Book outline:
Produced by The History Hour in 2019, this account of Albert Einstein, the scientist with a 160 IQ shows both, Einstein’s unique brilliance and achievements and his flaws in his personal life away from his professional and scientific milestones.
What’s the core message?
Albert Einstein, the 1921 Physics Nobel Prize winner was a man flawed in societal norms. While he made many physics computations which continue to earn many scientists Nobel Awards long after his death, this work highlights Einstein’s human frailties in the form of countless affairs, children born of women he never married, disregard for the institution of marriage, and neglect of family.
How do these concepts compare with points raised in other books?
It is easier to praise men and women of genius whose brilliance has improved life for all of humankind. Many books do this in the case of Albert Einstein’s story. This work, however, takes a broader and sharper look at Einstein’s arrogance, pompousness, and non-conformance with society’s standards and protocols.
What the book does well.
This is a fast book that crunches through Einstein’s 76-year-old life and it goes further to include the claim of a physics professor who presents evidence that he is Einstein’s son. Still this fast accounting races through his life story. It magnifies Einstein’s character of not caring. His first daughter is born away from him. There is no record of what happened to her. He has affairs while married and boasts of his conquests to his wife. When the first wife protests, he gives her a list of behaviors she must follow to remain married. After agreeing to the conditions, she divorces him. He promises to pay her if or when he wins the Nobel Prize so that she can raise their two sons. The records are unclear if he did as he promised or lost the money by investing in the stock market during the depression. Then against family concerns, he marries his cousin. In another episode, one of his flings with a musician results in a daughter, which his son and his daughter-in-law adopt as their own. The book does a good job of these realities which are out of public eyes when the light is falling on Einstein’s brilliant physics genius.
What could have made this book better?
It is impossible to do justice to Einstein’s life in a speedy work because a short window does not allow the opportunity to dive deeply into any aspect of his life. It does no justice to his brilliance, personal struggles, wins, and losses. The goal to abridge his life in a short book and talk was simply too ambitious.
Who would benefit from reading this book?
This is a good short and additional book to read as a supplement to books on Einstein, which focus only on the marvels of his genius. It balances out the genius with frailties or failings, or possibly arrogance.
How it affected me
This book felt like a hit-job not because it is not factual or fact-based, but because there is so much sensational content that Einstein offers up for gossip and controversy. I felt like I had taken a bath in a sleaze-bucket regardless of whether Einstein’s personal life was a disaster or that the book had revealed the lurid details. It took deliberate effort to wash off after learning of this overwhelmingly irresponsible aspect of Albert Einstein’s life.