Einstein's War

Reviews

Praise for Einstein’s War
"Stanley’s is a superb book, one that scientists, historians of science, and the general public will enjoy in equal measure. It is written for a wide audience. Those wary of technical jargon will be delighted by Stanley’s lucid explanations. With almost all books written in a generalist vein, there is some worry about what might be lost—however much else is gained—by not dwelling on the details provided in the academic work on which they are based. Einstein’s War, however, is that very rare work from which I came away understanding the scholarly literature better for having had its context presented to me in gripping and readable prose."
—American Scientist 

"Few books about events a century ago carry as relevant a message for today’s world of resurgent nationalism. . . . Stanley is a storyteller par excellence. . . . [His] riveting, blow-by-blow account of Einstein’s struggle . . . is an unusually reader-friendly journey into relativity theory. . . . Einstein and Eddington would have liked it.”
—The Washington Post

“A thrilling history of the development of the theory of relativity . . . a superb account of Einstein's and Eddington’s spectacularly successful struggles to work and survive under miserable wartime conditions.”
—Kirkus Reviews, starred review

“Dissecting the debate over whether philosophical attraction to Einstein's views caused Eddington to skew his Principe data, Stanley affirms both the empirical integrity and the political bravery of this Briton's confirmation of a German's theory. The international human drama in epoch-making science.” 
—Booklist, starred review

“Impressive work of popular science . . . Well told . . . Delivers a wider, and still relevant, message that how science is performed is inextricable from other aspects of people's lives.”
—Publishers Weekly, starred review

“[Stanley’s] book is simultaneously a brisk biography of two great scientists, a brief introduction to relativity, and a potted history of the First World War. But it is punchy and well-written, and full of signposts for readers who might want to delve more deeply into the fascinating subjects it explores.”
—The Economist

"Detailed and readable . . . It is especially revealing about Einstein’s scientific work and private life leading up to the momentous events of 1919."
—Nature

"Lively chronicle of the development, spread, and ultimate acceptance of general relativity."
—The Wall Street Journal

“Fast moving and engaging.”
—New York Journal of Books 

“Fans of popular science, Einstein, physics, and World War I will find this to be entertaining and informative.”
—Library Journal

“[Stanley] skillfully interweaves the lives on Einstein and Eddington into a readable narrative.”
—Science 

“[Stanley] succeeds in wrapping up the global, national, and scientific politics of an era in a compelling story of one man’s wild theory, lucidly sketched, and its experimental confirmation in the unlikeliest and most exotic circumstances.”
—Spectator

“This beautifully written, moving account captures the heady thrills and crushing setbacks of one of the great intellectual adventures of modern times.”
—David Kaiser, MIT, author of How the Hippies Saved Physics
 
“Profoundly absorbing . . . One of the greatest epics of scientific history—the grueling intellectual labor of Albert Einstein in Berlin, on one side of the dividing line that the First World War had drawn across Europe . . . and, on the other side of it, the efforts of Arthur Eddington in Cambridge, one of Einstein’s few supporters. . . . It was Eddington’s achievement that at last established Einstein’s for the world at large; and all this . . . amidst the intellectual indifference and near-universal xenophobia of their fellow scientists on both sides. An amazing story.”
—Michael Frayn, author of the Tony Award-winning play Copenhagen
 
“Einstein, at thirty-five, was living and working in the heart of Berlin when the guns of World War I began firing. The bloody, seemingly endless conflict provoked everything he detested: violence, nationalism, and the herd-thinking that drove individuals into nothing. Matt Stanley gives us the scientist-philosopher and activist during these bloody years, tacking back and forth so effectively between the development of general relativity, plans to test it, and the lopsided battle Einstein fought with the majority of German intellectuals who lined up happily behind the battle lines. A great read about Einstein and the War that Made More Wars.”
—Peter Galison, Harvard University, author of Einstein's Clocks, Poincare's Maps
 
“Even if you know a lot about the history of relativity--even if you know the old stories about Sir Arthur Eddington's voyage in 1919 to try to prove Albert Einstein's theories correct--you probably haven't pondered just how unlikely the Einstein/Eddington pairing really was. At a time when the mere hint of fraternization with the enemy could land you in jail as a spy, a Briton embraced the ideas of an enemy scientist and helped launch the legend of arguably the greatest physicist of modern times. A fascinating story.”
—Charles Seife, author of Zero: The Biography of a Dangerous Idea
 
“How an obscure German physicist became the first superstar of science . . . Stanley lets us share that excitement a hundred years later in this entertaining and gripping book. It’s a must read if you ever wondered how Einstein became ‘Einstein.’”
—Manjit Kumar, author of Quantum Expand reviews