CA) - See all my reviews
(HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (COMMUNITY FORUM 04)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Einstein's Heroes: Imagining the World through the Language of Mathematics (Paperback)

This book doesn't really say whether the scientists discussed were Einstein's heroes, but it does a superb job of detailing the life and work of three scientists: Newton, Faraday, and Maxwell. Focusing mainly on Faraday and Maxwell, the author shows how the relationship between these two very different men produced one of the most important contributions in the history of physics: the theory of electromagnetism and electromagnetic waves.

The two men couldn't have been more different, Faraday, the self-taught, working class experimenter, and Faraday, the intuitive mathematical genius and theoretician. However, the author is quite correct in pointing out how important Maxwell thought Faraday's own theoretical ideas were, such as the idea of varying density of lines of force with distance. In fact (and the author doesn't mention this), late in life Maxwell was once asked what his most important discovery was, and he said, "Michael Faraday."

One interesting theme that the author uses to good effect in the book is to show the power of mathematics as a creative language to express concepts that would be otherwise impossible. In this ability Maxwell was probably the greatest of his age, and Arianrhod points out that Maxwell, although not always the fastest with arithmetic talents, knew that mathematics at the highest level wasn't just simple arithmetic and bean-counting; it was a different language and a profound way of thinking about reality that could be used to discover the universe's otherwise hidden secrets.

Maxwell understood how difficult it would be to mathematically formalize Faraday's ideas, even though he suspected Faraday was right. Their two contributions created the greatest achievement of 19th century physics, and one of the greatest scientific achievements of all time. Part biography and part popular science writing, Arianrhod's achievement recall's the great John Casti's earlier book, The One True, Platonic Heaven in it's lively blend of biography and science writing.

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great overview of the influences on Einstein, February 20, 2006

By 

Rocco (Atlanta, GA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Einstein's Heroes: Imagining the World through the Language of Mathematics (Hardcover)

This book gave a valuable overview of the influences of Newton, Faraday, and Maxwell, and how their discoveries led from Newton's inverse square law of gravitation, Faraday's electric and magnetic fields, and to Maxwell's work that mathematically described electromagnetic waves are the same as light waves. The book contains a few equations, but those do not need to be understood to appreciate the discoveries and contributions of the scientists who contributed to our current knowledge.

I will further my knowledge by digging deeper into the mathematics of these scientist to further my knowledge, but this book was a great start for me.