Resumo de Einstein Lived Here

In his book Einstein Lived Here, Abraham Pais? informs the reader about Albert Einstein?s beliefs, lifestyle, personal life, religions, philosophies and political endeavors. He demonstrates the colorful private life of Albert Einstein by using a variety of fan mail and small stories provided by close family members. The author provides a small foundation of physics for the layman before briefly describing Einstein?s involvement in physics. He utilizes sections from press releases, interviews and lectures given by Einstein in order to exemplify Einstein?s views on politics. In addition, he employs interviews with two philosophers. The author?s predominate purpose, it seems, is to provide perception of Einstein?s lifetime views and involvements in politics.

Pais does not effectively develop the book as it takes several parallel paths that, as parallel lines do, never connect. Only 25 pages out of 260 cover Einstein?s personal life in detail. The author displays Einstein?s personal involvement in politics. However, unrelated to his involvement in politics, the author mentions Einstein?s illegitimate child, whom several Einstein historians believe died from scarlet fever. Pais tries to portray the child?s life and death as a mystery. The author then provides a small chapter on a comparison between the physicist Neils Bohr and Einstein, which could be interesting to the reader, but is irrelevant to politics. Finally, there are three small chapters on Einstein?s involvement with physics. The author, true to his own strengths, utilizes this section to assist the layman in understanding Einstein?s Theory of Relativity.

There is a small section of fan mail that, in a perpendicular move, is followed up with two small chapters on Einstein?s meetings with Rabindranath Tagore and Mohandas Gandhi. The last and largest chapter of the book consists of 130 pages of media fragments and press releases, which provide a media related view of Einstein and politics. Here, the profundity of Einstein?s politics are found in sections of Einstein?s essay on the issues of Zionism, Pais observations on Einstein?s views on militant pacifism, Einstein?s correspondence with Franklin Delano Roosevelt and Einstein?s views on civil liberties. However, Pais concludes the depth of these sections with ?varia? of quotes from people who impersonally knew him, like a local florist. Evidence of another parallel line.

Though Pais was a great author (see Subtle is the Lord: The Science and the Life of Albert Einstein and A Tale of Two Continents), his style and diction is hardly evident throughout this book, as he mostly utilized media excerpts and press releases to fill the pages. Unlike his other works, Pais tone is inconsistent. There are only minuscule fragments where Pais is literal and concrete, and many segments where he is slanted and subjective (subjectivity does not bode well with science). In the end, the reader finds that Pais was in awe of Einstein, but questioned Einstein?s personal choices as a father. More parallel lines that have nothing to do with politics, or physics for that matter.

Pais was a remarkable physicist who worked with Einstein. Knowing that, one would expect a book that shows how Einstein?s life in physics would provide the range to the domain of politics and public perspective. The content of press excerpts, fan letters and ?varia? do not seem to connect to the big picture that Pais attempted to convey. Much like a physics problem, graphs, charts, math and theories might be necessary to conclude that Einstein?s involvement in physics made him an influential figure in the world of politics. Hey, two lines that connect!

Resumos Relacionados