As it is known, Albert Einstein is the leading creator of the relativity theory, that's right? It's right, but this is not only a stereotyped image, it's also a very simplified image of the geniality and the psychological complexity of one of the major savant among all the savants. An excellent overview of the Einstein scientific work is presented in that many people consider the best biography of this genial scientist. I'm referring to the Abraham Pais book "Subtle is the Lord", published in 1982. Although an incontestable bibliographical source, "Subtle is the Lord" is not at all accessible to the layman. With the present book, "Einstein Lived Here", Pais help the general public, from the relativity theorist to the absolutely layman. While not discarding a rigorous historical approach, Pais priority is on Einstein human dimension, and gives us a fluent and very agreeable text in which he deals with polemic questions, as the supposed involvement of Einstein in the American atomic bomb fabrication. Among all those that have written about Einstein, Abraham Pais seems to be the most qualified. Theoretical physicist of recognized competence, emeritus professor at the Rockefeller University, New York, Pais have been acquainted with Einstein from 1946 to December 1954, when he visited him for the last time; at the Einstein death, in April 18, 1955, Pais was not in the USA.

Even for the reader reasonably up to date with the pertinent literature, Pais discloses interesting facts. For example, in the first chapter there is an admirable description of the dramatic marital life of Albert and Mileva Maric, his first wife. Pais discusses the very controversial participation of Mileva on the Einstein's scientific work, particularly on the relativity theory. For the author, the only evidence for a possible role of Mileva in the creation of relativity is Einstein's remark in a letter of March 1901: "Together we shall conclude victoriously our work on relative motion". The followed discussion arrived at the author's suggestion that the remark was no more than a love declaration.

These letters, published in "Albert Einstein-Mileva Maric, the love letters", by J. Renn and R. Schulmann, Princeton University Press, 1992, revealed an absolutely unknown fact until 1986: In April 1901, before the Einstein's marriage, Mileva was pregnant. The child, born in January 1902, was a girl, named Lieserl. But, what became of Lieserl? Nobody knows! Apparently Einstein ever even saw her. In the summer of 1903 Mileva went to visit her family. From Berna Einstein wrote to her expressing concern about Lierserl's attack of scarlet fever. This is the last known communication between the parents about their daughter.

The Einstein's life was a great target of the public curiosity. As such he had to pay the price of receiving numerous messages from strangers. It is a safe bet that among scientists no one received more such letters than him. The true amount it is not known, but over 600 is now in the Einstein Archive at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Einstein referred to this collection as "die komische Mappe". In chapter 8, Pais presents a lot of strange, funny, sometimes pathetic envelopes and letters.

Chapter 11, almost a half of the whole book's content, is concerned with the press interest on Einstein's work and life. This kind of approach is the first in the vast Einstein bibliography. For Pais, "Einstein, creator of some of the best science of all time, is himself a creation of the media in so far as he is and remains a public figure". The beginning of Einstein's mythical role dates from November 1919, after a joint session of the Royal and Astronomical Societies, in London, in which the results obtained by British observers of the total solar eclipse of May 29 were discussed. The observations were decisive in the verifying of the prediction of Einstein on the bending of light when it approaches a large body, like the sun. By the way, the Einstein's work was so ample and full in geniality that its perception depends strongly on the observer cultural profile. For the layman the Einstein's Nobel Prize is associated to the relativity theory, but in Chapter 6, Pais discusses how the photoelectric effect, and not the relativity theory, enables Einstein to get the Nobel Prize. Pais explains why Einstein did not win the Nobel Prize because of the relativity theory. Besides these fabulous works, Einstein published in the same annus mirabilis of 1905 three other marvelous works. For Pais, any single one of "these theoretical discoveries would have sufficed to guarantee Einstein a prominent and lasting position in the history of science". However, none of these contributions caused even modest mention in the press before 1919.

In conclusion, "Einstein lived here" is a highly recommendable book for any educated layman and indispensable for any scientist, by the complex personality of this renowned savant and by his splendid scientific contribution.

