Einstein: His Life and Universe

Einstein: His Life and Universe
Average customer rating:

Amazing

A well orchestrated mix of personal history and revolutionary scientific discovery

Excellent!

A Must Read

Absolutely Fantastic

Einstein: His Life and Universe
Walter Isaacson
Manufacturer: Simon & Schuster
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0743264738
Release Date: 2007-04-10

Amazon.com

As a scientist, Albert Einstein is undoubtedly the most epic among 20th-century thinkers. Albert Einstein as a man, however, has been a much harder portrait to paint, and what we know of him as a husband, father, and friend is fragmentary at best. With Einstein: His Life and Universe, Walter Isaacson (author of the bestselling biographies Benjamin Franklin and Kissinger) brings Einstein's experience of life, love, and intellectual discovery into brilliant focus. The book is the first biography to tackle Einstein's enormous volume of personal correspondence that heretofore had been sealed from the public, and it's hard to imagine another book that could do such a richly textured and complicated life as Einstein's the same thoughtful justice. Isaacson is a master of the form and this latest opus is at once arresting and wonderfully revelatory. --Anne Bartholomew

Read "The Light-Beam Rider," the first chapter of Walter Isaacson's Einstein: His Life and Universe.

Five Questions for Walter Isaacson

Amazon.com: What kind of scientific education did you have to give yourself to be able to understand and explain Einstein's ideas?

Isaacson: I've always loved science, and I had a group of great physicists--such as Brian Greene, Lawrence Krauss, and Murray Gell-Mann--who tutored me, helped me learn the physics, and checked various versions of my book. I also learned the tensor calculus underlying general relativity, but tried to avoid spending too much time on it in the book. I wanted to capture the imaginative beauty of Einstein's scientific leaps, but I hope folks who want to delve more deeply into the science will read Einstein books by such scientists as Abraham Pais, Jeremy Bernstein, Brian Greene, and others.

Amazon.com: That Einstein was a clerk in the Swiss Patent Office when he revolutionized our understanding of the physical world has often been treated as ironic or even absurd. But you argue that in many ways his time there fostered his discoveries. Could you explain?

Isaacson: I think he was lucky to be at the patent office rather than serving as an acolyte in the academy trying to please senior professors and teach the conventional wisdom. As a patent examiner, he got to visualize the physical realities underlying scientific concepts. He had a boss who told him to question every premise and assumption. And as Peter Galison shows in Einstein's Clocks, Poincare's Maps, many of the patent applications involved synchronizing clocks using signals that traveled at the speed of light. So with his office-mate Michele Besso as a sounding board, he was primed to make the leap to special relativity.

Amazon.com: That time in the patent office makes him sound far more like a practical scientist and tinkerer than the usual image of the wild-haired professor, and more like your previous biographical subject, the multitalented but eminently earthly Benjamin Franklin. Did you see connections between them?

Isaacson: I like writing about creativity, and that's what Franklin and Einstein shared. They also had great curiosity and imagination. But Franklin was a more practical man who was not very theoretical, and Einstein was the opposite in that regard.

Amazon.com: Of the many legends that have accumulated around Einstein, what did you find to be least true? Most true?

Isaacson: The least true legend is that he failed math as a schoolboy. He was actually great in math, because he could visualize equations. He knew they were nature's brushstrokes for painting her wonders. For example, he could look at Maxwell's equations and marvel at what it would be like to ride alongside a light wave, and he could look at Max Planck's equations about radiation and realize that Planck's constant meant that light was a particle as well as a wave. The most true legend is how rebellious and defiant of authority he was. You see it in his politics, his personal life, and his science.

Amazon.com: At Time and CNN and the Aspen Institute, you've worked with many of the leading thinkers and leaders of the day. Now that you've had the chance to get to know Einstein so well, did he remind you of anyone from our day who shares at least some of his remarkable qualities?

Isaacson: There are many creative scientists, most notably Stephen Hawking, who wrote the essay on Einstein as "Person of the Century" when I was editor of Time. In the world of technology, Steve Jobs has the same creative imagination and ability to think differently that distinguished Einstein, and Bill Gates has the same intellectual intensity. I wish I knew politicians who had the creativity and human instincts of Einstein, or for that matter the wise feel for our common values of Benjamin Franklin.

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Book Description

By the author of the acclaimed bestseller Benjamin Franklin, this is the first full biography of Albert Einstein since all of his papers have become available.

How did his mind work? What made him a genius? Isaacson's biography shows how his scientific imagination sprang from the rebellious nature of his personality. His fascinating story is a testament to the connection between creativity and freedom.

Based on newly released personal letters of Einstein, this book explores how an imaginative, impertinent patent clerk -- a struggling father in a difficult marriage who couldn't get a teaching job or a doctorate -- became the mind reader of the creator of the cosmos, the locksmith of the mysteries of the atom and the universe. His success came from questioning conventional wisdom and marveling at mysteries that struck others as mundane. This led him to embrace a morality and politics based on respect for free minds, free spirits, and free individuals.

These traits are just as vital for this new century of globalization, in which our success will depend on our creativity, as they were for the beginning of the last century, when Einstein helped usher in the modern age.

Customer Reviews:

Amazing.......2007-10-10

The book combines insights into Einstein's family sphere, scientific endeavors , and internal life that end up providing an entertaining an insightful view o his life that turns out to be more than the sum of its parts. A great view into the life of the greatest man of the twentieth century.

