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Einstein in Berlin Paperback – February 3, 2004

4.4 out of 5 stars 43

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In a book that is both biography and the most exciting form of history, here are eighteen years in the life of a man, Albert Einstein, and a city, Berlin, that were in many ways the defining years of the twentieth century.

Einstein in Berlin

In the spring of 1913 two of the giants of modern science traveled to Zurich. Their mission: to offer the most prestigious position in the very center of European scientific life to a man who had just six years before been a mere patent clerk. Albert Einstein accepted, arriving in Berlin in March 1914 to take up his new post. In December 1932 he left Berlin forever. “Take a good look,” he said to his wife as they walked away from their house. “You will never see it again.”

In between, Einstein’s Berlin years capture in microcosm the odyssey of the twentieth century. It is a century that opens with extravagant hopes--and climaxes in unparalleled calamity. These are tumultuous times, seen through the life of one man who is at once witness to and architect of his day--and ours. He is present at the events that will shape the journey from the commencement of the Great War to the rumblings of the next one.

We begin with the eminent scientist, already widely recognized for his special theory of relativity. His personal life is in turmoil, with his marriage collapsing, an affair under way. Within two years of his arrival in Berlin he makes one of the landmark discoveries of all time: a new theory of gravity--and before long is transformed into the first international pop star of science. He flourishes during a war he hates, and serves as an instrument of reconciliation in the early months of the peace; he becomes first a symbol of the hope of reason, then a focus for the rage and madness of the right.

And throughout these years Berlin is an equal character, with its astonishing eruption of revolutionary pathways in art and architecture, in music, theater, and literature. Its wild street life and sexual excesses are notorious. But with the debacle of the depression and Hitler’s growing power, Berlin will be transformed, until by the end of 1932 it is no longer a safe home for Einstein. Once a hero, now vilified not only as the perpetrator of “Jewish physics” but as the preeminent symbol of all that the Nazis loathe, he knows it is time to leave.


From the Hardcover edition.

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In a book that is both biography and the most exciting form of history, here are eighteen years in the life of a man, Albert Einstein, and a city, Berlin, that were in many ways the defining years of the twentieth century.

Einstein in Berlin

In the spring of 1913 two of the giants of modern science traveled to Zurich. Their mission: to offer the most prestigious position in the very center of European scientific life to a man who had just six years before been a mere patent clerk. Albert Einstein accepted, arriving in Berlin in March 1914 to take up his new post. In December 1932 he left Berlin forever. Take a good look, he said to his wife as they walked away from their house. You will never see it again.

In between, Einstein s Berlin years capture in microcosm the odyssey of the twentieth century. It is a century that opens with extravagant hopes--and climaxes in unparalleled calamity. These are tumultuous times, seen through the life of one man who is at once witness to and architect of his day--and ours. He is present at the events that will shape the journey from the commencement of the Great War to the rumblings of the next one.

We begin with the eminent scientist, already widely recognized for his special theory of relativity. His personal life is in turmoil, with his marriage collapsing, an affair under way. Within two years of his arrival in Berlin he makes one of the landmark discoveries of all time: a new theory of gravity--and before long is transformed into the first international pop star of science. He flourishes during a war he hates, and serves as an instrument of reconciliation in the early months of the peace; he becomes first a symbol of the hope of reason, then a focus for the rage and madness of the right.

And throughout these years Berlin is an equal character, with its astonishing eruption of revolutionary pathways in art and architecture, in music, theater, and literature. Its wild street life and sexual excesses are notorious. But with the debacle of the depression and Hitler s growing power, Berlin will be transformed, until by the end of 1932 it is no longer a safe home for Einstein. Once a hero, now vilified not only as the perpetrator of Jewish physics but as the preeminent symbol of all that the Nazis loathe, he knows it is time to leave.


From the Hardcover edition.

About the Author

Thomas Levenson is an Emmy and Peabody award-winning documentary filmmaker whose credits include a two-hour biography of Einstein for the PBS series Nova. He has written two previous books, Measure for Measure: A Musical History of Science and Ice Time: Climate, Science, and Life on Earth. He lives outside Boston.


From the Hardcover edition.

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Bantam; Reprint edition (February 3, 2004)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 496 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0553378449
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0553378443
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.35 pounds
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6.14 x 1.11 x 9.14 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.4 out of 5 stars 43

About the author

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Thomas Levenson
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My day job has me professing science writing at MIT, where I teach in the Institute's Graduate Program in Science Writing.

I continue to do what I did before I joined the professoriat: write books (and the occasional article), and make documentary films about science, its history, and its interaction with the broader culture in which scientific lives and discoveries unfold.

I've written six books. "Money for Nothing" explores the connection between the revolutionary advances in science of th 17th century with the birth of financial capitalism by retelling the story of the first great stock market boom, fraud and crash: the South Sea Bubble of 1720. "The Hunt For Vulcan" tells the story of the planet that wasn't there -- and yet was discovered over and over again. It is both a tale of scientific undiscovery and breakthrough, and an investigation into how advances in science really occur (as opposed to what they tell us in high school). My previous books include "Newton and the Counterfeiter" -- which is a great story from a little-known corner of Isaac Newton's life -- and "Einstein in Berlin," which is, I have reason to hope, on the verge of reissue.

Besides writing, film making and generally being dour about the daily news, I lead an almost entirely conventional life in one of Boston's inner suburbs with a family that gives me great joy.

