Product Description

To the majority of people Einstein's theory is a complete mystery. Their attitude towards Einstein is like that of Mark Twain towards the writer of a work on mathematics: here was a man who had written an entire book of which Mark could not understand a single sentence. Einstein, therefore, is great in the public eye partly because he has made revolutionary discoveries which cannot be translated into the common tongue. We stand in proper awe of a man whose thoughts move on heights far beyond our range, whose achievements can be measured only by the few who are able to follow his reasoning and challenge his conclusions. There is, however, another side to his personality. It is revealed in the addresses, letters, and occasional writings brought together in this book. These fragments form a mosaic portrait of Einstein the man. Each one is, in a sense, complete in itself; it presents his views on some aspect of progress, education, peace, war, liberty, or other problems of universal interest. Their combined effect is to demonstrate that the Einstein we can all understand is no less great than the Einstein we take on trust.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #85387 in Books
• Published on: 2006-07-06
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 128 pages

Review
You thought he was all maths and equations, didn't you? But as you may expect from someone whose professional role is to explain what is real, what is unreal, and how the universe works, Einstein was deeply involved in philosophy and metaphysics. The World As I See It is a collection of essays, articles and letters that reveal the other side of the physicist: the advocate of a world of peace and mutual helpfulness. 'What is the meaning of human life, or of organic life altogether?' he beings. 'To answer this question at all implies a religion... But from the point of view of daily life, without going deeper, we exist for our fellow men...' (Kirkus UK)

From AudioFile
The twentieth century's most brilliant scientific thinker shares his views on the meaning of life, governments, economics, disarmament, war, and Judaism. Written mostly in 1932, these short pieces are affecting mainly because they predate WWII, the Holocaust, Israeli-Palestinian wars (Einstein thought they should get along), and the European Common Market. Zimbalist's warm, familiar voice has become raspy with age but retains clarity and authority. He makes no attempt to impersonate Einstein; he merely let the scientist's thoughts speak for themselves. Einstein's letter resigning from the Prussian Academy of Science because of the political climate in Germany (and Hitler had not yet even come to power) and the answer, suggesting that he is spreading false rumors of atrocities, are chilling in hindsight. If the production is not entirely successful, it's due to the lack of overall organization and an introduction. J.B.G. © AudioFile 2002, Portland, Maine-- Copyright © AudioFile, Portland, Maine

Customer Reviews

Better options out there...
I read "Ideas and Opinions" before diving head first into this one, and I'm glad I did. Had I read this first, there's a great chance I never would have read "Ideas and Opinions" which I found to be fascinating. In "The World As I See It," I found it to be a bit jumbled and thrown together without too much thought as to why it's presented the way it is, etc. There are some good bits and pieces included in this book, but overall I just couldn't get into it.

Normally, I like to read while lying in my bed with a dim lamp on, and normally it's not an issue. I can read for hours like this--but I needed to read "The World As I See It" outdoors or with music on, otherwise I was constantly falling asleep after a mere one or two pages.

Again, there are some good things to take from the book, but I think you'll do yourself better by exploring other Einstein works that are out there. Just one man's opinion.

world as Einstein sees it
To most of us the name Albert Einstein is synonymous with the formula E = MC-squared. Because the formula is such a simple statement of a complex idea, the public tends to see Einstein as both a simple and complex man. Like a god of sorts, he is omniscient, omnipotent, unknowable, and incomprehensible all at the same time.

The World as I See It presents a clear and coherent picture of Einstein. It contains numerous Einstein's non-technical writings organized in four major parts: The World as I See It, Politics and Pacifism, Germany 1933, and The Jews. My favorite part is by far the first. This part is packed with pure wisdom on a variety of topics. I enjoyed reading things like: "To be sure, it is not the fruits of scientific research that elevate a man and enrich his nature, but the urge to understand, the intellectual work, creative or receptive" (p. 7). Such insights glue the entire book together.

The reader will see in this book Einstein, the scientist, and Einstein the person, both in one unit. Einstein the person was very encouraging to others and thankful to people and things in the world. His letters to a college freshman, to an Arab admirer, to Japanese schoolchildren and so on, all have the same calmness of purpose to them as his messages to VIPs like Lorentz, Berliner, Katzenstein, and others.

In these writings, Einstein distinguishes religion from science. It is clear for instance that he did not believe in God at the time of his writing. Even so, there is no evidence that he sought to dehumanize and ridicule believers, only to defend science and humanity. And defending it he did in Germany, Italy, everywhere. His defense was based on the notion that "There is nothing divine about morality, it is a purely human affair" (p.29).

It is clear that Einstein loved science. It is not hard to understand from the writings in this book how he was a pacifist. He believed in democracy as an ideal, and not surprisingly, he declared in "Germany 1933" that "As long as I have any choice, I will only stay in a country where political liberty, toleration, and equality of all its citizens before the law are the rule" (p. 81).

This is a great book - highly recommended.

Amavilah, Author
Modeling Determinants of Income in Embedded Economies
ISBN: 1600210465

einstein's essay
einstein's essay was a good readbut the rest of the letters didnt really get to me