The Quotable Einstein - Hardcover

Einstein, Albert

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0691026963 ISBN 13: 9780691026961

Publisher: Princeton University Press, 1996

Synopsis

"I have no special talents. I am only passionately curious."

"I have reached an age when, if someone tells me to wear socks, I don't have to."--Albert Einstein

Albert Einstein was a prolific--and often thoughtful and gifted--writer, and he is immensely quotable. This collection of approximately 550 quotations by and about Einstein for the first time arranges his thoughts and ideas thematically. Here we can easily find Einstein's thoughts on everything from America and Americans, Germans and Germany, Jews and Zionism, war and peace, politics, religion and science, to more personal subjects, such as abortion, youth and aging, love and marriage, music, and pets. There is something to please everyone--and something to offend everyone. Also included are sections on what Einstein has said about other famous people, what others have said about him, a chronology including biographical data, an updated family tree that includes great-great-grandchildren, answers to the most common questions about Einstein, and a selected bibliography. The book includes an engaging foreword by Princeton physicist Freeman Dyson.

To help the reader or researcher, two indexes are provided. The Index of Key Words will help readers find familiar quotations, and the Subject Index will lead them to subjects of particular interest. The book provides documentation, generally of primary sources such as the Einstein Archive and The Collected Papers of Albert Einstein.

This book introduces readers to Einstein's many sides: by turns irascible and benign, warmly humorous and coldly dismissive, one who was at first bemused by the fame the world bestowed on him but who came to abhor the glare of publicity. We also see Einstein's development from the earliest quotations of a seventeen-year-old boy to his final words at age seventy-six.

About this title

Review:

The Quotable Einstein is a complete compendium of quotes from the great physicist, organized thematically, usefully indexed, and thorough in its inclusion and documentation of attributed material, sources, and dates. As a resource for the Einstein scholar or hardcore fan, The Quotable Einstein will prove invaluable. As a book for browsing, it puts the profound thoughts of Einstein on topics scientific and spiritual beside the mundane mutterings of any normal biped. This juxtaposition emphasizes both the man's unique genius and his common humanity.

About the Author:

Alice Calaprice is the in-house editor of Princeton University Press's The Collected Papers of Albert Einstein and the administrator of its translation project. She is a senior editor specializing in science manuscripts and is the recipient of the 1995 LMP Award for Individual Editorial Achievement in Scholarly Publishing.

About this edition

• Publisher: Princeton University Press
• Publication date: 1996
• ISBN 10: 0691026963
• ISBN 13: 9780691026961
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 310
• Editor: Calaprice Alice