Overview

Albert Einstein revolutionised science and our view of the universe. In one extraordinary year, Einstein re-wrote the textbooks of science and, ever since, physics has been little more than a series of footnotes to the theories of a 26-year-old patent-office clerk. In 1905, Einstein not only overturned the Newtonian absolutes of time and space, but also transformed our understanding of matter at the sub-atomic level, for which he later received the Nobel Prize. By the time of his death in 1955, his name was synonymous with genius and he was familiar to people throughout the world. In recent years, however, new light has been thrown on Einstein's private life, including the story of his student love affair with Mileva Maric and their illegitimate daughter, Lieserl. A rogue-like rebel in his life, as in his science, Einstein was never afraid to break the rules. Alongside Galileo and Newton, Einstein ranks as one of the greatest scientific minds. After Einstein, neither the world nor physics could be the same again.

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9781904341154

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'Peter Smith writes with admirable simplicity...this is a marvellous book' Daily Telegraph 'Einstein's complicated character is all here. He was a world celebrity, influential on high events and policies. But there was more to him than science and violin playing: his life as a young man includes episodes that would have been pounced on by today's tabloids ... Concise, complete, well produced and lively throughout ...' -- Roy Herbert New Scientist

Author Information

Peter Smith regularly reviews science books for the Guardian, and has written for the Independent, the Financial Times and the Times Literary Supplement and other journals. In 1997 he was awarded a prestigious British Academy three-year Postdoctoral Fellowship, an award made each year to a handful of outstanding young scholars. He teaches at University College London where he is an Honorary Research Fellow in the Science and Technology Studies Department. His first book, Metaphor and Materiality: German Literature and the World-View of Science 1780-1955, was published in 2000 and according to one reviewer 'puts much other work in so-called cultural studies to shame.'

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