Customer Reviews

Ideas and Opinions

5 star:		(36)
4 star:		(16)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

"Ideas and Opinions" reveals much about the thought processes, culture, and observations that shaped the character of Albert Einstein. In a remarkable series of insightful short prose selections, the reader learns a great deal about Einstein's views on morality and ethics; religion, particularly Judaism; government; the arts, literature, and higher education; philosophy; and government. His personal letters to and observations about other key persons of his time including Shaw, Freud, Gandhi, and Lorentz illustrate what a fully integrated individual Einstein truly was, a view that may counter some of the extreme depictions that render him a genius incapable of focusing beyond his science.

Having some many thoughts from this astounding intellect pulled into one volume makes this book a worthwhile addition to the stack of rainy day books. It's a book to be consumed in fits and starts, with a cup of coffee on the screened porch in the rain, a treat for inquiring minds.

The prose, perhaps a tad stilted by modern standards, is lucid. And seeing Einstein turn his attention on the topic everyone wrangles with forges a new link to him and his work. As he stated, " The whole of science is nothing more than a refinement of everyday thinking."

Ideas and Opinions expresses a wide range of Einstein's thoughts throughout his life. The subject matter includes comments on freedom, politics, pacifism, education, religion, Germany, friends, and scientific issues. Whereas Einstein had a specific goal in writing each of these addresses, speeches and articles, the editor of this collection by combining Einstein's writings in this manner paints a picture of the man and his time. The most profound impact upon the reader is not the individual message of each writing, but rather how the whole body of work illuminates the dedication and fierce determination of one scientist to make himself a "harmonious personality" (64). One of the features of this collection is that it attempts to present each article in a straightforward manner. Each article is titled by what it attempts to say, for example one article is called "My First Impressions of the U.S.A." (3). This accurately reflects what Einstein says in this article, but so much more than what this title describes is also reflected in the essay. Einstein's political attitudes are best expressed not in his many essays on politics, government and pacifism, but instead in his First Impressions of America. One of his many observations is that "nothing is more destructive of respect for the government and the law of the land than passing laws which cannot be enforced" (6). Understanding this aspect is of immeasurable value when encountering Einstein's essay where he prescribes a program of action against atomic weapons. The greatest fault of this compilation is that it tends to be repetitive. However, this often helps to drive home the point and complete the overall picture of this man and his time. This text should be read by all persons everywhere. No other collection could possibly contain a better view of America, international relations, scientific issues and advances, religion, and humanity. For use in Honors Science, only certain readings would enhance the goal of the course, but including them would be invaluable not only for scientific perspective, but for an enriched experience of life itself.

It's undisputed that he was a great man. No scandals are ever going to surface, and say Einstein was really a wife-beater or something stupid that seems to happen in the tabloids to just about everybody famous. :)
Anyway, this book is one good way to get to know him. I think this book works because it takes all sorts of scraps of things he wrote over the course of his life, and not necessarily intending for them to be published in this manner. You can see a very consistent man, with firm principles, and almost sorry that he's all the world had for a hero, even at the same time that he knew it was a role he would have to play. Once he was in the role, he made a point of clearly stating his principles, in the hope that they would effect change. You will see this all, and you will see a kind of melancholy that he must have felt. I think all intelligent people are haunted by the meaning of existence, and he is archetypal for this. At the same time, he seemed to enjoy his life. I wish there were a book that could go deeper, and really tell us what he was like to live with, but those close to him probably respected him too much to want to unveil his private life. I suppose I shall have to respect that as well.
I hate being typical and doing the same thing as everybody, so I have to say, I was surprised that this man who is so respected by the world earned my respect as well. I think he has a message to tell us, and the compilation is well worth reading.
I do feel obligated to inform you of any shortcomings: Albert Einstein has a rather complex writing style, and I don't believe in writing like that. Another issue is that there is much repetition. This might bother you, but realize that this book was never meant to be a book. If he repeats himself, it's simply because he said very similar things to two different audiences, and the editors got ahold of both pieces.

Reviewer: bugesh from New York United States
Einstein wasn't just a scientist, but a general genious and philosopher. This book offers wonderful insight into one of the greatest minds of the century, if not all time.
the book is a compilation of letters, essays and writings on all sorts of topics. He speaks about his thoughts on America, the world, life, you name it.

