Einstein: : The Life and Times

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Summary: Where is Mileva?
Review: This is a good biography of Einstein as far as it goes, but it is a bit dated and incomplete as far as his first wife Mileva Maric and their three children are concerned. Clark refers to her only a few times, and he introduces her as the daughter of a Serbian peasant. She was brilliant in her own right, and there is strong evidence that she was instrumental in developing his theories of relativity. Anybody who doubts this should consult the love letters Einstein wrote to her between about 1900-1905. He refers to "our work on relativity," and some of the letters actually contain formulas and equations!
I have never understood why Einstein has the reputation as the greatest genius etc. He had a lot of help with the theory of relativity (e.g., Poincare and many others), and to the end of his life he refused to believe in the reality of quantum theory, what is thought to be the most precise theory in the history of science. Wouldn't a genius see the truth of this theory?

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Summary: a great analysis
Review: This is an exceptionally well written biography of perhaps the greatest scientific genius in human history.Clark superbly conveys the story of Einstein`s journey through physics,the world wars & Zionism.Be warned,though:the book`s encyclopedic nature & voluminous content ensures that reading it till the end is pie in the sky for people who are not used to heavy reading & deep contemplation on the topics discussed.

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Summary: Gives you keen insight into a remarkable man
Review: This is probably the most widely read biography on Einstein and with good reason: the author does a fine job of detailing the life of the man who pretty much dominated 20th century physics. It is a cliche now to say that his theories changed the way physicists think about the natural world, and his demeanor and politics continue to be the rage in so-called popular culture. Young students of physics usually get their first taste of advanced mathematical formalism when being introduced to his general theory of relativity, and the author, even though he is not a physics educator, actually does a decent job of explaining the concepts that Einstein was responsible for in his life work. The author does not leave out the politics of the man who continues to be known for his Zionism, and the reader will finish the book with an appreciation of the complexity of his thinking and his personal adherences to this point of view. Some readers may be perplexed on his associaton with the mustard gas researchers Walther Nernst and Fritz Haber, but put in context, as the author does with clarity, readers will see the reasons for this along with Einstein's commitment to the development of atomic weapons.

The author also conveys the excitement surrounding the experimental confirmation of some of Einstein's theories, particularly the photoelectric effect and the bending of the light around the Sun. In addition, the reader can appreciate more the concern among many physicists at the time of Einstein's use of "high-brow" mathematics in general theory of relativity. Now of course, such concern has definitely subsided, for today's theories of gravitation are laden with highly estoric constructions from mathematics. Einstein, as the author notes, was very young when he developed his theories. Modern theories of gravitation, such as superstring and M-theories require such a high level of mathematics that physicists who make contributions in these theories generally spend many years obtaining this background. It is interesting to reflect on how Einstein would have reacted to these theories and elementary particles physics. It is also interesting to ask whether Einstein's politics would be the same if he were alive today, given the current situation in the Middle East. In addition, computers were not available to Einstein in the way there are now to all physicists. Would Einstein have taken to computers? To computational physics? His general theory of relativity is now one of the main applications of high performance computing and symbolic programming.