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Einstein: His Life and Universe [ABRIDGED] [AUDIOBOOK] (Audio CD) (Audio CD)
by Walter Isaacson (Author) , Edward Herrmann (Narrator)
| Category:
Biography |
| Market price: ¥ 298.00
MSL price:
¥ 288.00
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| Stock:
Pre-order item, lead time 3-7 weeks upon payment [ COD term does not apply to pre-order items ] |
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MSL rating:
 Good for Gifts |
| MSL Pointer Review:
An awesome book about a man who was larger than life: a thorough portrait of Einstein, which also draws out the flawed human in this great man. |
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AllReviews |
1 Total 1 pages 8 items |
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A reader (MSL quote), USA
<2007-06-04 00:00>
Well written book for the lay person. Reveals many interesting aspects of Einstein's life and works. His works are presented in such a way that you don't need to be a physicist to enjoy the book. |
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D. Buxman (MSL quote), USA
<2007-06-04 00:00>
In my experience, biographies of great scientists often leave the reader in a fog of technical complexity. While this book is not "Physics in One Simple Lesson," Walter Isaacson did a wonderful job of telling the story of the man and making the scientific aspects sufficiently understandable to be useful in grasping the magnitude of Einstein's intellect. This book is meticulously researched and sourced, yet written in a witty and entertaining way that makes reading it a pleasure. The central lesson that I was left with was the importance of independent thinking in any context. Einstein made it clear that conventional wisdom is often neither practical, nor wise. I was struck by his resiliance in his early years and his good humor in really tough times. I also appreciated the fact that the author was willing to examine all aspects of Eintein's personality, both favorable and unfavorable. |
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Kerry D. Sullivan (MSL quote), USA
<2007-06-04 00:00>
Walter Isaacson paints an extraordinarily engaging and likeable portrait of the most brilliant scientist in the last three hundred years.
While Einstein's scientific accomplishments are laid out well and placed in excellent context (though I don't pretend to understand them much), Isaacson's portrait of him as a brave, profoundly moral, ideosyncratic, and immenently likeable person caught my imagination even more - probably because I can understand the inherent bravery and goodness in standing up to German Nazism, McCarthyism, and Racism, even if I can't quite get my mind around Einstein's scientific accomplishments. (Einstein had a way of being on the right side of history even -perhaps especially - in areas beyond his technical expertize.)
Isaacson admires his subject unabashedly. He captures his warts, but without fixating on them. And Einstein's unassuming humility and enjoyment of life as it came to him shine through. I closed the book with the thought that almost anyone who reads it would put the good doctor on their short list of historical characters they would most like to drink a beer with - and thank for making the world a better place. |
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W. Jamison (MSL quote), USA
<2007-06-04 00:00>
Besides giving new insights into this life and those around him a tremendous effort with the assistance of folks like Brian Greene and high school teachers make this a great way to learn science. Young people should read this book. It makes physics fun and understandable. Why not use it as a textbook? It certainy would not replace a text book but it applies narration to the developments putting them into a context more easily remembered. |
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W. P. Strange (MSL quote), USA
<2007-06-04 00:00>
Issacson is one of the best biographers working today, his Benjamin Franklin was a masterpiece and this time he has equaled that effort. Albert Einstein comes alive as a real human being, wiping away some of the foolish myths that have followed his legend. He is seen in his domestic life even as he works on some of his greatest accomplishments, and in humanizing him Isasson exposes how truly special a person Einstein was. |
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Yesh Prabhu (MSL quote), USA
<2007-06-04 00:00>
It is quite possible that growing up slowly has its advantages. In his early childhood Einstein was a slow learner. He learned to speak only after the age of two. And because of his slow verbal development, "he thought that it allowed him to observe with wonder the everyday phenomena that others took for granted. Instead of puzzling over mysterious things, he puzzled over the commonplace," the author has written.
Walter Isaacson states that Einstein once explained how he happened to discover the theory of relativity: "The ordinary adult never bothers his head about the problems of space and time. These are things he has thought of as a child. But I developed so slowly that I began to wonder about space and time only when I was already grown up. Consequently, I probed more deeply into the problem than an ordinary child would have."
I was not surprised to read that even though his parents were irreligious, Einstein himself believed in God, a "God who reveals Himself in the harmony of all that exists". Not all scientists are atheists, of course. He saw no contradiction between science and religion. "The religious inclination lies in the dim consciousness that dwells in humans that all nature, including the humans in it, is in no way an accidental game, but a work of lawfulness that there is a fundamental cause of all existence," he has said.
When I hear the name Einstein, I think of the bust of Einstein I saw in a museum when I was six years old. The bust, sculpted of fine white marble and placed on a black marble pedestal, was given a prominent place in the museum hall. After reading Walter Isaacson's biography of Einstein, I felt as if the author had transformed the cold marble sculpture into a warm and beautiful statue of clay, and relocated it from its glistening pedestal to a pedestal of molded clay, fired to brick-red in a kiln. Now grainy and highly textured and stripped of its halo and made to look earthy and human, the formidable bust suddenly looks more inviting, approachable, and even likable.
With the aid of newly released personal letters and archival documents that were unavailable to biographers before, Isaacson has written a charming and impressive biography, as unexpected and startling as a previously unknown type of delicious and succulent fruit, almost like a pineapple that grows on a slightly prickly plant.
What better way to conclude this brief review than with the words of Einstein himself: "Science without religion is lame, religion without science is blind."
I must say that this book has won me over. |
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A. Psychiatrist (MSL quote), USA
<2007-06-04 00:00>
The letters available to Walter Isaacson plus the abundant resources he used contributed to the sense of really understanding Einstein. His work and it's value to humanity are explored in depth. You will understand much more about physics and math after reading this book, especially relating to Einstein's theories. But you won't feel dragged into formulas.The human side of Einstein, his emotional conflicts, idealism, arrogance, joys and sorrows are all portrayed in realistic context. The effect of Nazi's treatment of Jews in europe on Einstein's attitudes and life experience is well explained, giving a basis for his changes in philosophic values in the latter half of his life.
The greatness of this book can be summarized by saying that you will feel like you knew the man after reading it. |
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Patricia L. Kelly (MSL quote), USA
<2007-06-04 00:00>
An appropriate tribute to an intelligent man who changed the lives of how the peoples in our world live. A humble human being at his own accomplishments. Honored a promise to his ex-wife many years later - truly inspirational for today's families who part ways. |
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1 Total 1 pages 8 items |
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