Einstein: A Biography Paperback – 23 September 2016

This is a well written, engaging account of Einstein's life. It differs from most biographies in the sense that it proceeds by examining themes in Einstein's life as opposed to telling his life story in strict chronological order.The main stages and successes and failures of the subject's life are covered in sufficient detail The author is generally successful is describing the essentially mathematical content of Einstein's theories in a way which can be followed by non-mathematicians.After completing the book, while appreciating the genius of Einstein, I was left with a feeling of sadness. Either because of his essential character or because of his single-mindedness, Einstein's personal life was less successful. Neither of his two marriages gave him the happiness that he would have hoped for and he spent the last third of his life in a country he didn't really like.

I found this biography easy to read and follow. It tries to present Einstein in an objective light, but is lyrical and thoughtful. Without casting judgement the writer moves you to make your own judgement.I feel only sadness when I hear of Einsteins private life and what happened to his wives and children. In that sense he was as ordinary as the rest of us, and perhaps more tragic.I feel only total exhilaration and excitement when I read how he came about the theory of relativity which surely is the most awesome thought man has ever had? Tough competition from Darwin on Evolution I think and of course Watson and Crick with DNA.He let his religious and philosophical prejudices cloud his scientific judgement sometimes, but relativity opened up cosmology (how was the universe created) which allowed science to move into an area dominated by religion and myths. He would have smiled I think when the Supernova teams under Perlmutter and Schmidt discovered our universe is accelerating its expansion.The writer mixes the chapters so that you follow his life as his ideas develop. As a biography and style of writing throughly recommended.

Bought for mum and she is really enjoying it

I have read a number of biographies of Einstein over the years. This is, in my view by far the best. I gave me a much more satisfying sense of Einstein's character than any other biography including Issacson's. The process of how he arrived at his results was also well done. This is the one to get.

Brilliant book! Insightful, well-written, engaging and with plenty of scientific detail to keep an amateur happy yet without being overly heavy.