Alone Against Gravity

Alone Against Gravity  - Einstein IN Berlin: The Turbulent Birth of the Theory of Relativity, 1914 - 1918, written by Thomas De Padova, presents the life of Albert Einstein, his revolutionary theory about general relativity as the world around him is collapsing and entering a world war.

Einstein was fascinated by the idea of weightlessness.  As people were experimenting with flight he was wondering if someone were free-falling toward earth would they feel gravitational pull?

In 1914 Einstein moves to Germany just as they are mobilizing their army for war.  The book follows Einstein through his marriage to Mileva and his affair with his cousin Elsa and their eventual marriage.   It shows how physics was the most important mistress of the great scientist. The book mainly centers on the discoveries and political events and interactions Einstein has between the years 1914 and 1918.  

Author, Padova explains’ “ Einstein during the war transformed from being a ‘pure’ scientist into a politically engaged person.  It was the violent nationalism of his colleagues that lead him to pacifism.” Einstein, though a pacifist, never leaves Germany to go home to Switzerland.  He lived with many contradictions. The book lays out his theories, discoveries and interactions with other scientists in great detail. Thomas De Padova lives in Berlin and has a background in physics and astronomy.