Someone once wrote that there was more imagination in the mathematician and physicist Archimedes than in all of Homer. The arguments in favor of that statement are very strong. It took a great deal of original, abstract thought to solve the problems that Archimedes resolved. However, that pales before the level of original and abstract thinking that went into the creation of the modern models of the physical universe. Some of the confirmed results are so strange that it is simply impossible to relate them to what we see on the macro scale.
The collection of people who created these models are described in this book. Their exploits make very interesting reading, and although some could be placed in the strange genius category, most were otherwise rather ordinary. Some were devoted to their lives outside physics and others knew only physics. Some had tight partnerships with their spouses while others had tolerant spouses who accepted extra-marital affairs. While including more of the slush would have made the book more interesting to the voyeur and perhaps increased sales, the author raises the personal details only when they are needed.
The true measure of a quality biography of a scientist is that you find their lives interesting even when their science is being discussed. Such is the case here. These giants of the physical realm led interesting lives that the author describes very well in relatively few pages. The physics is also made quite interesting, in that the explanations make you appreciate their accomplishments all the more.
Given the wide variety of personalities described here, one is led to the conclusion that it takes all kinds to make a world view.

What makes Pais' book especially compelling and captivating
is that he knew the main players in Science over the period of a lifetime. And then the unique quality of his writing! The
result is a page turner. We are given a glimps into the personal lives of Bohr, of Dirac, of Einstein, of von Neumann, of Pauli,
and of others of the major profiles in science in the twentieth century;-- and Pais offers his own thoughts on their scienceas well. Based on having worked with them...Pais also wrote landmark biographies of Bohr and Einstein. Highly recommended.

The physicist Abraham Pais met these scientists and developed strong human bonds with them. So, besides concise accounts of their scientific contributions, he tells us some moving, insightful and unforgettable events of their lives.

Captivating biography! One of the best. In a class by itself!
Written before the popular Broadway play, "Copenhagen" by Michael Frayn, Pais' book covers the Heisenberg-Bohr meeting in 1941[the real one],--- and there is a lot more! We are fortunate that Pais has given us this, and several other wonderful biographies;-- the one about Albert Einstein stands out! It is especially fortunate that he has chosen to write for the general public. I can't think of anyone who did, or possibly could have done it better. His writing is captivating, and unique in its recreation of the times, and the social context of the scientific events. Pais further succeeds magnificently in bringing to life the many colorful personalities. This includes the young physicists born in Europe around 1900 who arrived in Copenhagen in the 1920ties to work with Bohr, some later to win the Nobel Prize,-- how he became a father figure to some of them,- Heisenberg, for example. And there are the other players,

Albert Einstein early on, and Pais himself later, in the drama of quantum physics of the Twentieth Century. Even if you might perhaps not be scientifically inclined, and if you choose to skip the physics sections, I don't think you will be disappointed.

Historical description of the development of nuclear and quantum physics, especially from the viewpoint of Bohr and colleagues, many who Pais worked with. Provides a non-technical description of many of the principles of modern physics.

I bought this book for my Dad and he loved it ..... BUT he's a retired scientist with an interest in and basic knowledge of quantum mechanics. He particularly enjoyed the explanations of this very weird branch of physics. As an example of the type of reader who may enjoy this - he's the only person I know who has read "A Brief History of Time" cover to cover.

This book is a very good *scientific* biography of Einstein. This is both its strength and weakness. It is a strength because the author is clearly very knowledgeable about the subject, and therefore I couldn't think of a better book than this one. However, to appreciate the ins and outs of the scientific work of Einstein, you need to be a scientist yourself, or at least be very interested in the subject, because Pais does not avoid technical discussions. Not at all.

Therefore, for people without knowledge on this level, the book is not so accessible (I think), which may lead to disappointments. However, for this group of readers there is also good news: the author has organized the book into two interwoven 'sections': a part that is purely biographical and contains no technical discussions, and a technical part. The two parts are easily recognizable in the table of contents. This makes the book interesting and useful for a broad public.

Summarizing: this high quality book makes no light reading, but it is worth the effort, and the money.

that is what Einstein had to say, when in 1921 he was confronted with rumours that a non-zero aether drift had been discovered by Dayton Miller, a one-time junior of Albert Michaelson. When asked what he meant by this, he remarked "Nature hides her secrets because of her essential loftiness, but not by means of ruse". He is also said to have opined that he had "not for a moment taken [Miller's results] seriously". That was the kind of faith that Albert Einstein had in the laws of Nature that he discovered...a deep faith not capable of rational foundation..

