The Well-Read Commuter Reviews: Einstein: The Life of a Genius

By:Walter Isaacson

What this book is about: Albert Einstein is synonymous with genius. From his remarkable theory of relativity and the famous equation E=mc2 to his concept of a unified field theory, no one has contributed as much to science in the last century. As well as showing how Einstein developed his theories, "Einstein" reveals the man behind the science, from his early years and thought experiments in Germany, to his marriages and children, his role in the development of the Atomic Bomb and his work for Civil Rights groups in the United States. Drawing on new research and documents only recently made available, this book also includes items of rare facsimile memorabilia, to show you more than Einstein's groundbreaking theories. Documents include: postcard sent to Einstein by Mileva Maric, before she became his first wife; a letter written by Fritz Haber in 1911 to Einstein as he worked on his General Theory of Relativity; the telegram sent by Hendrick Lorentz, informing Einstein that his theory of deflection of light by the sun had been confirmed. This confirmed Einstein's principle of relativity; and, the letter Einstein wrote to President Roosevelt in 1939 warning him of the possibility that Germany could develop an atomic bomb

What did you think of this book: This is an amazing book that immediately caught my attention. I was looking for an interesting gift and I found one. This book is both the biography of an amazing man and a sort of time capsule. The book contains many visual elements such as replicas of letters, postcards and notes that Einstein wrote. The format of the book makes it accessible in a way that traditional biographies are not. Isaacson is an expert on the life and times of Eintein and it really shows in how this book was put together.