Reviews

Einstein: His Life and Universe by Walter Isaacson

readingood's review

4.0

Walter Isaacson writes wonderful biographies. I am adequate at alliteration.

hjswinford's review

informative medium-paced

4.0

"'In this way the pursuit of science leads to a religious feeling of a special sort.' For some people miracles serve as evidence for God's existence. For Einstein, it was the absence of miracles that reflected divine providence. The fact that the cosmos is comprehensible, that it follows laws, is worthy of awe. This is the defining quality of a God who reveals himself in the harmony of all that exists." 

I really liked this biography. It did a lot to humanize the man whose name is now synonymous with genius. The writing had that narrative quality that I enjoy in non-fiction. I have wanted to read several of Walter Issacson's books, but this is my first. Definitely keen to read more.

winestepmom's review against another edition

adventurous funny hopeful informative inspiring medium-paced

4.5

krichardson's review

5.0

This was a great biography, well-written and even made me laugh a few times.

cynicusrex's review

4.0

Walter Isaacson takes you on a pleasant exploration of the human behind the genius without losing sight of the arduous labor behind his scientific discoveries. Einstein's life and universe is packed with guiding principles of what one should strive for as a good scientist, and perhaps, as a human, the mistakes to avoid as a result of it.

musicsaves's review

4.0

FIRST LINE REVIEW: "'I promise you four papers,' the young patent examiner wrote his friend." Those four papers would change the face of science and our understanding of the universe. And this biography changed my understanding of physics...by making me regret never having taken a physics course...although now I feel like I have! Must admit that a lot of this book was daunting, and yet written in a way that helped me grasp about 80% of the ideas being communicated. More fascinating for me was the social life, witticisms and personal challenges of this truly original human being.

phlyarologist's review against another edition

challenging informative reflective sad medium-paced

5.0

jslive's review against another edition

4.0

“Einstein: His Life and Universe” by Walter Isaacson was great. I knew surprisingly little about this story, both on the science side and the personal side. Didn’t realize that Einstein spent half his life fighting the scientific advances that followed his work.

abigail00's review

hopeful informative inspiring reflective slow-paced

3.75

jetjaguar124's review

informative medium-paced

4.0

All around a pretty solid biography. It doesn't have any stylistic flourishes that I find exist in the absolute best of this genre, but it gets the job done and doesn't overly fawn over Einstein, a common trap most biographies of the man fall prey to.