Albert Einstein...the man...the philosopher...the scientist...the physicist...the humanist...the legend...so much has already been written about this one extraordinary human being, that you can be forgiven for grimacing when you see this book and thinking, 'oh, no ! not another one in this never-ending craze'...but think again...this is THE definitive scientific biography of Herr Professor Einstein, coming as it is from a physicist who was close to this great man towards the end of his life. Abraham Pais does a superb job of presenting the state of physics before Einstein, how he changed that and how it has evolved since his times. Science was Einstein's life, his devotion, his refuge, and his source of detachment...Science was his religion...In order to understand the man, then, it is necessary to follow his scientific ways of thinking and doing...and that is what the book precisely does...

One more thing...this is not a layman's book...if you have only a little idea of physics, and are averse to mathematical details, then look elsewhere...this is not for you...but if you have that 'holy curiosity' and 'wonderment of the spectacle that is science', with loads of perseverance, this book does an excellent job of satisfying that quest...it can inspire you to seek greater heights of understanding...(there are tons of references to other more detailed texts)...in the end, you will have had but just a glimpse of Einstein's oeuvre. Thank you.

Pais's book is the best scientific biography of Einstein to date. The author, as an eminent particle physicist turned historian, has the ability to understand and portray Einstein's work as few others could. Foelsing's biography is better for depicting Einstein's "life and times", and the scientific milieu in which Einstein came to maturity.

After missing the first collection of essays on this brilliant recluse published soon after his death, I picked up the present version as soon as I was able. It did not disappoint.

The book is a collection of four lectures given in the subject's honor in 1995 on the tenth anniversary of his death. The final lecture and the latter part of the third are highly mathematical and technical and clearly intended for a professional audience.

But for me, the first lecture by Abraham Pais is worth the purchase price alone. Pais was not only a contemporary physicist, but also a close friend and as close to a confidant as was possible with such a reticent man.

Through Pais' eyes, we see a mathematician turned physicist who was very different from the man to whom Dirac is most frequently compared, Albert Einstein. Einstein was a physicist first, mathematician second. Dirac was exactly the opposite. Einstein became a social and political critic, Dirac never strayed far from his study. The two were similar in that both viewed mathematical beauty as primary and both hated the modern remake of quantum mechanics (after the initial theory) for very similar reasons. This last point was interesting as Dirac was the first one to combine all his contemporaries' work on this improved quantum physics into a formal mathematical structure. His resulting equation, called naturally the Dirac equation, is classic Dirac, short and sweet. It combined Einsteinian relativity with the new quantum theory and Dirac considered the result to govern most of physics and all of chemistry. Stephen Hawking, the renowned theoretical physicist, says in his introductory memorial address to the book, "If Dirac had patented the equation ... he would have become one of the richest men in the world. Every television set or computer would have paid him royalties." For this work, Dirac shared the 1933 Nobel Prize with German physicist Erwin Schroedinger. One unexpected consequence of this work was a mathematical conclusion that defined a "negative energy" matter (aka antimatter) solution. Simply put, he had discovered a universe noone had imagined. To this day, we see the effects of this discovery from medical necessities (PET scan imaging-Positron Emission Tomography) to science fiction (Star Trek).

The quotations and anecdotes Pais chooses are well placed and often very funny. They are also supported by the images of Dirac portrayed in the sketch on the cover and in the few photographs scattered through the first two lectures. They reveal his character well. He saw mathematical and physical realities so clearly that he simply could not understand why others did not see them as well. The photo of him "listening" to future Nobel Laureate Richard Feynman in Maurice Jacob's section is one of the most amusing of the collection.

In the second lecture, Jacob shows the path of discovery and effect on latter day experimental physics of antimatter. He goes too long in spots but is generally fine.

We were ourselves participating in the inauguration of the Paul Dirac memorial in Westminster Abbey. Especially the speeches of Stephan Hawking and Abraham Pais were very touching as they did not only touch Dirac's work but also his personality and life. He was a very complex person and a great physicist. This book reflects that more than others about him.