A well orchestrated mix of personal history and revolutionary scientific discovery.......2007-10-09

A story of amazing power of reason in Einstein's early years but in the later years a sad story of his reason being foiled by of all things, scientific observations ("spooky" ones to be sure). When he died Einstein was still struggling with the idea that..."The reasonable thing just doesn't work.".

Excellent!.......2007-10-09

Excellently written and researched book. Very fascinating and engaging.
Even the scientific discussions were easy to understand.
I highly recommend this book.

A Must Read.......2007-10-07

A wonderful book which gives full and equal weight to both the man and the ideas which made him great, as well as the lasting place of those ideas in the history of scientific thought, if not of human thought itself. And on that latter point, the reader's debt to Isaacson is undoubtedly primarily for his continuing emphasis on Einstein's modus operandi: thought experiments, by which through the exercise merely of pure thought and a perspective unhampered by received wisdoms, a man was able to change millennia-old views of how we viewed the universe, and by extension, changed the universe itself. Whose thinking could remain uninfluenced by such a display of the power of thought?

Absolutely Fantastic.......2007-10-03

This biography reads like a story, creating suspense and other emotions that you experince while reading fiction. Einstein provides great insight into Einstein's mind and life. Highly recommended.

Uncertainty: Einstein, Heisenberg, Bohr, and the Struggle for the Soul of Science

Average customer rating:

Uncertainty
Elegant and exciting
A great account of where the hell does quantum mechanics come from, centered around the main scientists involved.
Fascinating history, very well written
Wow! The history, concepts and personalities behind Quantum Physics

Uncertainty: Einstein, Heisenberg, Bohr, and the Struggle for the Soul of Science
David Lindley
Manufacturer: Doubleday
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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Faust in Copenhagen: A Struggle for the Soul of Physics
Einstein: His Life and Universe
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The Poincare Conjecture: In Search of the Shape of the Universe
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ASIN: 0385515065
Release Date: 2007-02-20

Book Description

The more precisely the position is determined, the less precisely the momentum is known in this instant, and vice versa.
—Werner Heisenberg

That God would choose to play dice with the world is something I cannot believe.
—Albert Einstein

Nothing exists until it is measured.
—Neils Bohr

The remarkable story of a startling scientific idea that ignited a battle among the greatest minds of the twentieth century and profoundly influenced intellectual inquiry in fields ranging from physics to literary criticism, anthropology and journalism

In 1927, the young German physicist Werner Heisenberg challenged centuries of scientific understanding when he introduced what came to be known as “the uncertainty principle.” Building on his own radical innovations in quantum theory, Heisenberg proved that in many physical measurements, you can obtain one bit of information only at the price of losing another. Heisenberg’s principle implied that scientific quantities/concepts do not have absolute, independent meaning, but acquire meaning only in terms of the experiments used to measure them. This proposition, undermining the cherished belief that science could reveal the physical world with limitless detail and precision, placed Heisenberg in direct opposition to the revered Albert Einstein. The eminent scientist Niels Bohr, Heisenberg’s mentor and Einstein’s long-time friend, found himself caught between the two.
Uncertainty chronicles the birth and evolution of one of the most significant findings in the history of science, and portrays the clash of ideas and personalities it provoked. Einstein was emotionally as well as intellectually determined to prove the uncertainty principle false. Heisenberg represented a new generation of physicists who believed that quantum theory overthrew the old certainties; confident of his reasoning, Heisenberg dismissed Einstein’s objections. Bohr understood that Heisenberg was correct, but he also recognized the vital necessity of gaining Einstein’s support as the world faced the shocking implications of Heisenberg’s principle.

Customer Reviews:

Uncertainty.......2007-09-20

A good book. Makes a difficult topic - - quantum mechanics and some particle physics - - understandable for non-experts.

Elegant and exciting .......2007-09-01

I read two graduate texts on quantum mechanics recently. The first took an historical approach, beginning with Planck's work on black-body radiation, then Einstein's treatment of Brownian motion and light quanta, proceeding on to Bohr's atom, Compton scattering, the Zeeman effect, and so on. The second started out by saying (I paraphrase), "Here's Schroedinger's equation. The rest of the book goes through various solutions, with different potentials."

I find it completely incredible that this little equation can have so many implications, none of them ever having been found to be wrong. Lindley's book is about the "meaning" of quantum mechanics, a project that most physicists consider irrelevant at best. I still remember listening to Feynman's Cal Tech lectures on quantum mechanics, where his urged his student not to try to figure what the equation "means." Rather, he urged them just to solve it and get an intuitive "feel" for how it works. Quantum mechanics doesn't "mean" anything. It just is.

This stance is not enough for many people, including virtually all of its creators, who worked in the dizzying years of discovery, 1900 to 1927. Bohr' model did fit some of the specroscopic data on hydrogen very well, but he spent most of his intellectual (as opposed to organizational) energy thereafter ruminating on the principle of complementarity and the so-called Copenhagen interpretation of quantum mechanics. The next generation of physicist could not have cared less. When asked about Bohr's interpretation, Dirac replied that there were no equations, so there was nothing of interest there.

This may be the bast book ever written on the topic, despite its elementary nature. Lindley handle complex topics (e.g., Mach and Carnap) with ease and brevity, yet capturing the essence of the issues. His descriptions are what might be termed "stream of consciousness" physics, because he has the ability to enter and explore highly heterogeneous modalities of consciousness, without ever leaving the physics far out of the picture. After you have read this wonderful book, try Abraham Pais' biographies of Einstein and Bohr. They are more work, but more than worth the effort.

