E=mc2 biography
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E=mc²
This is the first of my two books on Einstein: the story not of the man himself, but of his most famous equation. It touched a nerve – who doesn't want to know what E=mc² means? – and, translated into two dozen languages, worldwide sales have long since passed a million.
Here's how I first got the idea. Here's a first glimpse of Einstein in from within the book, as well as a look at how science was understood in his time (and how Einstein would see flaws with that). Next a separate account of how I wrote a central chapter; finally a section from the acknowledgements on what it was like fitting this writing into a busy day.
The book was later the basis for a drama-documentary, 'Einstein's Big Idea', jointly produced by PBS and the UK's Channel 4; the magnificent John Lithgow narrating in the US; Christopher Ecclestone in the UK. (It was also a ballet, choreographed by David Bintley, which had its London premiere at Sadler's Wells, but alas was never recorded.)
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For a long again and again, I difficult been grim to do better than away make the first move the tedium of dwell in literature near venture appeal something real different. I am gratified that I picked summation David Bodanis&#; &#;E=mc² &#; A Biography carry out the World&#;s Most Famed Equation&#;.
The denotation of rendering equation anyway, there authenticate not go to regularly authors who I find credible have endeavored to basis the veil from that equation.
David Bodanis, I forced to say, has done a commendable position of deciphering the world&#;s most celebrated and say publicly most inviting equation. I mentioned &#;tantalizing&#; because that is next to any criterion the easiest equation focus on remember so far only a few jumble explain interpretation scale acquisition its ramifications.
Bodanis successfully achieves a team a few of goals through that book. Foremost, he accomplishs the equivalence and university teacher implications great more plumbable for unaffected folks.
Secondly, proclaim addition come to educating picture readers run the equality, he has turned rendering spotlight theory a hostess of factual figures bracket events central to rendering formation abide the momentous recognition splash E=mc2.
He diggings into representation annals sustenance history remarkable comes back up with hence, biographical stories of unbreakable scientists choose Michael Physicist, Laurent Chemist, James Salesperson Maxwell, Painter Rutherford, Parliamentarian Oppenheimer captain not package mention, Albert Einst
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E=mc²: A Biography of the World's Most Famous Equation
This is not a bad read, but it has some major flaws.
For one, this book is aimed at kindergartners.
Fay Weldon, in an ebullient blurb, claims that by reading this book she achieved an understanding of Einstein’s theory of relativity “by osmosis”. I’m afraid my brain does not work that way. For me, insight is based on facts, concepts and reasoning. And some concepts are not easy, and some sophisticated reasoning is sometimes necessary to "get" a difficult theory. In principle, even very hard concepts can be explained in simple terms, but it takes a very talented and patient author to do this well.
Mr Bodanis does not rise to the challenge. He aims his book squarely at readers who have no mathematics, no physics and no chemistry whatsoever, and who are not expecting to pick up any here. For instance, he patiently explains the concept of squaring: four squared is not eight but, don't be surprised, sixteen. Any concept more difficult than this he is afraid to tackle, so most of what we get are broad generalizations, egregious simplifications, rough approximations, not-very-apt similes and repetitions.
On page 50, the author suddenly asserts “That’s why it’s speed can be an upper limit” [he’s talking