It interested me that Einstein was an anti-prohibitionist; stating that "any law that cannot be enforced only serves to undermine the authority of the government. it is no secret that this is closely linked to the sharp rise in crime in this country." This could easily be applied to the modern-day drub problem and supports the decriminalization movement.

The book is a great companion for anyone who is a fan of Einstein or who considers themselves enlightened (or in need of enlightenment). A big 5 stars!!

It really suprises me that we were'nt given a chance in highschool to read directly this brilliant man's work. What astounds me most is Einstein's self-chosen, highly principled, ethical force of being-- besides being a revolutionary scientist. All that-- and he was far from self-righteous. Reminds me in parts of Jiddu Krishnamurti's pondering as well.

This is a good book to learn what Einstein really thought. It explains which ideas led him to special relativity as well as general relativity. It explains how important the insights of Maxwell, Lorentz, and Planck were for his physics.

The book also reveals Einstein's opinions about religion and moral values; about peace, governments, human rights, and Nazists; about the nuclear bomb, and about many other topics.

Einstein has revolutionized science several times, but he could not do it indefinitely. The book also illuminates Einstein's understanding of quantum mechanics, the origin of his "paradoxes", and the limitations of his purely classical quest for the unified theory.

When I bought this book a few months back, I was under the impression that this book was largely composed of Eistein's political thoughts. I based this on my thinking that science is usually not based in opinion. To my suprise, only about 1/3 of the book discusses Einstein's political opinions of events such as the holocaust, his role in creating the bomb, and pacifism.

Einstein also deals with the issues of education, freedom, Judiasm, his home of Germany, and science. EInstein is known for his scienctific thought. I am not much of a science person so I could not really get into Einstein's discussions on science. He may as well have written the discussions in ancient hebrew because they are hard to follow with many of the terms and concepts which I have forgotten since high school and college.

Based on Einstein's political thoughts alone, this book is a bargin. Einstein proves that he is not only a brilliant scientist, but he also has his finger on the pulse of humanity. Thank you for your insight Albert!

In some sense we all live in the age of Einstein. His major discoveries at the turn of the twentieth century in the papers published in his annus mirabilis 1905 totally changed the way mankind thought about the physical world. In these papers he helped lay the basis not only of special relativity but of quantum theory. Einstein later went on to extend our understanding of the universe with his more comprehensive theory of general relativity which was confirmed in the famous experiment of 1919. Einstein spent the latter years of his life looking apparently unsuccessfuly for a unified field theory which would unite all the forces of nature.
Einstein was a legend in his own time, one of the icons of the twentieth century. He played an important historical role when he helped forward the Manhattan Project and the US effort to build an atomic bomb. This is a step he had great regrets about. And the irony and painful truth is that this gentle man was responsible for the discovery which helped give Mankind for the first time in its history the power to wholly destroy itself. The truth is however, however Einstein may have regretted this the conversion of matter to energy which made the bomb possible would have been discovered by someone else.
These writings contain a wide variety of work on a wide variety of subjects. He writes on friends, and on freedom on education and on religion, on politics, government and pacifism.He writes on the Jewish people on Anti- Semitism on Zionism, and on his connection with the Jewish people.He writes on his relation to his native Germany. And he writes on his contributions to science.
One does not have to always agree with him to respect his greatness, his humility, his intellectual integrity and his devotion to truth and to mankind.
He like all scientists before him even Newton ' stands on the shoulders of giants' But in our time and for it seems the foreseeable future to come he is the greatest giant of all.
And the consequences of his work, and the questions raised by him will be with us for so long as mankind seeks to comprehend the world.

He was a great human being all around. This book, a collection of essays, shows that he was in tune with the world around him and able to offer compelling observations.

This is a rare treasure of a book that will bring you wonderful insights into one of the greatest minds of the last century. Albert Einstein covers a great deal of topics including love, marriage, religion, God, laws and shares insights whose truth genuinely stands the test of time. This book is a brilliant account of his many lectures, letters, and thoughts throughout his own personal life, as well as his role in society. His suggestions, ideas and opinions serve humanity well, and hopefully many more people will take in the brilliance he so graciously gave us. Highly recommended for its outstanding literary and humanitarian contribution. Deserves 10 Stars.
Barbara Rose, author of "Stop Being the String Along: A Relationship Guide to Being THE ONE" and 'If God Was Like Man'
Editor of inspire! magazine