A great account of where the hell does quantum mechanics come from, centered around the main scientists involved. .......2007-08-26

If you've ever had a basic course in Physics, Chemistry and Mathematics the names of the main characters in this book will sound familiar ; Robert Brown (yes, from the "Brownian motion of particles"), Charles Darwin, Boltzmann, Poincaré,Röntgen, Rutherford, Einstein, Bohr, Heisenberg, Schroedinger, Dirac, Pauli, Max Planck, Marie Curie, Geiger ...etcetera
It is actually a concise, lucid and very readable account with due attention to the "personal streaks" of the main characters. With a rare clarity the author manages to paint the transition from the classical Newtonian view of the world to the quantum mechanical view and all the pains suffered in the process.Especially, the confrontations between Einstein and Niels Bohr on this topic are exquisitely recounted. And all this, without mentioning ONE formula (excepting THE formula E=mc2).
In the end one can't but agree with Bohr's statement : "It is wrong to think that the task of physics is to find out how nature is. Physics concerns what we can say about nature."
In short, this book manages to convey the essence of the new quantum view while it reads like a novel because of the pittoresque characters of the story.

Fascinating history, very well written.......2007-08-16

Lindley writes very well, indeed. I liked both his style and the story which he told. The early days of quantum mechanics presented physics with a set of dilemmas which were a shock to the way the world was thought to work. We are not over that shock yet, almost a century later! Recommended.

Wow! The history, concepts and personalities behind Quantum Physics.......2007-07-30

My Dad got his doctorate in Physics at Berlin Institute of Technology (The top technological school in the world at the time) starting in 1932 when Einstein was still there. He knew all the personalities. Heisenberg, Born, Schroedinger. It was a wild and wonderful read for me because the stories were the ones my Dad told me when I was a girl. The book is wonderful for lay persons. It lays out the time line from Brownian Motion to Heisenberg's Uncertainty Principle in non-technical and brilliantly understandable ways. The personalities and all the arguments from Brown, to the Curies, Niels Bohr, Einstein, Werner Heisenberg, Pauli, Max Born, Schroedinger are all beautifully researched and quoted from there own works and letters to each other. He finishes with a brilliant critique of how "uncertainty" was co-opted by other subjects, mostly in fascinatingly ignorant ways. Wonderful, wonderful, wonderful!

Baby Einstein: Violet's House (Baby Einstein)

Average customer rating:

great touch and feel
My son LOVES this book!
My Nephew LOVES this Book!!
Just good
My 10-month-old loves this book...

Baby Einstein: Violet's House (Baby Einstein)
Julie Aigner-clark
Manufacturer: Hyperion
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Board book

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ASIN: 0786818727
Release Date: 2003-10-13

Book Description

Violet, a very curious young mouse, invites babies and toddlers into her home to explore, room by room, her favorite things. Delightfully written rhythmic verse and engaging illustrations lead children to discover the feel of objects that surround them in their everyday world. From touching Violet's fluffy poodle to joining her as she puts sticky toothpaste on her brush, children will want to visit Violet's House time and time again.

Customer Reviews:

great touch and feel.......2007-09-12

This book has a great variety of colors and textures. The paint is actually sticky! I am very impressed by the varitey of materials and textures kids can explore in this book. We keep this book in the car to entertain my 1 1 /2 year old. He loves it. My 7 year old niece loved it too. She wants me to give it to her when my 1 1/2 year old is too old for it!! :)

My son LOVES this book!.......2007-08-13

This is one of a couple of books that my son adores. He loves all the textures in the book, especially the doll's hair on the last page. The colors are bright and vibrant. I actually just recommended this book to a friend of mine who is having her first baby.

My Nephew LOVES this Book!!.......2007-08-01

I bought this book for my nephew a month before his 1st birthday when his family moved into their first house. He LOVES this book. My sister says he's always pulling this book out of his pile of books & loves looking at it. His favorite touch & feel part is the sticky fingerpaint. I noticed in another review that they said the toothpaste didn't smell. I found it to be kind of like a scratch & sniff sticker; it didn't smell until I scratched it lightly with my fingernail & then I could smell the minty scent. I would recommend buying this book and plan to buy a couple more for other friends that have babies or small children at home.

Just good.......2007-07-03

Pages are not too hard... not many things to touch...
Bright colours and nice drawings.
It's OK.

My 10-month-old loves this book..........2007-07-01

My 10-month-book loves all books that are touch-and-feel, as most babies this age who are exploring their world with their hands. Bold, colorful images....great textures on each page. The only thing I am not crazy about is the rhymes...some seem a little like the author is "stretching it." Not a reading book, really, anyway, seeing as my daughter prefers to thumb through it herself and marvel at all there is to see and feel on each new page.

Average customer rating:

If you really want to know what Einstein said read this book
Depends on your purpose
Window Into One of the Greatest Minds of Modern History
Insight
Ideas & Opinions

Ideas & Opinions
Albert Einstein
Manufacturer: Wings
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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The World As I See It
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ASIN: 0517003937
Release Date: 1988-12-12

Book Description

IDEAS AND OPINIONS contains essays by eminent scientist Albert Einstein on subjects ranging from atomic energy, relativity, and religion to human rights, government, and economics. Previously published articles, speeches, and letters are gathered here to create a fascinating collection of meditations by one of the world's greatest minds.

Customer Reviews:

If you really want to know what Einstein said read this book.......2007-07-10

Einstein's ideas about religion are here in his own words so you don't have to trust does who want to distort them to their own convenience.

These book is writen in a very easy to understand way because as Einstein himself stated "if something can be explained then it can be explained clearly.

The ideas he clearly explains are brilliant and they are about a lot of the things he was interested in his life.

