Einstein Defiant: Genius Versus Genius in the Quantum Revolution

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Summary: Wonderful Book fro the Centenary!
Review: Anyone looking for something other than a straightforward biography of Einstein should consider this wonderful book, a full exposition of Einstein's vision of science and of the world science describes. By looking at the clash of approaches between two major 20th Century thinkers, Bolles elucidates a larger cultural clash that animates the 20th and, now, the 21st centuries, between those who are careless of ideals and essences, focused on "whatever works," and those who are more concerned with meaning and grasping something whole.

In his review of Bolles' book in the Washington Post "Book World," David Bodanis wrote that this "tender, insightful book" is "the best popular account I know of this central episode in 20th-century thought." "Tender" is an unusual word to associate with a book about such a subject, but Bolles, whose list of writings is as varied as it is extensive, manages to bring a seriousness of purpose to all his work which extends well beyond an accumulation of facts, to something quite profound about the nature of man and his struggle with Being.

THe book on Einstein for this year (and next)? Blair Bolles' "Einstein Defiant."

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Summary: Quantum Theory's Challenge
Review: Bolles has put a brilliant spotlight on one of the central philosophical questions confronting the physical sciences. The debate between Einstein and Bohr, portrayed with dramatic personal texture in a historical context, continues to this day. Relativity and quantum theory are presented in a manner that enlightens the reader without intimidating the nonspecialist. The leading physicists of the early 20th century are brought vividly to life through Bolles' sharing of their all too human foibles. The book is richly annotated, and draws from an impressive fount of reference material.

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Summary: Human beings who spearheaded opposing schools of thought
Review: Einstein Defiant: Genius Versus Genius In The Quantum Revolution is the true story of the conflict between reknowned physicist and genius Albert Einstein, and the pragmatic physicist and expert Niels Bohr, concerning quantum mechanics. Bohr embraced the new theory that centered about unpredictibility, while Einstein's dismay at the thought of God playing "dice with the universe" is well known to this day. Both great scientific thinkers earned Nobel Prizes on the same day, and both shared a lasting and critical debate in lecture halls from Sweden to Japan, with nothing less than human understanding of how the Universe works at stake. A captivating, meticulous account of the history of scientific discovery, theory, extrapolation, and the intellectual human beings who spearheaded opposing schools of thought.

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Summary: Story as Rich as a Novel
Review: I am not a scientist or science buff, but I loved this book. The book shows how Einstein thought about his work, what he imagined, and how he planned to go about it. Einsteinc omes across as a down-to-earth person. I had never heard of Niels Bohr, but as the quantum revolution unfolded, he too made a key contribution. Einstein and Bohr fought over quantum physics: Einstein a realist, Bohr a pragmatist. This tension between them made the story flow. I am not a scientist, but the story made me care about Einstein's and Bohr's ideas. What will stay in my mind is the picture of Einstein on a quest to understand the universe.

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Summary: The Emergence of a New Theory
Review: In 1895 and then 1905 Einstein published first the Special and then the General Theories of Relativity. In the next years as the full implications of the theory came to be understood, new theories began to be developed, new experiments began to extend the boundries of physics.

Beginning in about 1920, these new boundries began to explore the nature of light. This eventually led to Quantum mechanics. A key to Quantum theory was that you could examing a lot of something, like a lot of atoms emitting light and statistically predict that so many atoms would emit light, but you can't say for certain just which atom would do so. Niels Bohr was a champion of the Quantum approach.

Einstein rejected this statistical approach with the famous statement, "God does not play dice with the Universe."

But that is exactly what God does. This well researched book is the story of the development of Quantum mechanics and the arguments between Einstein and Bohr. One fascinating aspect is that as Bohr (and others) developed the theory, Einstein would find holes in their thinking. This forced them to work ever harder to perfect the theory. The result was a consistent, well developed theory available much sooner than it would have been othwise.

There are other books that discuss this time and transition, including Andrew Whitaker's excellent 'Einstein, Bohr and the Quantum Dilemma.'But you'd better know a good bit about physics before starting it. This book, instead is written for the interested layman, and isn't so technical that you can't follow it. Highly recommended.

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Summary: Science in the Long Shadows of War
Review: The content of this book has been described in detail by preceding reviews, so I'll just say the following. Bolles's elegant style along with the straightforward structure of the book make it a singular pleasure to read. By closely integrating the personalities, prejudices and intellectual tendencies of the principals and the socio-political milieu in which they lived and worked, Bolles provides what is probably the first readable insight into an early and critical "battle" of modern physics that is available outside of obscure scholarly monographs and journals. As a reader interested not only in science but in the general history of Europe, Bolles not only satisfied my appetite for a well-researched scientific history, but gave me an unexpected and fascinating new slant on the intellectual life of the Continent in the shadows of World War I. Bolles is a science writer par excellence (his earlier book, "The Ice Finders"-- which is available on Amazon.com-- is also a five-star book that readers will thoroughly enjoy). Congratulations to the author on writing what is undoubtedly the best book on this crucial revolution in the development of a key aspect of modern physics available today.

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Summary: Great Research Enlivens a Great Story
Review: The research behind this book is amazing. The author has stuffed this book with many little facts that enrich the scenes. For example, there is a chapter in which Einstein and his rival Niels Bohr first meet and walk together through Berlin while they dispute physics. It sounds arcane, but the research Bolles did brings the story alive. First, it is plain that there is no record of what the two men actually said. Bolles does not make up dialogue, but he presents the two scientists' positions in back-and-forth form so it feels like a debate. There are many scenes in the book where Bohr and Einstein dispute in this manner. The research necessary to understand the changes in their arguments at different times must have been great. On top of that, the author includes descriptions of Berlin while the two men walk through neighborhood after neighborhood. Added to this is an account of the absentmindedness of the two as they ignore the city around them. The result mixes science, humor, and 1920's Berlin into a scene that is as sharp as something in a movie. And there is scene after scene like this. The catastrophe of inflation that destroyed everybody's savings (including that of Einstein's wife) never sounded so hellish. I noticed that one Amazon reviewer complained about this book's research, but that is unfair. We get data from old guidebooks, photos, diaries, letters, newspapers, science journals, and many other sources. These details are seamlessly sewn together into one grand fabric.

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Summary: Mediocre book on a great topic
Review: This book covers a fascinating and important topic, but it fails to live up to its potential. There are several problems that weaken the book.

First, Bolles' writing style often gets in the way and on some occassions reads like a Freshman descriptive writing assignment. While he's right in his goal to weave in world events and the personal lives of the main figures with a discussion of the science, his execution is awkward.

Second, the book is plagued by the use of dubious analogies to explain the experimental and theoretical physics of the quantum revolution. As a scientist (but not a physicist), I find that the analogies often seem incorrect or misleading.

Finally, the book relies very heavily on secondary sources, which perhaps is only a minor problem in a book aimed at a popular audience.

I still enjoyed the book because the subject is fun and fascinating, and because it is a book that makes an effort to deal with both the personalities and the science in early 20th century physics.

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Summary: Understanding Einstein
Review: This is a great read - easy and pleasant. It won't leave you going to sleep struggling with making sense of the laws of physics when racing along side a light beam in a train but it does give a colorful and insightful view of what was probably the greatest mind of the twentieth century. You will gain a better understand the workings of Einstein and the relationships and conflicts in his professional life. If you've wondered about his accomplishments and why so many recognized his achievements as outstanding, this book will put it all in perspective.

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Summary: A Bright and Enlightening Book
Review: This is a lively and colorful presentation of Einstein, and Bohr, illuminating fundamental issues in physics, that we can rarely grasp.