Einstein's Greatest Mistake: A Biography - Rilegato

“Bodanis has... [an] extraordinary ability to explain complicated physics... Bodanis is a lot like Einstein—minus the great mistake.  Both see fun in physics, both love simplicity and brevity. In this book, theories of the universe morph into theories of life.”—The Times (London) "Writer and futurist Bodanis (Passionate Minds) imparts fresh insight into the genius—and failures—of the 20th century’s most celebrated scientist...This provocative biography illuminates the human flaws that operate subtly in the shadows of scientific endeavor."—Publishers Weekly "Bodanis explores Einstein’s all-too-human traits, from inflexibility to professional frustrations and the complications of his two marriages. By also explaining the theories that made Einstein Einstein, Bodanis crafts an accessible introduction to this iconic genius."—Booklist "A brief biography of 'the greatest mind of the modern age' and his revolutionary ideas... Engaging and with more emphasis on the difficulties the scientist faced when physics moved away from the classical view he never abandoned." —Kirkus Review “Einstein’s greatest mistake was not his introduction of the Cosmological Constant in his famous equation of General Relativity, but rather his stubborn unwillingness to accept the reality of quantum mechanics.  Once he divorced his thinking from the experimental forefront, his contributions to physics waned.  David Bodanis gently describes Einstein’s growing detachment from modern physics, shedding light on both Einstein the man and on several of his theories that did change our concept of the Universe.”—Lawrence M. Krauss, best-selling author of The Physics of Star Trek and A Universe from Nothing

"The most fascinating aspect of London-based journalist David Bodanis’ biography “Einstein’s Greatest Mistake” is in revealing just how much of Einstein’s early success was related to his own dogged perseverance... [Bodanis] recounts the details of Einstein’s inspiration and work on the General Theory of Relativity in clear terms and with more historical context than what is usually found in textbooks." —Forbes “The author’s style is highly entertaining. The composition of the manuscript, interweaving stories of people, of scientific principles, of Einstein’s forward vision and troubling challenges, form a narrative that science readers will admire. For anyone interested in the greatest scientist of our time, this book should be required reading.” —Astronomy Magazine "What Bodanis does brilliantly is to give us a feel for Einstein as a person. I don't think I've ever read a book that does this as well... Whenever there's a chance for storytelling, Bodanis triumphs."  —Popular Science “Bodanis has... [an] extraordinary ability to explain complicated physics... Bodanis is a lot like Einstein—minus the great mistake.  Both see fun in physics, both love simplicity and brevity. In this book, theories of the universe morph into theories of life.”—The Times (London) “Writer and futurist Bodanis (Passionate Minds) imparts fresh insight into the genius—and failures—of the 20th century’s most celebrated scientist...This provocative biography illuminates the human flaws that operate subtly in the shadows of scientific endeavor.”—Publishers Weekly “Bodanis explores Einstein’s all-too-human traits, from inflexibility to professional frustrations and the complications of his two marriages. By also explaining the theories that made Einstein Einstein, Bodanis crafts an accessible introduction to this iconic genius.”—Booklist “A brief biography of 'the greatest mind of the modern age' and his revolutionary ideas... Engaging and with more emphasis on the difficulties the scientist faced when physics moved away from the classical view he never abandoned.”—Kirkus Review "Bodanis makes Einstein’s theories graspable. . . . [His] biography offers a window onto Einstein’s achievements and missteps, as well as his life—his friendships, his complicated love life (two marriages, many affairs) and his isolation from other scientists at the end of his life."  —BookPage “Einstein’s greatest mistake was not his introduction of the Cosmological Constant in his famous equation of General Relativity, but rather his stubborn unwillingness to accept the reality of quantum mechanics.  Once he divorced his thinking from the experimental forefront, his contributions to physics waned.  David Bodanis gently describes Einstein’s growing detachment from modern physics, shedding light on both Einstein the man and on several of his theories that did change our concept of the Universe.”—Lawrence M. Krauss, best-selling author of The Physics of Star Trek and A Universe from Nothing

PRAISE FOR E=MC2:

