Einstein in Love: A Scientific Romance

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Binding: Paperback Dewey Decimal Number: 530.092 EAN: 9780141002217 ISBN: 0141002212 Label: Penguin (Non-Classics) Manufacturer: Penguin (Non-Classics) Number Of Items: 1 Number Of Pages: 432 Publication Date: 2001-10-01 Publisher: Penguin (Non-Classics) Release Date: 2001-10-02 Studio: Penguin (Non-Classics)
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Editorial Reviews: In Einstein in Love, Dennis Overbye has written the first profile of the great scientist to focus exclusively on his early adulthood, when his major discoveries were made. It reveals Einstein to be very much a young man of his time-draft dodger, self-styled bohemian, poet, violinist, and cocky, charismatic genius who left personal and professional chaos in his wake. Drawing upon hundreds of unpublished letters and a decade of research, Einstein in Love is a penetrating portrait of the modern era's most influential thinker.
Spotlight customer reviews: Customer Rating: Summary: Very good study of the real Einstein Comment: Overbye(O) has done his homework with just one minor slip .The result is an excellent overview of the real Einstein.This book can be viewed as an excellent follow up to the excellent book by Roger Highfield and Paul Carter on Einstein published in 1993.O shows clearly that Einstein did realize the importance of the Michelson-Morley light reflection-refraction experimant that demonstrated (a) that the speed of light had to be a constant and (b)that the ether,the medium in which light waves were supposed to be carried in,did not exist.Einstein's refusal to list any references for the relativity paper,given his own extensive work for,and reading and understanding of the rules and procedures of conduct required for publication in academic journals,in the period from 1895-1905,means that it is highly probable, when combined with a careful technical reading of the first 48 of the 54 extant letters of exchange between Albert and Mileva in the period Oct.,1897 and Dec.,1901,that Mileva deserved to be listed as a co-author on one or more of the 4 papers published in 1905 that led to Albert's Nobel Prize award in Physics. O's slip is his failure to go over the letters of exchange between Albert and Mileva in far greater detail than he does.The letters reveal that Einstein was clearly discussing highly technical aspects of his ongoing research with Mileva and asking for her aid and assistance.The smoking gun, demonstrating Albert Einstein's deception,duplicity,and devious nature in his interactions with Mileva, is his continual references in these letters to " our work " and "our theory".These phrases mean exactly what they say-Einstein was working with Mileva as a team.Period. Customer Rating: Summary: The Real Einstein Comment: In this book, Dennis Overbye contributes important history to the already crowded canon on Einstein. That is no easy feat, but as he deftly demonstrated in his brilliant book, "Lonely Hearts of the Cosmos," Overbye has an uncanny ability to research and illuminate the human side of scientists and, in doing so, show us not only the human contribution to cold science but also scientific achievement in spite of the human condition. Overbye also has a nifty ability to explain complicated science to the layman--in this case Newtonian, relativistic and quantum physics--and he succeeds here reasonably well. What emerges is the portrait of a very handsome, sexy, playful, erudite, restless and headstrong physicist immersed in a world on the verge of two world wars and a revolution in our understanding of the physical universe. His passions in love were as strong and complicated as those he brought to both making sense of a world of physics beset by new empirical evidence at odds with traditional theory and a world of geopolitics being torn asunder. Overbye is at his best when illuminating the science and the politics of science, so the life-long sturm and drang of Einstein's love and domestic life become almost-tedious distractions by the latter third of the book, but overall this very interesting book should keep you enthralled from cover to cover. Customer Rating: Summary: Albert: The Romantic Physicist Comment: While separated from wife #1, Mileva, Albert wrote to her a completely one-sided contract of reconciliation (p 267). When she accepted his terms, he backed out because she didn't show proper appreciation for his "generous" offer. During this time, he was having an affair with Elsa (eventual 2nd wife), but this was muddied when he also fell in love with Elsa's daughter, Ilse. Being a little more wishy-washy in romance than he was in physics, he let the women work it out as to who he was going to marry! They decided on Elsa. Many years later, Elsa allowed him to carry on an affair twice a week with a certain woman as long as he remained chaste otherwise. As Albert wrote in a poem to a friend, "the upper half thinks and plans, but the lower half determines our fate." Thanks to Overbye's superb research, we are presented with a history of Albert (as the author always calls him) directly from letters and documents mostly written by Einstein himself. Not by any means limited to his romantic life, we are treated to an in-depth discussion of how he worked his