Einstein: A Hundred Years of Relativity (Hardcover)

by Andrew Robinson (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist
A centennial celebration of Einstein's 1905 special relativity paper "Zur Elektrodynamik bewegter Korper," this album has assets that qualify it as a public-library imperative. Visually, it not only showcases photographs ranging from the youthful, sartorially dapper Einstein to the elder, sweater-clad sage of Princeton, it also displays manuscripts rarely shown to a general audience, including one of the few examples of E=mc2 in Einstein's hand. Textwise, its contributors include physicists quite as famous as Einstein, if not possessing his iconic eminence: Freeman Dyson, Stephen Hawking, Steven Weinberg, and the late Joseph Rotblat. The observations of the first three about Einstein-as-physicist (Rotblat writes about Einstein's opposition to nuclear weapons) constitute another enhancement in this work's popular value, for each expresses puzzlement about Einstein's scientific career after the observational proof of general relativity in 1919 transformed him into a global celebrity. While active in science, Einstein's subsequent devotion to unified field theory diverged from the research mainstream. Linked by Robinson's able biographical synopsis, this work's elements will have long-lasting usefulness as a gateway to Einstein. Gilbert Taylor
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Product Description
With contributions from Freeman Dyson, Stephen Hawking, João Magueijo, Steven Weinberg, Philip Anderson, Robert Schulmann, Philip Glass, Max Jammer, Sir Joseph Rotblat, I. Bernard Cohen, and Sir Arthur C. Clarke

This definitive illustrated study of one of the foremost icons of the 20th century commemorates the centenary of Albert Einstein's annus mirabilis of 1905, the same year when Einstein, at age 26, published his groundbreaking Special Theory of Relativity, and when the most famous equation in science, E = mc2, was introduced to the world. Here author Andrew Robinson and 11 essayists, including three Nobel laureates, explore every facet of the life and achievements of the great physicist and humanitarian, honored by Time magazine in its Millennium issue as "Person of the Century."

As the book explains clearly, Einstein's dramatic papers of 1905 overthrew the Newtonian worldview and revolutionized our understanding of space, time, energy, matter, and light. His work had impact far beyond the field of physics, playing a leading role in the century's technological advances and influencing modernism in every field. Except for his last interview that was previously published, all the essays here are original works written especially for this book. The photographs draw on an exceptional archive Einstein bequeathed to Hebrew University in Jerusalem.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 256 pages
• Publisher: "Harry N. Abrams, Inc."; 1st Ed. edition (October 1, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0810959232
• ISBN-13: 978-0810959231
• Product Dimensions: 10.3 x 8.1 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.6 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #964,780 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Best of its kind, September 13, 2005

By	Robert Fallon (El Cerrito, CA United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This is a review of "Einstein: A Hundred Years of Relativity," by Andrew Robinson.

For the last three or four years, I have both actively and passively searched for a good introductory book on Einstein, something that is accessible to me as an intelligent non-scientist, but that is broader in scope than I take most of his biographies to be. I want a good, clear explanation of special and general relativity, but I also want to know more about the pacificist and cultural icon, about Einstein as a humanist. No one book has filled the niche. Either you find good discussions of his physics, or you find books on his love life, or you find books that are beautifully produced but have very little substance.

As the centennial of the "miraculous year" of 1905, 2005 has seen a bumper crop of books on Einstein, many of them poorly conceived and some richly priced. But this book is just what I've been looking for for the last few years.

The Editorial Review is wrong in stating that all entries are new except for Einstein's last interview. In fact, a few pages from Einstein's autobiography are also included--and that indicates one reason why this book is so well done. It is divided into two parts; the first has seven chapters on "The Physicist"; the second has eight chapters on "The Man." All of these are written by Andrew Robinson. But interspersed with this biographical-chronological-topical layout are essays by other authors. Einstein contributes a few pages to Part One and a few to Part Two. But there are also four essays by others in Part One and five essays by others in Part Two. It's thrilling to read Stephen Hawking on the history of relativity and Philip Glass on his operatic take on Einstein. The book is not hagiographical. Freeman Dyson's preface mainly discusses the embarrassing (for Einstein) peculiarity that Einstein did not believe in black holes.

The book is full of other goodies. Though the text is more than one finds in a typical coffee-table book, the illustrations are of that beauty and quantity. It's an illustrated book with well-chosen pictures, always with captions. There are notes in the back, a detailed chronology of his life, and a (non-annotated) bibliography. The whole is made authoritative not only by the caliber of its contributors, but by its use of Einstein's archives housed at Hebrew University in Jerusalem.

The only way this book could be better is if there were more of it; sometimes the discussions feel rushed and compressed. Also, despite Robinson's literary credentials, I'm not partial to his somewhat awkward, hypertactic writing style.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A masterpiece on Einstein's life and work, February 17, 2006

By	Jose Proite Filho (S. Joao da Boa Vista, Estado de Sao Paulo Brazil) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Very well planned, full of meaningfull illustrations, accurately written and revised,this book deserves special attention of everyone interested in Einsteins's personal life and scientific production. Recommended with enthusiasm.

2 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This book retails for $29.95, October 14, 2005

By	Daniel C. Harlow (Grand Rapids, MI USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This beautiful, hardcover coffee-table book, whose text is as delightful as its scores of photographs, retails for $29.95--not the $35 that Amazon advertises. It is an amazing value in this day when trade paperbacks often retail for $24.95 and higher.