Einstein on the Run: How Britain Saved the World's Greatest Scientist

by Andrew Robinson

Overview

A "highly readable" account of the role Britain played in Einstein's life—by inspiring his teenage passion for physics and providing refuge from the Nazis (The Wall Street Journal).

In late 1933, Albert Einstein found himself living alone in an isolated holiday hut in rural England. There, he toiled peacefully at mathematics, occasionally stepping out for walks or to play his violin. But how had Einstein come to abandon his Berlin home and go “on the run”?

This lively account tells the story of the world’s greatest scientist’s time in Britain for the first time, showing why the country was the perfect refuge for Einstein from rumored assassination plots by Nazi agents. Young Einstein’s passion for British physics, epitomized by Newton, had sparked his scientific development around 1900. British astronomers had confirmed his general theory of relativity, making him internationally famous in 1919. Welcomed by the British people, who helped him campaign against Nazi anti-Semitism, he even intended to become a British citizen. So why did Einstein then leave Britain, never to return to Europe?

“A vivid look at how the U.K. affected the German-born physicist’s life and thinking.” —Publishers Weekly

“A marvelous job of pulling new and interesting material out of the Einstein archives . . . I suspect that even readers who have devoured many books about Einstein and are already familiar with his interactions with the English . . . will find much to learn and enjoy.” —Metascience Journal

“Robinson has that rare knack for presenting a near-encyclopedic volume of historical information, anecdotes and contemporaneous accounts in a thoroughly delightful fashion.” —Physics World

Includes photographs and illustrations

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780300248876
Publisher:	Yale University Press
Publication date:	06/24/2022
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	331
Sales rank:	817,109
File size:	17 MB
Note:	This product may take a few minutes to download.

About the Author

Andrew Robinson is the author of more than twenty-five books covering both science and the arts, six of which are biographies. They include The Last Man Who Knew Everything (a biography of polymath Thomas Young), Genius: A Very Short Introduction, and Einstein: A Hundred Years of Relativity, which was described by the astronomer and writer Patrick Moore as ""by far the best book about Einstein that I have ever come across"" in BBC Sky at Night. He is also a regular contributor to magazines and newspapers, including The Lancet, Nature, and Science.

Table of Contents

List of Illustrations viii

Preface xi

Acknowledgements xiv

Prologue A Wanderer on the Face of the Earth 1

1 The Happiest Thought of My Life 9

2 Hats Off to the Fellows! From a Swiss Jew 43

3 A Stinking Flower in a German Buttonhole 85

4 God Does Not Play Dice with the Universe 119

5 A Barbarian among the Holy Brotherhood in Tails 145

6 The Reality of Nature and the Nature of Reality 189

7 On the Run 223

8 I Vill a Little T'ink 273

Epilogue An Old Gypsy in a Quaint and Ceremonious Village 305

Notes and References 320

Bibliography 335

Index 341

Editorial Reviews

08/26/2019

“Britain is the country that made Einstein into worldwide phenomenon,” proposes prolific science writer Robinson (Earth-Shattering Events: Earthquakes, Nations and Civilization) in this vivid look at how the U.K. affected the German-born physicist’s life and thinking. According to Robinson, the young Einstein regarded Britain as the cradle of theoretical physics. However, physicists there didn’t warm to his groundbreaking theory of general relativity until observations of a 1919 solar eclipse by some of his British supporters confirmed it with hard photographic evidence, making Einstein world-famous in the process. Robinson brings to life the period of Einstein’s initial celebrity, when he was freely feted throughout Europe. Throughout the 1920s, he visited England regularly, lecturing at Oxford, meeting political activists, and visiting historic sites. With the rise of Nazi power in Germany, fears grew for Einstein’s safety there, and, in 1933, British hosts brought him to live in a “holiday hut” in rural Norfolk, where Einstein hiked, played violin, and lived, he said, “like a hermit,” in “admirable solitude”—albeit protected by shotgun-wielding bodyguards. Shortly after, he decamped for Princeton, N.J., where he lived for the rest of his life. Readers interested in Einstein will enjoy reading about this lesser-known chapter in his life. (Oct.)

Publishers Weekly

Highly readable.” —Andrew Crumey, Wall Street Journal 

“A vivid look at how the U.K. affected the German-born physicist’s life and thinking. Readers interested in Einstein will enjoy reading about this lesser-known chapter in his life.” —Publishers Weekly

“Robinson has that rare knack for presenting a near-encyclopedic volume of historical information, anecdotes and contemporaneous accounts in a thoroughly delightful fashion.”—Ian Randall, Physics World

“Robinson has done a marvelous job of pulling new and interesting material out of the Einstein archives . . . I suspect that even readers who have devoured many books about Einstein and are already familiar with his interactions with the English . . . will find much to learn and enjoy.”—Naomi Pasachoff, Metascience Journal

“[A] sparkling study.”—Barbara Kiser, Nature

“The book is very well written and it is a pleasure to read. . . . A great advantage of the book is the photographs and drawings included.”—Krzysztof Ciesielski, MathSciNet

“Robinson’s evocative account of a transitional phase in Einstein’s life offers a valuable new perspective on this great scientist’s personality.”—Martin Rees, Astronomer Royal and former president of the Royal Society

“A well-researched and very readable book about a less well-known period in Einstein’s life – his contact with England and English scientists.”—Jocelyn Bell Burnell, Visiting Professor of Astrophysics, University of Oxford

“I absolutely adore this book – it’s insightful and very well-written. Einstein’s time in and relation to Britain from an Anglophile perspective is a new and valuable contribution. Robinson is also a very fine storyteller.”—Steven Gimbel, author of Einstein: His Space and Times

“The very first study of its kind. It wears its thorough and conscientious scholarship lightly on its sleeve­—a splendidly entertaining read.”—Ze’ev Rosenkranz, editor of The Travel Diaries of Albert Einstein

“A compelling tale of Einstein’s reception in Britain. Robinson casts in bold relief important insights into the nature and character of British and German societies in the interwar period.”—Robert Schulmann, Former head of the Einstein Papers Project

From the Publisher

Antony Ferguson is an engaging narrator who does a nice job delivering Albert Einstein’s (and the author’s) passion for science. The audiobook focuses on the impact that living in England had on the great physicist. The story also includes a thorough account of his life before and after his time in England and a summation of scientific ideas and principles that made him one of history’s most well-known scientists. If you are looking to learn more about a part of Einstein’s life that you may not be aware of and looking for a performer who will keep you interested throughout, this is a good choice to add to your audiobook list. J.P.S. © AudioFile 2020, Portland, Maine

JANUARY 2020 - AudioFile