Einstein for Anyone: A Quick Read 2nd Revised Edition (Vernon Series on the History of Science) (Vernon the History of Science) - Softcover

David Topper

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1622731999 ISBN 13: 9781622731992

Publisher: Vernon Press, 2016

Synopsis

This book seeks to fill a gap: the need for a very short book on Albert Einstein that gives a brief but up-to-date story of his life and thoughts, with a short and simple explanation of what he contributed to 20th century physics. Here is the compact story of this famous scientist, from the smiling contrarian in his grade school picture to the nonconformist adult who refused to groom his hair. There is a chapter on his habitually thorny relationships with women and close relatives: his first love, his two wives, his parents and his children none of which was a painless union. The birth of an illegitimate daughter, the estrangement of his sons after the divorce from his first wife, his ever controlling mother all had a profound psychological effect on Einsteins personality. Another chapter focuses on the young Jew struggling with his self-identify, who in adulthood was unwaveringly committed to social justice and democratic principles that he believed were rooted in Jewish ethical values. It started with his early flirtation with Orthodox Judaism, only to be vehemently rejected later when he became a science-obsessed teenager. His exposure to latent and overt anti-Semitism when he moved to Germany in 1914 led to his subsequent espousal (with misgivings) of the Zionist movement. When he moved to the USA in 1933 fleeing Nazi Germany, he was confronted with the endemic racism against African-Americans, an issue he spoke-out boldly against, as a supporter of the burgeoning civil rights movement. This work ignited the ire of FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover, who had already opened a file on Einstein in 1932, because of his pacifist activities in Germany. When he moved to America, Hoover suspected him of being a Communist spy. Finally, there is the scientist who expressed his ideals through his radical ideas about the physical world, as he reworked our conceptions of space, time, and motion.

About this title

About the Author

David R. Topper, Professor of History at the University of Winnipeg (retired, June 2012), from 1970 taught courses in the history of science and the history of art. He was the recipient of two teaching awards: the Robson Memorial Award for Excellence in Teaching at the University of Winnipeg (1981), and the National 3M Teaching Fellowship (1987). He previously published three books: Quirky Sides of Scientists: True Tales of Ingenuity and Error from Physics and Astronomy (Springer, 2007), How Einstein Created Relativity from Physics and Astronomy (Springer, 2013), and Idolatry and Infinity: Of Art, Math, and God (Brown Walker, 2014).

Edition details

• Publisher: Vernon Press
• Publication date: 2016
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1622731999
• ISBN 13: 9781622731992
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 2
• Number of pages: 128