  A Washington Post, Sunday Telegraph, and Library Journal Best Book of the Year    “By the end of the astonishing E=mc2, a dedicated reader will have achieved, if only by osmosis, an understanding of Einstein's theory of relativity and feel quite at ease dining with Nobel Prize winners. It's a lucid, even thrilling study: the very best kind of science journalism. I didn't know I could know so much.” —Fay Weldon, Books of the Year, The Washington Post

 “With skill and plenty of colourful anecdotes Bodanis traces the intellectual ancestry of E=mc2... Fast moving and entertaining.” —The Times (London)

  PRAISE FOR THE SECRET HOUSE: A New York Times Bestseller “Nothing short of astounding. Richly original.” —New York Times “Wonderful.” —San Francisco Chronicle “Utterly original and mesmerizing. A marvelously captivating book... well-done.” —The Washington Post Book World PRAISE FOR PASSIONATE MINDS:   A BBC Book of the Week   “Highly entertaining.” —Washington Post “Highly entertaining... and holds the most agreeable surprises.... A story well worth the retelling, and Bodanis tells it vividly.” —Sunday Times (London)  

"Writer and futurist Bodanis (Passionate Minds) imparts fresh insight into the genius—and failures—of the 20th century’s most celebrated scientist...This provocative biography illuminates the human flaws that operate subtly in the shadows of scientific endeavor."—Publishers Weekly  

“Bodanis has... [an] extraordinary ability to explain complicated physics... Bodanis is a lot like Einstein—minus the great mistake.  Both see fun in physics, both love simplicity and brevity.”—The Times (London) "Writer and futurist Bodanis (Passionate Minds) imparts fresh insight into the genius—and failures—of the 20th century’s most celebrated scientist...This provocative biography illuminates the human flaws that operate subtly in the shadows of scientific endeavor."—Publishers Weekly "Bodanis explores Einstein’s all-too-human traits, from inflexibility to professional frustrations and the complications of his two marriages. By also explaining the theories that made Einstein Einstein, Bodanis crafts an accessible introduction to this iconic genius."—Booklist "A brief biography of 'the greatest mind of the modern age' and his revolutionary ideas... Engaging and with more emphasis on the difficulties the scientist faced when physics moved away from the classical view he never abandoned." —Kirkus Review “Einstein’s greatest mistake was not his introduction of the Cosmological Constant in his famous equation of General Relativity, but rather his stubborn unwillingness to accept the reality of quantum mechanics.  Once he divorced his thinking from the experimental forefront, his contributions to physics waned.  David Bodanis gently describes Einstein’s growing detachment from modern physics, shedding light on both Einstein the man and on several of his theories that did change our concept of the Universe.”—Lawrence M. Krauss, best-selling author of The Physics of Star Trek and A Universe from Nothing

"Writer and futurist Bodanis (Passionate Minds) imparts fresh insight into the genius—and failures—of the 20th century’s most celebrated scientist...This provocative biography illuminates the human flaws that operate subtly in the shadows of scientific endeavor."—Publishers Weekly "Bodanis explores Einstein’s all-too-human traits, from inflexibility to professional frustrations and the complications of his two marriages. By also explaining the theories that made Einstein Einstein, Bodanis crafts an accessible introduction to this iconic genius."—Booklist "A brief biography of 'the greatest mind of the modern age' and his revolutionary ideas... Engaging and with more emphasis on the difficulties the scientist faced when physics moved away from the classical view he never abandoned." —Kirkus Review “Einstein’s greatest mistake was not his introduction of the Cosmological Constant in his famous equation of General Relativity, but rather his stubborn unwillingness to accept the reality of quantum mechanics.  Once he divorced his thinking from the experimental forefront, his contributions to physics waned.  David Bodanis gently describes Einstein’s growing detachment from modern physics, shedding light on both Einstein the man and on several of his theories that did change our concept of the Universe.”—Lawrence M. Krauss, best-selling author of The Physics of Star Trek and A Universe from Nothing