Depends on your purpose.......2007-05-13

If your purpose is simply reading Einstein's articles on issues like world politics, morality, peace, human beings, etc. than this is the book for you. Personally, I wanted the best of his articles, articles that you really want to read because of their specific nature or subject. This is not such a book. Simply a collection of articles.

Window Into One of the Greatest Minds of Modern History.......2007-01-30

This books offers a series of articles written by Einstein on all subjects of life, such as Religion, Politics, War, the Jewish People, and Science. Not only was Einstein a brilliant scientist, he could grasp elements of human life that could rival that of any great philosopher.

Einstein approaches all of the topics with a pragmatism and clarity that is accessible to any reader, which is rare among many intellectuals. It is very interesting to contrast his opinions before, between, and after the world wars and see the further emphasis he puts on his calls for reform around the world. While some might see some of Einstein's socialist tendencies as negative, they are, as stated in the title of the book, only one man's opinion and should be treated as such.

The only reason I give this book 4 stars instead of 5 is the fact that some of the articles seem to be quite similar, repeating themes and ideas that were previously discussed. Also, while someone with a little science background should be able to understand most of the scientific articles, they could be somewhat difficult to get through at times.

Overall, this book provides a great opportunity to read about Einstein's ideas and opinions as a man, not just as a scientist.

Insight.......2007-01-12

If youve ever wondered what was inside Albert's head, than this is the book for you. one example is that I was always torn between science and religion, and Albert was able to elaborate his thoughts on that matter and it was a perspective that I found myself finally agreeing with.

Ideas & Opinions.......2007-01-09

Since Einstein was supposed to be the smartest man of the 19th and 20th centuries, I thought I could get some insight into questions that had puzzled man since the beginning. The meaning of life. What am I doing here? That kind of stuff. Well, let me tell you I spent all my time looking up words on my Franklin. That's the problem with smart people. They try to prove how smart they are by using words that nobody else understands. In my case, Einstein succeeded. I think he's real smart but I still don't know what I'm doing here.

Einstein Never Used Flashcards: How Our Children Really Learn--and Why They Need to Play More and Memorize Less

Average customer rating:

Absolute must-read to understand how children learn
Sucked
Beyond Excellent. You won't panic while reading this book!
Play!
Great Read for all parents

Einstein Never Used Flashcards: How Our Children Really Learn--and Why They Need to Play More and Memorize Less
Roberta Michnick Golinkoff , Kathy Hirsh-Pasek , and Diane Eyer
Manufacturer: Rodale Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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Health o Meter HDC100-01 "Grow with Me" Teddy Bear Scale for Babies and Toddlers

ASIN: 1594860688
Release Date: 2004-08-12

Book Description

Now Available in Paperback!In this book two highly credentialed child psychologists offer a compelling indictment of the growing trend toward accelerated learning. It's a message that stressed-out parents are craving to hear: Letting tots learn through play is not only okay-it's better than drilling academics!Drawing on overwhelming scientific evidence from their own studies and the collective research results of child development experts, and addressing the key areas of development-math, reading, verbal communication, science, self-awareness, and social skills-the authors explain the process of learning from a child's point of view. They then offer parents 40 age-appropriate games for creative play. These simple, fun--yet powerful exercises work as well or better than expensive high-tech gadgets to teach a child what his ever-active, playful mind is craving to learn.

Customer Reviews:

Absolute must-read to understand how children learn.......2007-10-13

If you wish to better understand how children learn to use language and number and how the learning process works in children in general, this book provides priceless answers. It has saved my family much money, which might have been wasted on "child learning tools" promoted by marketing slogans and not substantiated by research. I also heartily recommend Magic Years by Selma H. Fraiberg and Betweeen Parent and Child by Haim G Ginott.

Sucked.......2007-09-12

I love the "gentle revolution" books and thought that I would get an opposing opinion from this book. The "GV" books tell you numerous times that all of the flash cards and other activities must be fun for the babies, else don't do them. Anyone who reads this book should also read some of the "GV" books to get another opinion. Good luck,

Beyond Excellent. You won't panic while reading this book!.......2007-08-06

You know how it goes. You hear another mommy in the playgroup or a mutual friend talk about how they are teaching their one-year-old to read or how their toddler just got in to the spanish immersion pre-school and you feel that twinge of guilty panic, wondering if you're doing what is right to make your child as smart as possible. This book is INCREDIBLE and will calm you down and help you realize what is truly important: children do not learn from boring drill-and-kill experiences. They learn from play and enjoyable reading.

My favorite quote from this book is "Put away your credit card and get out your library card". That is the theme of the whole book. The authors explian why most expensive "educational" toys MAKE your children play with them a certain way and don't allow for creativity so they should not be the only toys your child has. (You can have them! They simply suggest you also have creative toys like dolls, blocks, dress up, kitchen & tool sets or Legos.) They go on to explain that access to toys like these encourage unstructured, imaginative play that help children learn about numbers, physics, geometry, the world and their feelings.

This book tackles our most pressing questions, like how we will teach our children to read before pre-school and how we will teach them the concept of number symbols standing for actual quantities of items. Moreso, they explain to parents exactly how children learn and that parents are not the sole architects of the perfect baby brain. Mother nature has already created a brain that loves to learn and drilling children with flash cards or worksheets can kill a love for learning that is naturally there.

