Starred review from July 30, 2007
Herrmann's reading offers solid, enjoyable and informative listening. Herrmann knows when his material is strong and does not try to compete with it. Instead, he delivers a straightforward yet endearing portrait of arguably the best mind of the last century. Herrmann keeps the text purely narrative, refraining from affecting a German accent when quoting Einstein and others, with the occasional accent appropriately slipping in only when pronouncing foreign words. In this, the first full biography based on Einstein's newly released personal letters, Isaacson takes care to keep the great mind's discoveries and theories comprehensible. Einstein, whose internally visualized “thought experiments” often led to his groundbreaking observations (at 16 he imagined chasing a light beam until he caught up to it), expressed these images with simplicity and elegance. Einstein's rebellious personality as well as the internal workings of his brilliant mind are brought vividly to life thanks to Herrmann's perfect reading, which is filled with warmth and accuracy. Simultaneous release with the S&S hardcover (Reviews, Feb. 12).
February 12, 2007
Acclaimed biographer Isaacson examines the remarkable life of "science's preeminent poster boy" in this lucid account (after 2003's Benjamin Franklin
and 1992's Kissinger
). Contrary to popular myth, the German-Jewish schoolboy Albert Einstein not only excelled in math, he mastered calculus before he was 15. Young Albert's dislike for rote learning, however, led him to compare his teachers to "drill sergeants." That antipathy was symptomatic of Einstein's love of individual and intellectual freedom, beliefs the author revisits as he relates his subject's life and work in the context of world and political events that shaped both, from WWI and II and their aftermath through the Cold War. Isaacson presents Einstein's research—his efforts to understand space and time, resulting in four extraordinary papers in 1905 that introduced the world to special relativity, and his later work on unified field theory—without equations and for the general reader. Isaacson focuses more on Einstein the man: charismatic and passionate, often careless about personal affairs; outspoken and unapologetic about his belief that no one should have to give up personal freedoms to support a state. Fifty years after his death, Isaacson reminds us why Einstein (1879–1955) remains one of the most celebrated figures of the 20th century. 500,000 firsr printing, 20-city author tour, first serial to
Time; confirmed appearance on
Good Morning America.
Starred review from February 15, 2007
This biography of Albert Einstein (1879-1955) takes a cue from Isaacson's recent success, "Benjamin Franklin", and is written for a general audience. Although the author appropriately makes Einstein's extraordinary scientific achievements the center of attention, he also covers his subject's complex and often painful familial relationships, his political interventions and comments, and his remarkable celebrity status (for a scientist) with the American public. Isaacson himself does not have a strong scientific background, but professional specialists in physics and mathematics assisted him effectively. This work, the first full biography of Einstein since all his papers have been made available, is well written and sensibly balanced in its treatment of the famed theoretical physicist, his family, and his friends. Certainly one of the best and most complete Einstein biographies thus far; strongly recommended for public and academic libraries. [See Prepub Alert, "LJ" 12/06.]Jack W. Weigel, Ann Arbor, MI
Copyright 2007 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.
Starred review from March 15, 2007
Isaacson--formerly the managing editor at " Time" magazine and head of CNN, currently CEO of the Aspen Institute--has written acclaimed biographies of Henry Kissinger and Benjamin Franklin. In his penetrating and magnificently nuanced biography of Albert Einstein, Isaacson elucidates Einstein's nonconformist and philosophical temperament and the particular nature of his genius within a richly textured social context, and he precisely explains Einstein's "astonishing, mysterious, and counterintuitive" scientific achievements and their epic consequences. Isaacson explores Einstein's valiant advocacy for peace and justice in view of the genocidal anti-Semitism that drove him from Germany and revels in Einstein's pithy humor and role as scientific superstar. Isaacson tells in full the anguished tale of Einstein's disastrous marriage to Mileva Mari? and his appalling missteps as a father, the private failings of a public humanist. But what distinguishes this extraordinarily encompassing and profoundly affecting biography most are Isaacson's empathic insights into painful paradoxes. Einstein believed in an ordered universe of "harmony and beauty," yet his discoveries revealed uncertainty, randomness, and chance. Einstein spent the second half of his life not only attempting to refute his own revolutionary findings but also witnessing the creation of potentially apocalyptic weapons that harnessed the diabolical powers he unveiled. (Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2007, American Library Association.)