How to Think Like Einstein

Daniel Smith

• Publisher: Michael O'Mara
• Year: 2014
• Print ISBN: 9781782433118
• eBook ISBN: 9781782432692
• Topic: Personal Development
• Subtopic: Science & Technology Biographies

A tantalising mixture of biography-cum-self-help book, this is an accessible, if unusual, analysis of Einstein's thinking- Good Book Guide. Best known as the creator of the world's most famous equation, E=mc2, Albert Einstein's theories of relativity challenged centuries of received wisdom dating back to Newton. Without his groundbreaking work in relativity and quantum physics, our knowledge of the cosmos might lag decades behind where it is today.But Einstein was not only an extraordinary scientific thinker. He was a humanitarian who detested war and tried to stem the proliferation of hitherto unimaginably destructive weapons that his work had in part made possible. He spent a lifetime fighting authoritarianism and promoting personal freedom, selflessly standing up to those who posed a threat to those ideals.He was also a bona fide superstar and was instantly recognizable to millions who had not the least understanding of the intricacies of his scientific theories. Even now, the image of the tussled-hair 'mad professor' poking his tongue out at the camera is familiar across the globe.In How to Think Like Einstein, you can explore his unique approach to solving the great scientific mysteries of his age.

Landmarks in a Remarkable Life

1879		Albert Einstein is born on 14 March in Ulm, Germany, to a Jewish family.
1880		The Einsteins move to Munich where Albert’s father and uncle establish a gas and electrical supply business.
1881		A sister for Albert, Maria (known as Maja), is born.
1892		Albert opts not to attend his bar mitzvah.
1894		Einstein’s parents and sisters move to Italy for his father’s work. Albert moves in with relatives in Munich while he finishes his schooling, but joins his parents before he has graduated.
1895		After failing to secure a place at Zurich Polytechnic aged sixteen, Einstein goes to further his studies in Aarau, where he resides with the Winteler family. He writes his first (unpublished) scientific paper.
1896		Surrenders his German citizenship and wins a place at Zurich Polytechnic. There he meets his future wife, Mileva Marić.
1899		Applies for Swiss citizenship.
1900		Secures his teaching diploma from Zurich but fails to secure a job at the Polytechnic.
1901		Has a scientific paper published for the first time. It appears in Annalen der Physik. He receives his Swiss citizenship.
1902		Marić gives birth to Einstein’s illegitimate daughter, Lieserl. Einstein begins work at the Bern Patent Office.
1903		Einstein and Marić marry. The Olympia Academy is formed in Bern by Einstein and two friends. All historical records of Lieserl end – it is probable that she is put up for adoption.
1904		Marić gives birth to a son, Hans Albert.
1905		The annus mirabilis, in which Einstein completes four papers that re-write the foundations of physics. He also formulates the equation E = mc^2.
1906		Receives his doctorate from the University of Zurich.
1907		Turns his attentions to formulating the general theory of relativity, in the process discovering the principle of equivalence.
1908		Becomes an unsalaried Privatdozent at the University of Bern and begins lecturing.
1909		Appointed Extraordinary Professor for Theoretical Physics at the University of Zurich.
1910		Marić gives birth to a second son, Eduard.
1911		Takes up a professorship in Prague. He also attends the first Solvay Conference in Brussels.
1912		Begins an affair with his Berlin-based cousin, Elsa Löwenthal. He returns to Zurich to take up a professorship and begins working with Marcel Grossmann on the mathematics necessary for his general theory of relativity.
1913		Max Planck and Walther Nernst woo Einstein to Berlin with the promise of a professorship at the university and membership of the Prussian Academy of Sciences. He takes up this position the following year.
1914		Einstein and Marić separate, and she leaves Berlin for Zurich with her two sons. Meanwhile, a politicized Einstein promotes his belief in pacifism as the First World War begins.
1915		Works with W. J. de Haas on investigations into the gyromagnetic effect. By November Einstein completes his general theory of relativity, which he outlines over four lectures at the Prussian Academy of Sciences.
1916		His paper entitled ‘The Formal Foundation of the General Theory of Relativity’ is published in the Annalen der Physik. By the end of the year he finishes On the Special and General Theory of Relativity, A Popular Account.
1917		Takes over management of Berlin’s Kaiser Wilhelm Institute for Physics. Also outlines his theory of the cosmological constant, which he will come to consider his ‘biggest idiocy’.
1918		Rejects a return to teaching in Switzerland. The First World War comes to an end.
1919		Einstein divorces Marić in February and marries Elsa in June. In May, the astronomer Arthur Sta...

Table of contents

• Cover
• By the same author
• Title page
• Dedication and Copyright page
• Contents
• Introduction
• Landmarks in a Remarkable Life
• Life is a Marathon, Not a Sprint
• Be Curious
• Follow Your Intuition
• See the World Differently
• Thought Experiments
• Seek Out Like Minds
• The Olympia Academy
• Do Your Homework!
• Challenge Authority
• … But Don’t Make Unnecessary Enemies
• The (Relative) Struggle for a Professorship
• Make Hay While the Sun Shines
• The 1905 Papers
• How to Read Like Einstein
• The Literature of Science
• Immerse Yourself
• Don’t Neglect Those Closest to You
• A Flawed Husband
• Einstein and God
• Einstein, Judaism and Zionism
• Take Time to Unwind
• The Violin Virtuoso
• How to Eat Like Einstein
• Think Big
• The General Theory of Relativity
• Back Yourself
• The Nobel Prize
• Swim Against the Tide
• Einstein’s Battle with Quantum Mechanics
• Think Even Bigger
• Be a Political Animal
• Be a Citizen of the World
• Einstein and Pacifism
• Einstein and Fascism
• Einstein and Socialism
• Consider the Moral Implications of Your Work
• Einstein and the Bomb
• Make Celebrity Work for You
• Get the ‘Mad Professor’ Look
• Don’t Fight Time
• Make Your Peace with the Cosmos
• Five Things They Said About Einstein
• Selected Bibliography