As you can tell from the title of the book, flash cards and demanding, there's-only-one-right-answer educational toys are a fairly new trend but geniuses have always existed. Most intelligent people in the past were allowed to play and leisure read freely - and experiment with things around them - which contributed to their intelligence the most. Parents reading to children and free play are a must! (By the way, I have a psychology degree and I learned in college that children under 1 cannot really see words well unless the letters are FOUR INCHES TALL! Even better if the words are red, not black, to attract the eye to focus. No flash cards look like this! Two year olds still need three inch letters. Adult print is simply too small for their developing visual pathways to read! How bored and agitated would you be looking at small, blurry letters all day? It's like a constant eye-chart test set at 20/10!)

I loved this book and nearly every paragraph is supported by research completed all over the world on child development. The back of the book organized the cites and references by chapter so you can look in to the research if you want to arm yourself with facts! In fact, I have talked so positively about this book, my friends are lining up to borrow it and I'm encouraging everyone to buy their own copy because you will want to keep this one on-hand. I'm buying one for the gal that lives up the street that just won't quit talking about how "smart" and "advanced" her one year old is because she buys educational toys exclusively!

Honestly, you're going to find the answers you are looking for about how to both encourage creativity and teach the fundamentals your children need for Kindergarten. If nothing else, it will assure you that a relaxed, unstructured play day at home is one of the best things you can do for your child!

Play!.......2007-07-03

I am an Early Childhood Educator and read this book because it showed up in a research article I read. This book has a lot of awesome and powerful information for parents and educators. I highly recommend this book to any parent who does not have a backgroud in child development or in early childhood. It's an easy read, and leaves you with a renewed passion towards the simple things in childhood.

Great Read for all parents.......2007-06-27

This book is so encouraging! I am so frustrated with parents that believe that their children need to be involved in everything. The book is packed full of research that shows just the opposite. Children need to play and they learn best through play. It is so important that we spend quality time with our children and the authors reinforce this throughout the book. This book educates parents with the ways to go about helping our children and debunking the myths and lies such as purchasing certain products like flashcards, classical music at an early age, and certain toys make our children smarter.

Gravity: An Introduction to Einstein's General Relativity

Average customer rating:

Gravity - Great condition
Outstanding
The Road to Relativity
Very motivating, but lacking the math needed for real GR
Amazingly interesting book

Gravity: An Introduction to Einstein's General Relativity
James B. Hartle
Manufacturer: Benjamin Cummings
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0805386629

Book Description

The aim of this groundbreaking new text is to bring general relativity into the undergraduate curriculum and make this fundamental theory accessible to all physics majors. Using a "physics first" approach to the subject, renowned relativist James B. Hartle provides a fluent and accessible introduction that uses a minimum of new mathematics and is illustrated with a wealth of exciting applications. The emphasis is on the exciting phenomena of gravitational physics and the growing connection between theory and observation. The Global Positioning System, black holes, X-ray sources, pulsars, quasars, gravitational waves, the Big Bang, and the large scale structure of the universe are used to illustrate the widespread role of how general relativity describes a wealth of everyday and exotic phenomena. For anyone interested in physics or general relativity.

Customer Reviews:

Gravity - Great condition.......2007-09-20

This product was exactly as described, in great condition and shipped in a timely manner.

Outstanding.......2007-07-10

Simply the best and clearest introduction to this fascinating topic. There's none better, or even remotely close, for clarity and comprehensiveness. I wish I could write as well as Hartle!

The Road to Relativity.......2007-06-27

When an author can write a book on a complicated subject so that anyone without prior knowledge can understand the content, he is truly a gifted writer. Gravity: An Intoduction to Einstein's General Relativity by James Hartle delivers. I studied calculus and had one course in non-calculus physics 35 years ago and was amazed at how much I could understand from this book. I am also reading "Relativity DeMystified" for a different perspective but Hartle is a true winner.

One note: If relativity is your primary goal you can read chapters 1-9 and skip to 20 and then 21 (Curvature and the Einstein Equation) for a short cut, according to Appendix D (Pedagogical Strategy). Its all great stuff though, so take your time and enjoy.

Very motivating, but lacking the math needed for real GR.......2007-03-15

Let me just say, for an introductory textbook, nobody does it better than Hartle!

Very motivating...keeps physics the central topic of discussion instead of wandering off topic.

My only complaint is that Einstein's equation is introduced towards end of the book, giving it a false idea that it is "incomprehensible" which is not true.

But really, great job Hartle!

Amazingly interesting book.......2006-11-26

This is the best book for understanding gravity mathematically at the level of an advanced undergraduate. Though intended for the classroom (and based on a class at UCSB) there are many aspects of this book which make it nearly ideal for self-study:

* interesting side-bars, with some math
* thorough details in mathematical explanations
* never too much repetition of covered material
* moves from special cases (with applications) to more general cases, allowing the student to learn a little at a time (which is rare in books on general relativity)

The only downside is that it doesn't go quite as far into recent theories as you might like. This is fine for me as I, as a complete layman, would rather understand a bit of relativity well--something I missed in my undergraduate physics training.

The Einstein Syndrome: Bright Children Who Talk Late

Average customer rating:

The Einstein Syndrome
What a Breath of Fresh Air!
interesting to read
Parents: Read this book and its companion immediately.
My child was labeled PDD too.

The Einstein Syndrome: Bright Children Who Talk Late
Thomas Sowell
Manufacturer: Basic Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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Late-Talking Children
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ASIN: 046508141X
Release Date: 2002-12-24

Book Description

The Einstein Syndrome is a follow-up to Late-Talking Children, which established Thomas Sowell as a leading spokesman on the subject. While many children who talk late suffer from developmental disorders or autism, there is a certain well-defined group who are developmentally normal or even quite bright, yet who may go past their fourth birthday before beginning to talk. These children are often misdiagnosed as autistic or retarded, a mistake that is doubly hard on parents who must first worry about their apparently handicapped children and then must see them lumped into special classes and therapy groups where all the other children are clearly very different.

