-----------------. He is an outstanding physicist, because he has contributed photoelectron theory, a brand-new view of time and space-special sense and general relativity to modern physics, especially the simple and magical formula E=mc2 which is connected with atomic bomb manufacturing. His strong humanistic thought was vividly displayed in the face of German Nazis and the two world wars. His involvement in politics is linked with his scientific reputation, even if he only participates simply and passively, it also plays an important role. In addition, he is a husband who has been married twice, a father of at least three children, a citizen with multiple nationalities, a person nominated as president, especially a Jew.
As a famous figure in the history of science, Einstein's life is full of controversy. The most controversial questions focused on Einstein are: In science, did Einstein independently discover the theory of relativity, or did he plagiarize other people's ideas? Would a patent office employee really publish so many epoch-making papers alone in 195, which was called "Einstein's miracle year"? In life, did Einstein do his duty as a husband and father to marriage and family, or did he always play with women's feelings to shirk family responsibilities: why did he get into emotional difficulties with his wife who was in free love, abandon his unmarried illegitimate daughter and remarry just after divorce? In terms of social activities, is Einstein politically naive or mature: why did he support the United States to build an atomic bomb and why did he refuse to be the prime minister of Israel?
1 Biography Overview
The depth and breadth of understanding nature, the colorful and extensive fields of personal life and the complexity of personality make Einstein attract many biographers. Among the authors of Einstein's biography, besides family members, there are his colleagues in different periods, scholars specializing in the history of modern physics, biographers and journalists. Einstein may be the scientist with the most biographies in the world. Only by reading Einstein's biography can the general public know and understand all aspects about Einstein. These biographies include: memoirs of family members, friends and colleagues, critical biographies focusing on introducing Einstein's contribution to society, scientific biographies focusing on explaining Einstein's scientific principles, literary biographies focusing on describing Einstein's life stories, pictorial biographies focusing on various photos with simple text descriptions, and staged biographies focusing on a specific historical period in which Einstein lived.
Biographers try to "tell you the real Einstein", but inevitably they are branded with the author's emotion in their biographies: worship, approval or rejection. Most admirers describe Einstein as a hero and a great man, pushing Einstein to the double altar of science and morality. They seem to consciously avoid these controversial issues, thinking that they are either out of thin air or making a mountain out of a molehill. Although the approvers do not shy away from those controversial issues, they try their best to maintain Einstein's image as a great man, thinking that other flaws can't hide his brilliance. Exclusionists focus on exposure and revelation. In order to uncover the mystery that covers Einstein, they often exaggerate Einstein's shortcomings in a certain aspect with critical and sarcastic words. What's more, it completely denies Einstein's scientific achievements.
From the following biographies of Einstein published in English, we can see how Einstein was described and analyzed, and how Einstein's image changed with time. The history of Einstein's biography is also the history of the evolution of modern biography style (see Roger Smith. Biographies of Scientists: An Annotated Bibliography. The Scarecrow Press, Inc. 1998 for the basic content of biographies that have not been translated and published in China). Valantin's Einstein and His Private Life, Heineken's Einstein, Selich's Einstein, Pace's God is Subtle, The Myth of an Era: Einstein's Life, Bernstein's Albert Einstein and the Frontier of Physics, and Kuznetsov's Einstein-Life. ）。
in Albert Einstein (Maker of Universes), published by H.Gordon Garbedian in 1939, the author described Einstein's early scientific life with praise tone, gorgeous words and vivid details, which satisfied the public's curiosity about Einstein. Because it was published earlier, this biography did not involve the scientific debate of Copenhagen quantum interpretation by Einstein and Bohr and various political activities that Einstein participated in, so the book is naturally incomplete. In addition, too many fictional plots make the book look bloated and meaningless, which also reduces its historical value.
in p>1954, Valentim published The Drama of Albert Einstein. Valentim was a close friend of Einstein's second wife. The "drama" here refers to the vivid scene of Einstein being persecuted in Germany and fleeing Nazi rule because of his Jewish identity. Although the book also introduces Einstein's youth, education, theory and reputation, the author puts a lot of pen and ink on the period from Einstein's escape from Germany to his settlement in the United States. Like many early biographies, the book also describes Einstein as an idol.
Einstein: The Life and Times, published by Ronald William Clark in 1971, is known as the first relatively neutral biography of Einstein. The author gives a comprehensive and systematic introduction to Einstein's life, and devotes the same energy to his scientific theory, political and social activities and personal life. The author not only briefly introduces the basic viewpoints of Einstein's theory of relativity and quantum theory, but also pays special attention to Einstein's participation in Zionism and opposition to Nazi government. More importantly, the author carefully used a large number of first-hand information, trying to patiently correct those legends about Einstein and prevent the further spread of false stories with an impartial attitude.
