Dear Professor Einstein: Albert Einstein's Letters to and from Children

Rating:
Summary: Not what I expected
Review: A good book, but it was not what I expected. Only half the book is actual letters. There are very few with responses from Einstein. There are more letters from children than to children.

Rating:
Summary: Misleading Title
Review: I had been looking forward to this book's release for some time. As yet another self-confessed Einstein fan, the idea of a collection of correspondences between the greatest scientific mind in the history of human endeavour, and curious children from around the world, was irresistable. So, when I finally got my hands on it, I wanted to enjoy it very much. However, in the end, I felt a bit cheated and misled.

First of all, virtually the entire first half of the book (the first 110 pages!) contains no letters whatsoever. Instead it covers a biography of the scientist, discussions on his education, a photo gallery etc... While these were reasonably interesting, you can find similar material elsewhere, and was not the reason why I purchased the book.

And the letters themselves were a bit disappointing. While I enjoyed reading the funny and childish letters written to Einstein, the questions and comments they included whet my appetite for how Einstein might respond (are you going to go insane because all geniuses are said to go insane? Did Houdini discover the 4th dimension, allowing him to walk through walls? etc...). However, there were very few actual replies from Einstein (though the few there were were fascinating to read). Furthermore, many of the letters by Einstein included those to his own relatives or to grown ups - which I felt was not in keeping with the promise of the book.

This book reminded me of those music albums you buy because you hear one or two songs that you really like, only to discover that the remaining eight songs are just fillers to make up the space. Similarly, this book took a few gems and then made a book of it by adding a lot of extra stuff.

This book, titled "Dear Professor Einstein - Albert Einstein's Letters to and From Children" is misleading. I would have felt less cheated if it read something like "Dear Professor - a Biography of Einstein, including letters written to him (mainly from children) and the very few responses we could find that he made". However, that is a bit of a mouthful and probably less appealing from a marketing point of view.

I still gave it a 3 because it's about Einstein... did I mention I was an Einstein fan?

Rating:
Summary: Misleading Title
Review: I had been looking forward to this book's release for some time. As yet another self-confessed Einstein fan, the idea of a collection of correspondences between the greatest scientific mind in the history of human endeavour, and curious children from around the world, was irresistable. So, when I finally got my hands on it, I wanted to enjoy it very much. However, in the end, I felt a bit cheated and misled.

First of all, virtually the entire first half of the book (the first 110 pages!) contains no letters whatsoever. Instead it covers a biography of the scientist, discussions on his education, a photo gallery etc... While these were reasonably interesting, you can find similar material elsewhere, and was not the reason why I purchased the book.

And the letters themselves were a bit disappointing. While I enjoyed reading the funny and childish letters written to Einstein, the questions and comments they included whet my appetite for how Einstein might respond (are you going to go insane because all geniuses are said to go insane? Did Houdini discover the 4th dimension, allowing him to walk through walls? etc...). However, there were very few actual replies from Einstein (though the few there were were fascinating to read). Furthermore, many of the letters by Einstein included those to his own relatives or to grown ups - which I felt was not in keeping with the promise of the book.

This book reminded me of those music albums you buy because you hear one or two songs that you really like, only to discover that the remaining eight songs are just fillers to make up the space. Similarly, this book took a few gems and then made a book of it by adding a lot of extra stuff.

This book, titled "Dear Professor Einstein - Albert Einstein's Letters to and From Children" is misleading. I would have felt less cheated if it read something like "Dear Professor - a Biography of Einstein, including letters written to him (mainly from children) and the very few responses we could find that he made". However, that is a bit of a mouthful and probably less appealing from a marketing point of view.

I still gave it a 3 because it's about Einstein... did I mention I was an Einstein fan?

Rating:
Summary: A better title than book
Review: The idea conveyed by the title is wonderful, and to some degree the notion is realized. Unfortunately, it doesn't really fly. While there still may be merit in study of Einstein's educational comments to children, this volume doesn't offer much insight.

The book starts with Einstein's grand daughter's recollections of grandpa, then her personal bio of Einstein, then another two mini-bio's by 3rd parties and a bunch of Einstein photos. Finally, we get to the letters, but 'Einstein' only replies to about 1 of 5 letters. Maybe this is enough if Einstein had addressed actually addressed the issues, but they generally offer polite parental advice: study hard and hope for the best.

A few answers might give us a peak into Einstein's metaphysics, but the author doesn't explore them. For example, one child asks if scientists pray. Einstein answers that A) Scientist know prayer cannot influence the laws of physics, so they don't pray. B) But, scientists know their knowledge is limited, so C) they realize God might work in a restricted domain. D) This means scientists have a very special relationship with God. Left unsaid was the less than politically correct D) So, scientists still pray.

Rating:
Summary: Great book ABOUT Einstein, not by him.
Review: This book has very little actually written by Einstein himself. It gives a brief biography and background of Einstein. The letters are from children and show the enormity of his fanbase in the 1940's and 50's. The biography is informative and there are plenty of interesting pictures. The letters are interesting, but toward the end, they seem repetitive. Still, it is a great book worth buying. Barnes and noble has a cheaper edition, which makes it well worth the 6 dollars!

Rating:
Summary: Get to know the other side of Einstein!
Review: This is a beautiful and touching book. The letters from children are printed exactly as they are written, spelling errors and all--some letters are even printed in their handwritten form. It is amazing how insightful some of the questions from the children are. Einstein's responses are written on the level of the original letter-writer, and are always well thought-out. I'm a big Einstein fan, and this was a gift that I greatly enjoyed. There were also some very interesting pictures of Einstein included in this book.