Since he first became involved in this issue in the mid-1990s, Sowell has joined with Stephen Camarata of Vanderbilt University, who has conducted a much broader, more rigorous study of this phenomenon than the anecdotes reported in Late-Talking Children. Sowell can now identify a particular syndrome, a cluster of common symptoms and family characteristics, that differentiates these late-talking children from others; relate this syndrome to other syndromes; speculate about its causes; and describe how children with this syndrome are likely to develop.

Customer Reviews:

The Einstein Syndrome.......2007-10-17

As a parent of a late talker - this book has really been an eye opener to me.

While reading every page I felt that Thomas Solwell - has written about my child.

My perspective of looking at my 4-yr-old has changed since I read this book.

I recommend it as a must-read for every late-talker's parent.

cheers - Maria,

What a Breath of Fresh Air!.......2007-09-13

This book is wonderful for people like me.

I, myself, was a late talker; strongly considered becoming a professional musician (changed my mind my senior year of high school); am married to a fine musician in her own right, and work in an "analytical" job, namely, software development.

When my son was born, he seemed "smart" in virtually every way but one, he's a "late talker". He loves puzzles, and surprises us with his ability to understand language, even though he's not really using it yet. He's currently approaching his second birthday, and has a few words; and uses sign language sometimes, so he's a bit different than the "worst" cases in these books (I say worst in quotes, which you will understand better if you read this book). He does not have any of the social problems exhibited by children with autism, so it just didn't seem right when some of the "experts" were tossing around this diagnosis as a possible answer for us.

My son seems to have been misdiagnosed as needing speech therapy by one particularly misinformed speech therapist who worked for a profitable local treatment center (she didn't know some basic, basic stuff about early childhood development that I knew from reading a couple of books on the subject).

We had him reevaluated by a state program and we were told "he is a bit of a late talker, but fine everywhere else". We were very impressed with this speech therapist - she knew her stuff.

If you read this book, you will see that my son is pretty much the perfect example of the cross-section described in this book.

One final note, and the author says this as well: do not take this book as the end-all / be-all of your searching for an answer as to why your child is a late talker. Please have them evaluated (I would recommend a state program - they have no reason to "under-evaluate"), but also read this book to recognize some of the shortfalls of such an evaluation. In the end, you must make the choice about whether your child needs therapy.

This book finally gave me some peace-of-mind that my son will be fine. We will continue to have him evaluated, but we do so with a bit more knowledge and understanding that many kids like him wind up to be just fine.

Children are so much fun to watch grow up, and this book restored some of the "fun" to my parenting that had been lost in worrying that there was something wrong.

interesting to read.......2007-08-31

My daughter has 15 words/phrases at the age of 2. I've had her evaluated by two separate pediatricians, had her hearing checked, and had her evaluated by a developmental specialist. She is "typical" or "advanced" in all areas, barring language. She understands you perfectly well, and the 15 phrases she has, she is able to say very very clearly. In other words - she's bright, and developmentally typical, she just doesn't talk yet.

We do fit in the description of the Einstein Syndrome subset; my family is composed largely of musicians, my husband's family are mathematicians. But, my daughter is still a little too young to see just how well she continues to fit this pattern. This book has been fairly reassuring that my daughter is not the first or only child to simply not talk.

However, I don't think any parent should use this book as a sole excuse to not have their child evaluated. Read it with a critical eye for your life and your child, and also research other possible explanations for your child's lack of speech...only if you research many possible alternatives can you really be sure you're making the right choice for your child.

Parents: Read this book and its companion immediately........2007-07-09

[This book is a companion followup to "Late-Talking Children" which is also by Dr. Sowell. Most of following is taken from my review and comments regarding the earlier book.]

Dr. Sowell has done all parents a tremendous service, but this book is especially helpful for those parents who are questionning their child's development. He reminds us that "every child is different." We've all heard that expression used to catch the vagaries of the development process, but you'll never realize how hollow it can ring until some childcare type tells you that they think your child may be developmentally delayed. This book helps deal with the certainty that your child *is* different and puts it in perspective. It should be read along with the earlier book "Late-Talking Children."

This text augments the earlier one with more scientific documentation and more of a discussion about "early intervention" and "testing" and their potential dangers. Dr. Sowell also focuses more on the role of a child's own wishes and motivations in "testing" at young ages, something I've not seen elsewhere.

After two years of self-study in this area, I still found a great deal to learn in these books. Most of all, I found a lot of hope and perspective regarding kids that don't sit up and elocute at 18 months.

The best advice in this book: take your children with you everywhere, expose them to everything possible. When they're ready to communicate, you'll have lots to talk about. My son is still working his way along, but we've made great progress, as others have, by letting him have some space and grow at his own pace.

Another great idea reinforced by this book: Don't assume that your child doesn't understand or is behind because they don't speak. I've seen childcare "professionals" that make this mistake every day.

Finally, this book hints at the danger of over-assessing children and the problems of the incentive structures within public schools. I have seen first-hand how problematic the opinions of pseudo-professionals can be, and how unscientific things can get. This book contains a better discussion of this than the first book, and documents the current trend toward assessing first and asking questions later. There exists incentives on the part of school officials to over-diagnose "PDD" and autistic-spectrum, and we've found that many of the folks doing the evaluating really have no idea what they're talking about. More funding, it seems, flows to those districts & schools who have the most children with "special needs." This book helps put all of this in perspective, although it doesn't dig out the basis of all of it, which I believe is probably IDEA.