Einstein: Creator and Rebel
In p>1972, Banesh Hoffman and Ducas published Albert Einstein: Creator and Rebel, with the aim of "sketching a completely simple human story in this book". Among the two authors of the book, Hoffman and Einstein worked for each other, and Ducas was Einstein's secretary and housekeeper. The tone of the book was obviously worshipped by friends. Because Hoffman is a physicist and writer, he can naturally explain the theory of relativity very clearly, which is suitable for laymen to read. Influenced by Ducas, the book observes Einstein with rich materials, vivid pictures and a most cordial attitude. In 1981, they co-authored the book Albert Einstein, the human side: new glimpses from his archives. This book shows Einstein's interesting, happy, friendly, humble, wise, fearless and lonely side of human nature by extracting letters, magazine essays and various commentary articles that have never been published in the past, and can be used as a pillow book. Regrettably, the book ignores Einstein's dramatic love and marriage life.
in p>1982, Abraham Pais wrote Einstein's biography "God is subtle: Einstein's science and life", which was published by Oxford University Press. Different from the traditional life biographies that focus on the life of scientists, this book is a typical scientific biography. Pais is a famous theoretical physicist. He worked with Einstein in his later years at the Institute for Advanced Studies in Princeton, USA. He can be said to be the most ideal interpreter of Einstein's scientific theory. The author spent a lot of ink to explain the origin, formation and significance of Einstein's scientific theory, while Einstein's personal life, such as educational background and professional experience, was interspersed sporadically. This is a biography that is very difficult for ordinary readers. It requires basic knowledge of physics and calculus to read, and it can even be used as a physics textbook for college students. As a supplement to this biography, Pais published another book about Einstein in 1994, Einstein Lived Here. In this easy-to-read, prose-like biography, Pais describes Einstein's relationship with his wife and children, his friendship with niels bohr and De Broglie, how he won the Nobel Prize, his communication with Indian poet Tagore, how he appeared in newspaper pages, and Einstein's philosophical views.
Einstein once lived here
Einstein in America, published by Jamie Sayen)1985, focuses on Einstein's life when he lived in the United States (from 1933 to 1955). In addition to the scientific debate with Bohr and others, Einstein at that time had been involved in a lot of activities other than scientific research. In this book, the author reviews Einstein's public and private life in detail, especially Einstein's participation in internationalism, Manhattan Project and nuclear weapons control, Zionism, pacifism and anti-McCarthyism.
Einstein's Private Life
In p>1993, The Private Lives of Albert Einstein was published. Two authors, Heidfeld and Paul Carter, tried to re-evaluate Einstein's personality characteristics by reading the newly obtained letters and archives. As the title of the book indicates, the theme of the book lies in human nature rather than science. In the author's view, the long-standing image of a scientific sage has concealed Einstein's passion as a man and his weakness as a father and husband. By interviewing people who are familiar with Einstein's life, the author focuses on Einstein's relationship with his first wife, mileva, his two children, his second wife, Elsa, and other women in his life. The book describes Einstein as a "female sadist" because it likes to expose privacy too much.
Einstein: A Life of Science
In contrast to Einstein's Private Life, Einstein: A Life in Science was also published in 1993 and written by Michael White and Gribbin. The two authors found that those biographies that focused on Einstein's personality obviously exaggerated Einstein's so-called irresponsible family and bad behavior of playing with women, with the aim of strengthening the special effect of anti-mystification in order to break the already very solid image of Einstein. They believe that Einstein does have moral weaknesses, but it is his scientific genius rather than mistakes that deserve people's appreciation and learning. Therefore, the author only briefly mentions Einstein's relevant disputes, focusing on Einstein's theory of relativity, quantum mechanics and other innovative ideas and political beliefs.
Einstein's Life
Einstein: A Life, published by Denis Brian)1996, did not discuss Einstein's physics in depth, but tried to correct Einstein's private life and public image which were seriously distorted. After interviewing Einstein's colleagues and friends and consulting Einstein's marriage files published in the 198s, the author will give new thoughts on the unresolved controversial issues. He believes that Einstein is not politically immature and indifferent to his family, as described in many biographies. Brian examined the evidence of Einstein's so-called illegitimate child and confirmed that Einstein was not serious in the relationship between men and women, which also derogated Einstein's reputation to some extent. The three biographies written by Clark, Pais and Bryan complement each other, which can completely constitute the basic recognition of Einstein.
biography of Einstein
in p>1998, Albert Einstein: A Biography was translated and published in the United States, and the author was a German science journalist, Wolfson. The author focuses on Einstein's life in the United States before he went to the United States, only briefly mentioning his life in the United States, so that the author can concentrate on how Einstein made outstanding contributions step by step from his youth to the peak of science, and how he faced all kinds of life problems in the most difficult period. Facing ordinary readers, readers introduced the basic concepts and formation process of Einstein's theory in unusual detail and clearly, and built Einstein's theory of relativity and quantum mechanics on the broad background knowledge of science and philosophy. The author shows the complexity of Einstein's personality in getting along with other physicists, promoting pacifism and supporting Jewish refugees, and also talks about Einstein's love and abandoned daughter.
Einstein in Love: A Romantic History of Science
In p>2, Overby published Einstein in Love: A Romantic History of Science.