Separating man from genius, Einstein offers a startling new portrait of the iconic physicist. Wild-haired eccentric, revolutionary scientist, peace activist, Albert Einstein is well established in the popular imagination. He is celebrated for his contributions to our understanding of the cosmos, and his personal lifeparticularly his troubled relationship with his family and his numerous affairs with womencontinues to generate controversy.
Jürgen Neffe takes a completely new approach to Einstein, giving readers an intimate look at Einstein's life and work. He debunks popular stereotypes and explains Einstein's scientific achievements in clear and accessible prose. Drawing on newly unearthed documents, including a series of letters from Einstein to his sons, Neffe presents a rich psychological portrait of a man whose character has too often been lost in the bright glow of celebrity.
Translator's PrefacePrologue: The Immortal: Einstein's Secret1. His Second Birth: The Fateful Year 19192. How Albert Became Einstein: The Psychological Makeup of a Genius3. ""A New Era!"": From Industrialist's Son to Inventor4. Of Dwarfs and Giants: A Brief History of Science, According to Einstein5. The Burden of Inheritance: Einstein Detectives in Action6. ""Elsa or Ilse"": The Physicist and the Women7. The Miraculous Path to the Miraculous Year: Einstein's Angels8. Squaring the Light: Why Einstein Had to Discover the Theory of Relativity9. Why Is the Sky Blue? Einstein'A Career10. ""Dear Boys... Your Papa"": The Drama of the Brilliant Father11. Anatomy of a Discovery: How Einstein Found the General Theory of Relativity12. Lambda Lives: Einstein, ""Chief Engineer of the Universe""13. Spacetime Quakes: The Theory of Relativity Put to the Test14. His Best Foe: Einstein, Germany, and Politics15. ""I Am Not a Tiger"": Einstein, the Human Side16. A Jew Named Albert: His God Was a Principle17. The End Justifies the Doubts: Einstein and Quantum Theory18. Of the Magnitude of Failure: The Quest for the Unified Theory19. From Barbaria to Dollaria: Einstein's America20. ""People Are a Bad Invention"": Einstein, the Atomic Bomb, McCarthy, and the EndNotesBibliographyAcknowledgmentsIndex
""A comprehensive, sympathetic, and very readable portrait of the man, the celebrity, the scientist, and the theories that transformed physics and the modern world... Stellar research and prose combine in a splendid biography of physics' most luminous supernova.""