Most importantly, this book helped me help my son, and that's the important thing. We are in debt to Dr. Sowell for bringing this issue to light.

My child was labeled PDD too........2007-05-14

We went through the entire process of testing and speech therapy and our son did terrible. He wouldn't even try to stack three blocks for the evaluator and refused to even pick up the crayon to demonstrate his fine motor skills. We were told he was retarded, had brain damage, would never learn to speak or that he had Pervasive Developmental Disorder. We were understandably devastated.

I was at the end of my rope when I happened on this book and it changed my world. I finally had something that justified my lack of belief in the diagnoses of the "experts". Like the children in the book our son figured out the child locks in the kitchen at six months old, he loves legos and puzzles, his father is a System Administrator and plays the piano, our son is myopic too. It was eerie the similarities, kind of a Village of the Damned thing.

The school district wanted to put him in a class with 'similarly' disabled children. We saw some of these kids; droolers, self stimmers in wheel chairs and autistic kids in helmets rocking in corners and I was horrified. My son did not belong with these kids and I was worried what would happen to him if he was put into a class with all of these damaged children.

But when we told the school we wouldn't put him in the special class, it was like turning down a Network Marketer, they kept calling, stopping by and trying to scare us into putting him in there, "he could lose his chance to progress,""you are doing irreperable harm keeping him from school," etc. Scary and intimidating.

He is seven years old now and reads at a ten year old level, he can put together a seven hundred piece lego set alone and fixes things around the house with his father's tools.

But we still have to fight against the prejudices of friends and family who think our son has Aspergers or PDD because of his narrow focus on projects (he will sometimes spend hours working on a lego project. They don't see his sociability and his love of reading, robots, dragons and painting.

But, I do think you have to be as objective as possible as a parent. It is seductive to think that your late talking child will just 'grow out of it.' We found a good speach therapist and for the first time, at age three and a half were able to speak with our son. The reality is that most late talking children do not go on to successful careers in information technology or engineering. Many have delays that affect them the rest of their lives and will need years of specialized therapy to compensate. The children described in The Einstein Syndrome are a narrow, specialized subset of late talking children. I agree with Dr. Sowell that getting tested is essential. There can be medical reasons for late talking, deafness for one.

BUT if you have a child that seems different from the diagnoses that they have been given, I would suggest reading this book, you might be surprised, as I was, at how closely your child fits the pattern of Einstein Syndrome children.

Disney's Little Einstein: Mission: Where's June? (Little Einsteins)

Average customer rating:

Buy it
Great concept but design needs help
Good for toddlers/preschoolers
Great Book
great quality

Disney's Little Einstein: Mission: Where's June? (Little Einsteins)
Susan Ring , Kirk Albert Etienne , and Micheal James Luzzi
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Ages 4-8 | Children | Bargain Books | Stores | Books

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Disney's Little Einsteins - Team Up for Adventure

ASIN: B000JGWDOQ

Book Description

Junes planned a special surprise for the team.But where is she? Children will have a blast as they join the Little Einsteins on a trip around the world in search of June. Each spread invites the reader to figure out the clue left by June and discover the answeronly visible with the companion Rocket magnifying glass. Stunning photographs of national treasures from the Eiffel Tower to the Great Pyramids provide engaging context for this delightful introduction to world geography.

Customer Reviews:

Buy it.......2007-05-30

If you are looking at this at Amazon, then you are interested in it. The low price I paid on Amazon, around five dollars, makes this a no brainer. Even at full price it is a fun book. My daughter loves the Little Einsteins and I don't mind them either. I am very picky about the educational value of toys and books.

Great concept but design needs help.......2007-05-09

My 2 1/2 year old son loves L.E.--he calls the show "Rocket." When I saw this book, I knew I had to buy it for him. He does love the book and we read it at least 4 times a week for bedtime stories. It's good for teaching some letters (A-F-R-I-C-A) as well as places around the world. He is learning that the Eiffel Tower is in France and that kangaroos live in Australia.

My complaint is how the rocket magnifier is attached to the book. Like the other reviewer, my son ripped the plastic holder off the first day when he was trying to figure out how to get the rocket out.

The plastic cord that attaches the magnifier to the book is in an awkward spot so it makes it difficult to turn the pages while the child is eager to look at things with the magnifier. We have a small tear on the top of one of the pages for just this reason.

Good for toddlers/preschoolers.......2007-03-12

The little magnifier is really a great plus for this book. My grandson enjoyed searching and finding the letters hidden on the pages.

The only reason I didn't rate it '5' is that the cord that connects the magnifier to the book tore the top of the page the first day. Certainly could be because my grandson is 3 and still handles things awkwardly. I guess it is a toss up between a ripped page and a lost magnifier!

Great Book.......2007-02-18

My daughter loved this book. being 3 at the time she quickly grasped the use of the magnifying glass, which was brilliantly secured to the book so we have never lost it.

great quality.......2007-02-12

Little Einsteins is absolute great quality in so many ways---both in cartoon on DVD/television on Disney channel or book. Today I also bought the CD Musical Missions and look forward to listening to it in the car as we sing to the songs together.
The book is delightful with the different ways you can read this as a regular book or learning tool. The colors are great---top quality up with the RoliePolieOlie books as well.
Yes, the Little Einsteins are more expensive as are the RoliePolieOlie books, but what can we do? It's delightful to have a variety of books to read. Anything that keeps the yearning of a child to read more is well worth it because it's too easy to just turn on the television instead. Children have to learn to love books which will help them in many more ways than passive viewing of a television can.

