Please, Mr. Einstein (Hardcover)

~ Jean-Claude Carriere (Author), (Translator)
Key Phrases: Albert Einstein, Niels Bohr, United States (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

French screenwriter Carrière (he worked on Belle de Jour and The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie) sets out to make the elegant beauty of Einstein's ideas manifest to lay readers in this thin, pleasant novel-dialogue. It is the early 21st century, and a young, nameless student intent on learning more about Einstein finds her way into a mysterious office that houses—Einstein himself, walking and talking, full of generosity and the urge to make his ideas plain. The expected thought-experiments (an elevator with no frame of reference, two trains moving side by side) cover the basics of relativity, but soon the young student presses Einstein, who thought deeply about such questions, to examine the morality of his achievements: could the world after Hiroshima truly be a better place? Carrière's Einstein, like the real one, is decidedly conflicted on the topic, and one of the novel's few dramatic moments comes when the smartest man in the world is unable to provide all the answers. The book offers the certain pleasure of knowing the world better, and, even more important to Carrière, of knowing oneself as one who can understand it. (Nov.)
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From Booklist

*Starred Review* The time travel that Einstein predicted in his revolutionary physics wonderfully harmonizes with the time travel Carriere delivers through fictional wizardry. The space-time foray begins as readers accompany a nameless young woman into a mysterious Central European building where an elderly woman presides over a large waiting room, filled with strangely attired men clutching files filled with secrets. But those secrets begin to unfold when the woman escorts her visitor into a cluttered study occupied by Albert Einstein, still working in inspired isolation on a unifying theory of everything. Unruffled, the young visitor turns on her tape recorder and begins to ask Einstein for help in understanding his science and his place in history. Einstein obligingly begins to lecture his visitor, periodically stepping to one of the doors of his study, magically transformed into portals to various times and places--terrestrial and galactic. The accessible dialogue (deftly translated) turns relativity into the explanatory key for everything from a bouncing basketball to the receding galaxies in the night sky while illuminating both the issues and the personalities involved in Einstein's radical break with Newton and his long-running debate with Bohr. Finally, the enchanted doors transport the conversing pair to the sobering events that forced Einstein from Nazi Germany and made a lifetime pacifist into a reluctant advocate of the project that raised a lethal mushroom cloud over Hiroshima. Unanswered questions remain as the inquisitive young woman concludes her visit. But readers will thank her and her creator for an incomparable intellectual experience. Bryce Christensen
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 192 pages
• Publisher: Harcourt; Tra edition (November 1, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0151014221
• ISBN-13: 978-0151014224
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.7 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #760,583 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Intereresting Approach to Einstein's Work, February 15, 2007

By	loves music and books (New Jersey) - See all my reviews

This is a very entertaining book with a very unique approach to discussing Einstein's work. Even if you are familar with his theories you will still enjoy the ride. If you are not familar this is a good place to begin.

5.0 out of 5 stars as described, May 21, 2009

By	A. Rhodes "Anne" (Lake Mary, FL) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

The book came in new condition, the only thing I didn't like about it was that there were 2 stickers on the book that did not peel off easily and left the cover messy.

4.0 out of 5 stars Great book for the non-physicist. interested in Einstein., March 7, 2007

By	John G in NC (Weaverville, NC United States) - See all my reviews

I'd describe the book as part whimsy and part instructional. In my opinion, the author has done a masterful job of integrating hard science and factual data with fun characterizations and insight. Sure, you can read texts heavy with scientific data written in sometimes incomprehensible language, but for the "average joe", this novel is an entertaining jaunt with explanations that are clarifying in an easy way. Nice job Mr. Carriere.