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| Author: Walter Isaacson
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Category: Book
List Price: $32.00
Buy Used: $4.47
You Save: $27.53 (86%)
New (68) Used (107) Collectible (14) from $4.47
Avg. Customer Rating:  201 reviews
Sales Rank: 4924
Media: Hardcover
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 704
Shipping Weight (lbs): 2.4
Dimensions (in): 9.3 x 6.4 x 2
ISBN: 0743264738
Dewey Decimal Number: 530.092
EAN: 9780743264730
ASIN: 0743264738
Publication Date: April 10, 2007
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Customer Reviews:
 "Einstein" July 6, 2008
0 out of 2 found this review helpful
Absolutely brilliant! Walter Issacson takes one to the heart of the great Einstein by making him accessible to the arm chair intellectual!
I even was able to understand the mathmetical offerings thanks to his great explanations!
I continue to be a devoted fan of Amazon!
Thank you
Great Science, Great History, Great Biography!!! July 4, 2008
1 out of 2 found this review helpful
First I read Isaacson's "Benjamin Franklin." Then I attended a lecture and book signing in New Orleans where the author delivered a wonderful lecture on Einstein after which he autographed my book. After that, how could I not read it?
Walter Isaacson is a brilliant man and a superb biographer! He truly understands Einstein's science and presents it in a way that is understandable to us mortals (well, almost). Any failures to understand the science though were totally mine....not the author's, and I certainly gained a much improved understanding of relativity, general relativity, quantum mechanics, etc. from having read this book. (Actually, I was reminded why I changed my intended college major from physics to other arenas during my freshman year.) I also gained a new knowledge of and appreciation for the other scientific luminaries of the early twentieth century as well as for the politics of scientific academia.
Beyond the science, Isaacson thoroughly explains Einstein the man. It is interesting to see how Einstein's early struggles to enter academia actually allowed him to think unconventionally and to develop the groundbreaking theories that made him famous. The book explores how his deep feelings for mankind could coexist in a personality that struggled with close personal relationships as well as how such an amazing scientific mind could sometimes be simplistic and naive in geo-political matters. Einstein's transition from pacifist to reluctant advocate of armament was also instructive. The perspectives of twentieth century history, Einstein's "rock star" status, his role in advocating the nuclear bomb, his religious views, his sense of being Jewish, his relationships with his family and peers and many other aspects of his life and personality are all covered well and entertainingly.
Who would think a biography of a scientist could be so interesting? While the actual science is sometimes a bit ponderous, it is necessary for the story, and Isaacson presents it well. The rest reads like a novel and, at several points near the end, is actually laugh out loud funny. I cannot recommend this book enough!!!
 Great subject. Dumb author. July 1, 2008
0 out of 5 found this review helpful
This biography's attempt to turn the theories of the greatest mind of the twentieth century into a function of personality is pathetically pedestrian and inane. A pity.
 Einstein: His Life and Universe June 27, 2008
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
Informative book on the life and mind of Einstein. A bit over my head at times but still loved it.
A joy even for the scientifically illiterate June 21, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
As the title of this review indicates I am ashamed to admit I am a scientific illiterate. I barely got through high school Chemistry and Trigonometry. As such I was reluctant to try this book. But I loved Isaacson's work on Franklin, and as such decided to give this a try. I could not put this book down. The greatest attribute I can pay to this book is that while parts of it were unfathomable to me, I persevered through them with the knowledge that soon I would again be enjoying Isaacson's incredible narrative. This book is not simply a biography. Nor is it, as I wrongly anticipated, an incomprehensible analysis of advanced scientific thought. Rather it is a look at the burning issues of the 20th Century (Nationalism, Socialism and Communism, Appeasement and the rise of Nazism, Hiroshima, McCarthyism...) through the life of its greatest thinker.
If, like me, you are among the unenlightened regarding Physics and high level Math, do not be intimidated by this book. You too will wade through relativity, electromagnetism, and the search for a unified field theory, knowing that soon you will be back to a more understandable summary of a wonderful life.
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