Baby Einstein: Language Discovery Cards (Baby Einstein)

Average customer rating:

Great cards!
Real-life images of stuffed animals
Drool Resistant
Son Sparkled. Mom Sparkled Too!
these cards are a perfect learning tool for toddlers

Baby Einstein: Language Discovery Cards (Baby Einstein)
Julie Aigner-clark
Manufacturer: Hyperion
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Cards

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ASIN: 1892309203
Release Date: 2003-02-10

Product Description

Baby Einstein Language Flash Cards. Ages: from 1 year. 29 full-color cards. Baby Einstein Language Discovery Cards are made from sturdy, durable cardboard and are laminated to ensure years of use. The front of each card contains a color photograph and a w

Customer Reviews:

Great cards!.......2007-08-24

I do not feel that you need the video (though we do have it) to get the full use of these cards. I have never once used them at the same time as the video, though I believe they do get reinforced while watching it. I have been using them with our daughter since she was <1yo. She is now 18 months and can say every one on there (either by name or sound, depending on what I have taught her). Additionally, I can scatter them in a pile, and she can pick out the ones I call to her. When I say, "Let's do cards.", she goes running to them right away. We really like them. The cards are colorful, very sturdy and a great development tool in my opinion.

Real-life images of stuffed animals.......2007-07-28

First, let me say that my child is a big fan of the Baby Einstein dvds. They do have educational value and are generally well done. The description of the flash cards includes the following "Each beautifully illustrated card features real-life images...". What about 50% of the cards featured were "real-life images" of stuffed animals. I expected a photo of a cow, pig, rooster, etc. There were photos or photo-realistic images of the fruits, but not of the animals. It was like a catalog for the toys used in the videos. I was very disappointed.

Drool Resistant.......2007-05-14

My husband and I purchased these cards for our 9-month old son. We figured the cards would be a learning toy that would entertain him for many months to come. Our baby is really intrigued by the cards - mouthing them and enjoying the brightly colored images on the cards. The cards are printed on heavy laminated stock and have, so far, withstood drool and teething bites.

I can see us inventing many different games with the cards as he gets older. And the back of each card gives you (simple) suggestions of questions to ask your child (example: flower - "Flowers smell nice. Show me how you smell a flower.")

I hesitate to give the cards a 5-Star rating because of two issues. 1. I would prefer the animal images on the cards be actual objects instead of stuffed animals (example: a photo of a real duck would be more educational than a picture of a stuffed animal duck). 2. On the back of every card, it tells which Baby Einstein video the image is first introduced. I am not sure why this info is important...other than it serves to promote their videos. To me, it comes across as an ad and turns me off a bit (but that's just me).

Son Sparkled. Mom Sparkled Too!.......2007-03-18

We love these cards! By we, I mean our entire family. I purchased these for my 18 month old. We already had the video and was delighted with it, and I thought these would be a great extension to further explore other languages. My son absolutely beamed over the pictures, espicially the peas, the dog, and the firetruck. I love that I'm learning with him, and it is easy because the pronunciations are spelled out in a way that is easy to understand. He knows over half of the cards in Spanish by now. Additionally, and unforseen, my eighteen year old and her boyfriend like to hold the cards up and try to pronounce the words in all of the languages: Spanish, French, Russian, German, Hebrew, Japanese. They laugh as they are learning. It is great interaction for all of us!

these cards are a perfect learning tool for toddlers.......2007-02-18

I got these cards because my little girl is still not talking. On the first day I recieved these, her eyes lit up when she saw the bright pictures and she really enjoyed them. I have trouble getting her attention and these cards worked instantly. I think that these cards are a great teaching tool for parents of toddlers. She is well on her way. I would highly recommend these. =)

Average customer rating:

hmm...
simple and educational
Size
A tiny life saver
Cute (but tiny) book

Baby Einstein: Dogs (Baby Einstein)
Julie Aigner-clark
Manufacturer: Hyperion
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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Accessories:

See And Spy Counting Board Book

Product Features:

Sturdy laminated cardboard pages for years of use
Interesting facts and images of dogs throughout book
Newborn and up
Book measures 3 x 3 in.

ASIN: 078680839X
Release Date: 2002-03-04

Product Description

Dogs Chunky Board Book The Baby Einstein Dogs Chunky board book is an entertaining book created with colorful images in fine art, illustration and photographs. The Dogs Chunky board book introduces your child to man's best friend in and out of the home. Baby Einstein Dogs Chunky board book provides humorous and interesting facts about dogs in adorable charming scenes. Baby Einstein Dogs Chunky board book uses lovable Baby Einstein characters in bright, happy scenes that will make this one of your favorite books.

Customer Reviews:

hmm..........2007-08-23

This is cute, but I'm not sure it's worth $4... It's smaller than what you'd expect... But hopefully later when my baby will be able to hold it and look at it I won't think it's so tiny anymore.

simple and educational.......2007-05-30

my toddler and baby love this book. very sweet and simple words. educational too.

Size.......2007-03-08

I didnt realize the book was so small. If i had known, I wouldn't have purchased it. Dimensions of the product should be displayed.

A tiny life saver.......2007-01-10

This book has been a wonderful little life saver while I am running errands and my daughter is getting bored. The little books is easy for her to hold and flip through while we are in the car.

Cute (but tiny) book.......2007-01-03

I am giving this only 4 stars instead of 5 because of this book's miniature size. Great illustrations, including works of art. My son (5 months) seems to enjoy!

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