physics out. For example, far from isolated while a patent clerk in his miracle year of 1905, he was actively corresponding with several other physicists, editing scientific journals and conducting "think tanks" about theoretical physics with friends, including wife #1, Mileva. Most of his adult life, he conducted an active social life centered around these think tanks with revolving membership, sometimes involving entertaining others with his excellent violin playing, and frequently women. When he landed his first teaching job, he was unpleasantly surprised by the time and effort it took to compose a decent a comprehensible set of lectures. He toiled conscientiously over his talks, eventually becoming a sought after keynote speaker who would lecture two hours daily for several days at prestigious conventions about subjects involving aspects of relativity. Overbye has written a brilliantly insightful book that brings into focus Albert's creative and unique approach to physics along with his sometimes "teen-ager in love" approach to romance. Scattered throughout the book are first hand looks at many famous scientists of the day, including other Nobel prize winners in their correspondence and first hand interactions with the charming Einstein. If I must criticize this book, it does seem to end rather abruptly, and covers the last 25 years of his life in very few pages. Perhaps another book is lurking in Overbye's mind for these years, for which there are undoubtedly volumes of more correspondence from the prolific Albert Einstein. A very enthusiastic 5 stars for this exhilarating read. Customer Rating: Summary: Another Winner Comment: Dennnis Overbye has been blessed with a unique talent - the ability to translated complex scientific theory into language that the thinking reader can understand. In "Lonely Hearts of the Cosmos" we read about the theory and history of cosmology along with the personal travails of one scientist an the bitter infighting among all scientists. In this non-novel novel, we are immersed into the nascent world of relativity. From its theoretical origins [thinking outside the box] we are given a review of classical physics and the theories / illuminations of the greatest scientist of this age. The scientific story advances within the framework of Einstein's personal life. It is rare that an individual can succeed in all areas of endeavor, be they love, work or play. One feels some disappointment with his personal travails and while he may appear cold or disloyal, many times great people sublimate their relationships to their passion. Unlike other intellectuals whose personal lives were a total repudiation of the their professed ideology (Marx was an utter slackard, Hellman and Brecht were serial liars, Fuller switched positions with the wind, scolding the world when they began to ignore his newest mania), Einstein never tried to impose a social scheme on others. He loved quietly as one should and made his mistakes in private, again as one should. All in all, a successful work. Customer Rating: Summary: A Romance of Many Dimensions Comment: This book gave me a much more detailed and intimate look at Einstein's personal and intellectual life than anything else I've read, and it makes for a truly fascinating read. Overbye spent years poring through Einstein's letters and personal papers to research and write this book, and it shows. There is a wealth of detail describing and chronicling Einstein's life as he struggled with the creation of the momentous scientific discoveries that were to make him famous, especially the long and difficult path to his final solution for the General Relativity problem. Along with this, you get a detailed look even into his personal day-to-day life, learning about his friends, scientific associates, and even his loves. Einstein is no longer a towering, remote intellect plumbing the depths and secrets of the universe in cloistered solitude; Overbye's account displays Einstein's very human side also, showing him to be a man of his times, often with Bohemian and avant-garde personal, social, and political ideas. For example, Overbye mentions how Einstein and his first wife, Mileva, had their first baby out of wedlock, and subsequently married. And the dark side of Einstein's personal life, the unhappy ending to his first marriage and his often careless dealings with the women in his life, don't escape Overbye's purview. But don't be misled by the title, it's not just about Einstein's sometimes checkered love-life (although he did have more romantic dalliances than I would have expected); Overbye also does an excellent job of presenting Einstein's most important ideas, including a good explanation of the special and general theory of relativity. And last but not least, Overbye is a fine writer whose prose flows and doesn't get in the way of the story, and who has a good command not only of the personal, but also the scientific side of Einstein's life. Altogether a well-written and fascinating book on a fascinating historical and scientific figure. (P.S. Did anybody happen to notice the title of my review is the sub-title for Edwin Abbott's classic mathematical and social allegory, "Flatland, a Romance of Many Dimensions?" But it works equally well here as a segue into my review of Overbye's biography.) More Reviews