Customer reviews

4.4 out of 5 stars
4.4 out of 5
43 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Reviewed in the United States on July 23, 2023
Very well written and researched. It not only describes the life of the scientist and the human Einstein but also to events leading up to the first and second war. The city of Berlin and its ambition as cultural capital of europe also is very interestingly depicted. Well worth reading.
Reviewed in the United States on August 20, 2010
I liked this book enough to give it five stars because it covers two of my interests, science in general (especially physics) and history. Half the book is about Einstein, his life and the physics that he developed. The other half covers German history from 1914 to 1933. Thus, the book covers not only special and general relativity, and Einstein's problems with quantum mechanics, but also the first world war, the German revolution that came at the end of the war, the counter revolution, the establishment of the Weimar republic, the decadence of Berlin in the 1920's, hyperinflation, depression and the rise of the Nazi party. Given that the text is only 432 pages long none of these topics are covered extensively, but they are covered in considerable detail; definitely enough to give the reader a good idea of the society in which Einstein lived and the physics that he developed. The book is very well written, which is not an easy task given the breadth of the material that is covered. The author should be commended - based on the book cover, he is neither a scientist nor a historian, but does a very good job describing both. However, given the level of detail provided there may be too much information for some people, but not enough for others as this is not as complete a biography as one devoted solely to Einstein, or a complete German history of the period. The unique feature of this book is that here you get both, using Einstein as the vehicle which carries the narrative.

This is a very good book for someone that wants to know about the events that shaped Einstein's later life, but less so for someone that just wants the physics, or for someone who just wants the history.
2 people found this helpful
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Reviewed in the United States on July 9, 2011
In Einstein in Berlin, Thomas Levenson, explores the life of Albert Einstein through his years in Berlin from 1914 to 1932.

The book is both science history, centering on Einstein's development of The General Theory of Relativity, which he finished and published whilst living in Berlin, and his later contributions and critique of Quantum Theory; and the social and political history of Germany.

There are things to like and dislike about the book. In some respects the idea works. One of the shortcomings of many popularized accounts of science and scientists is a failure to place their subject in the social and political history of the times and places they live. It is almost as though the science and scientist live a life detached from their everyday experience. In Einstein's case, especially in the Berlin years this is a common shortcoming of scientific biographers. The conflict and ambiguities between Einstein's socialist, Jewish and pacifist outlook with a country that fought an imperialist war and then suffered economic collapse that brought on the fascism and anti Jewish policies of Hitler's Germany is often neglected. Einstein, whilst he lived in Berlin, lived and worked in a country totally at odds with his own personal philosophy. On a more micro level he worked with colleagues who often reflected and supported the policies and political outlook of the state. This is a fascinating human story and Levenson is good at this background, although, for me, at times he uses too much time and too many pages on some of the details of, for example, the first world war. Much of what he says is interesting, but it on occasions takes the reader too far away from the central character and central idea of the book - Einstein's experience of his life in Berlin.

However, it is in the science that I feel the book lacks real bite. The explanations of Einstein's theories are done well enough, but what the book lacks is a narrative flow to Einstein's scientific development and impact. The reason is that the book starts effectively half way through Einsteins' grand years of 1905 to 1916, the years spanning his publication of the `miracle' year papers and the General Theory of Relativity. It is forever having to flash back to his past works in order to place his later contributions in context. It is, of course, a necessary device because the author is dealing with one episode of Einstein's life, but while it works for the social and political history, it detracts from the science.

The book wavered between a three star and a four star for me. In the end I settled for a three, because at the end of the day, to understand Einstein, the reader must always understand him through his scientific prism. Yes, he was many things, but first and foremost he was a physicist. His passion and life was always his physics. In this crucial aspect, the book just fell short.
4 people found this helpful
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Reviewed in the United States on January 3, 2008
I left this book on my shelves for two years because I thought that Bram Pais said everything that needed to be said about Einstein's physics, and that Albrecht Fo"lsing said everything that needed to be said about Einstein's career. Indeed, Levenson's book supercedes neither. Nor is it the most complete about German politics before the First World War, or Germany in the First World War, nor the best about the hyperinflation, nor the most detailed about the Weimar Republic nor the rise of the Nazis. However, Levenson brings these disparate aspects of Einstein and his times in Berlin together in a masterful way.

Furthermore, Levenson has flashes of insight - into Einstein's detached character and the havoc it wreaked with his intimates, into Einstein's Judaism, into the brutality of German forces in the first world war carrying forward into the FreiKorps, which are invaluable. He has an eye for significant detail - the drastic fall in beer consumption during the Crash, the games which children played reflecting the casual violence and the high unemployment of Berlin during the Crash. The dulness of my own words shows the extent to which I lack Levenson's talent.

I would say that Levenson's book on Einstein would be a good place to start with Einstein's work and life. Pais and Fo"lsing would then follow for the really interested.

One caution: Levenson's biography is interesting but more than a little dismal: Einstein was hard on his family or families, and this is portrayed against a backdrop of war, starvation, antiSemitic hatred, violence, and social disintegration leading to more war. Unfortunately the portrayal is almost certainly accurate.
5 people found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

Translate all reviews to English
Antoni Roca-Rosell
5.0 out of 5 stars Un estudio clásico
Reviewed in Spain on March 31, 2022
Se trata de un estudio clásico sobre la vinculación de Einstein con la ciudad de Berlín
Amazon Customer
5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent detail of Berlin between 1914-1933
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on March 2, 2015
Excellent detail of Berlin between 1914-1933. The Great War, Weimer Republic are portrayed in great detail. Amidst all that the life Einstein in Berlin is depicted.