Einstein: A Relative History

Albert Einstein has been named the most important man of the twentieth century. As we look to understand the true nature of the universe with technological tools that weren’t even dreamed of in his lifetime, Einstein’s formulae remain our best key for decoding it.

The six chapters in this book have each been divided into two sections. The first part of each, written by Dr. Donald Goldsmith, describes the life of Albert Einstein, focusing on family, friendships, personal point of view, and working environment. The balance of each chapter, written by Robert Libbon, takes a more objective view of the same period in Einstein’s life, focusing on the ramifications of his work and actions in a global context. These sections also examine many of the famous “thought experiments” created by Einstein and others to test the validity of theories that were otherwise untestable with the technology of the time.

Dr. Donald Goldsmith is the winner of, among many other awards, the 1990 Astronomical Society of the Pacific’s Award for Lifetime Achievement in the popularization of astronomy. He won the Physics Science Writing Award in 1986 for Nemesis: The Deathstar and Other Theories of Mass Extinction.

Robert Libbon is a veteran writer with a degree in European history. His survey of Instant European History was published in 1996 by Fawcett Books.