"Writer and futurist Bodanis (Passionate Minds) imparts fresh insight into the genius—and failures—of the 20th century’s most celebrated scientist...This provocative biography illuminates the human flaws that operate subtly in the shadows of scientific endeavor."—Publishers Weekly “Einstein’s greatest mistake was not his introduction of the Cosmological Constant in his famous equation of General Relativity, but rather his stubborn unwillingness to accept the reality of quantum mechanics.  Once he divorced his thinking from the experimental forefront, his contributions to physics waned.  David Bodanis gently describes Einstein’s growing detachment from modern physics, shedding light on both Einstein the man and on several of his theories that did change our concept of the Universe.”—Lawrence M. Krauss, best-selling author of The Physics of Star Trek and A Universe from Nothing "A brief biography of 'the greatest mind of the modern age' and his revolutionary ideas... Engaging and with more emphasis on the difficulties the scientist faced when physics moved away from the classical view he never abandoned." —Kirkus Review

“The author’s style is highly entertaining. The composition of the manuscript, interweaving stories of people, of scientific principles, of Einstein’s forward vision and troubling challenges, form a narrative that science readers will admire. For anyone interested in the greatest scientist of our time, this book should be required reading.” —Astronomy Magazine “Bodanis has... [an] extraordinary ability to explain complicated physics... Bodanis is a lot like Einstein—minus the great mistake.  Both see fun in physics, both love simplicity and brevity. In this book, theories of the universe morph into theories of life.”—The Times (London) “Writer and futurist Bodanis (Passionate Minds) imparts fresh insight into the genius—and failures—of the 20th century’s most celebrated scientist...This provocative biography illuminates the human flaws that operate subtly in the shadows of scientific endeavor.”—Publishers Weekly “Bodanis explores Einstein’s all-too-human traits, from inflexibility to professional frustrations and the complications of his two marriages. By also explaining the theories that made Einstein Einstein, Bodanis crafts an accessible introduction to this iconic genius.”—Booklist “A brief biography of 'the greatest mind of the modern age' and his revolutionary ideas... Engaging and with more emphasis on the difficulties the scientist faced when physics moved away from the classical view he never abandoned.”—Kirkus Review “Einstein’s greatest mistake was not his introduction of the Cosmological Constant in his famous equation of General Relativity, but rather his stubborn unwillingness to accept the reality of quantum mechanics.  Once he divorced his thinking from the experimental forefront, his contributions to physics waned.  David Bodanis gently describes Einstein’s growing detachment from modern physics, shedding light on both Einstein the man and on several of his theories that did change our concept of the Universe.”—Lawrence M. Krauss, best-selling author of The Physics of Star Trek and A Universe from Nothing

"Writer and futurist Bodanis (Passionate Minds) imparts fresh insight into the genius—and failures—of the 20th century’s most celebrated scientist...This provocative biography illuminates the human flaws that operate subtly in the shadows of scientific endeavor."—Publishers Weekly “Einstein’s greatest mistake was not his introduction of the Cosmological Constant in his famous equation of General Relativity, but rather his stubborn unwillingness to accept the reality of quantum mechanics.  Once he divorced his thinking from the experimental forefront, his contributions to physics waned.  David Bodanis gently describes Einstein’s growing detachment from modern physics, shedding light on both Einstein the man and on several of his theories that did change our concept of the Universe.”—Lawrence M. Krauss, best-selling author of The Physics of Star Trek and A Universe from Nothing

From the best-selling author of E=mc2, a brisk intellectual biography of Albert Einstein that reveals the genius and fallibility of the titan of modern physics 

Widely considered the greatest genius of all time, Albert Einstein revolutionized our understanding of the cosmos with his general theory of relativity and helped to lead us into the atomic age. Yet, in the final decades of his life, he was ignored by most working scientists, his ideas opposed by even his closest friends. 
 
As the renowned writer David Bodanis explains in Einstein’s Greatest Mistake, this stunning downfall can be traced to Einstein’s earliest successes and to personal qualities that were at first his best assets. Einstein’s imagination and self-confidence served him well as he sought to reveal the universe's structure, but when it came to newer revelations in the field of quantum mechanics, these same traits undermined his quest for the ultimate truth. Bodanis traces the arc of Einstein’s intellectual development across his professional and personal life, showing how Einstein’s conviction in his own powers of intuition proved to be both his greatest strength and his ultimate undoing. An intimate and enlightening biography of the celebrated physicist, Einstein’s Greatest Mistake reveals how much we owe Einstein today—and how much more he might have achieved if not for his all-too-human flaws.