As much a biography of an idea as a biography of Einstein, David Bodanis' E=mc2 is a fascinating and engaging read for all fans of cosmology or scientific history. Bodanis' writing isn't too weighty or heady for readers unversed in theoretical physics. He never leaves readers behind or talks over their heads. The ideas explored in the book cover everything from the birth of an idea to the expansion of the universe, and it doesn't stick exclusively to the title's subject. Bodanis covers the influence of the idea on subsequent generations of cosmologists and theorists, and he makes a strong case for something we already knew: Einstein and his famous equation changed the course of human civilization.

NC

Por sí mismo el título: E=mc² explica un poco lo que el autor quería hacer entender sobre el volumen. David Bodanis, profesor de la Universidad de Oxford, en el libro describe la fórmula de la relatividad del físico judío (1879-1955). La narrativa no es solo el pináculo de la historia biográfica del científico, premio Nobel de física en año 1921. Mucho menos es un libro de física donde Bodanis trata de explicar paso a paso la teoría de la relatividad, que seguramente muchos lectores tendrían dificultades para entender debido a la complejidad. Pero el autor en la manera más simple tomó letras y símbolos matemáticos para resaltar cuáles fueron los descubrimientos científicos más convincentes; la historia en temporada de escuela secundaria podría haber sido aburrida, en cambio, Bodanis en esto libro logró convertirla como un evento fácil de entender.

En este viaje emocionante histórico donde se escribieron enciclopedias enteras para explicar el descubrimiento de la relatividad, sin embargo dividiendo capítulos entre ellos para que los lectores y estudiosos entiendan los subtítulos, el profesor universitario recordó algunos de los personajes famosos y históricos que luego marcharon en torno a la fórmula de Albert Einstein. Con confianza se acercó al significado de la ecuación de Einstein y a partir de una representación sintética explicó el título del libro E=mc²: E que significa energía; el signo = permanece igual al de las matemáticas; el signo M para la masa; la C se basa en la velocidad de la luz, mientras que el número 2 final lo da como el proceso de expansión, lo que luego devuelve el efecto del producto. En otras palabra, sea el resultado de una cosa vista con una lupa. A partir de aquí, una vez que la ecuación quedó consolidada de cualquier variación, el autor recuerda que fue de apoyó a varias personas para la profundización de cualquier estudio, por ejemplo: Marie Curiese con los primeros experimentos de radioactividad; la estructura del átomo descubierta por Ernest Rutherford; Enrico Fermi que cavó dentro del núcleo del átomo. Y desde Ernest Rutherford y Enrico Fermi hasta a llegar a Lise Meitnerr que percibió la división del átomo, por ejemplo. Todas personas que consecuentemente estudiaron y trabajaron intensamente para lo que habría sido el efecto violento de una bomba química.
Una vez que se narró brevemente la representación de la relatividad y las personas que apoyaron la ecuación hubo una lucha contra el tiempo frente una destrucción mundial imparable: hubo una carrera para desarrollar la bomba atómica. Un acto que habría cambiado el mundo irrevocablemente ya que la energía de masa cuando condensada y concentrada bajo justas circunstancias se balancea como una forma alternativa de masa y destruye todo lo que está cerca de su rango de acción.
La ingeniosidad de la ecuación del científico en manera pragmática quedó demostrada con la destrucción de Hiroshima. Además, antes de alcanzar el efecto catastrófico de la bomba, Bodanis pensando en ciertas circunstancias era inevitable que no recordara los predecesores que apoyaron la fórmula que marcó el siglo XX. Como por ejemplo el nombre de Maxwell, Faraday, y lo del químico francés Lorenzo Antonio Lavoisier; tal vez estas primeras personas no obtuvieron la popularidad que alcanzó Einstein, pero es cierto que al físico son igualmente servidos para intensificar y establecer definitivamente la ecuación: E=mc².



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Ever wondered how this simple yet world defining equation born? Was this something Einstein just plucked out of the air or was this evolved over the time? How each one of the elements in that equation was deduced and when and who before this famous equation was formed? Why this equation is beautiful yet it is scary? How Hiroshima and Nagasaki were destroyed because of this equation and how this equation is going drive the earth to its end?

All these questions are answered in a scholarly yet in a very easily readable form (took me just 3 days of time to finish this book). The author covers the history of science from Faraday to Einstein and post-Einstein but never exhausts the reader with too many science jargon. His way of presenting the facts in a friendly tone makes this book highly readable.

Highly recommended.

Rich with information. Worth a read.

For the ones, who look under the surface

I always hated to learn and calculate the formulas for physics and mathematics in school. So why would I deal with it in my free time?

This is a book about the world’s most famous equation that nearly everyone can recite, but almost no one can explain it correctly and comprehensibly. David Bodanis explains us much more than the origins and consequences of Einstein’s discovery that mass and energy are interchangeable, and that energy equals mass times the speed of light squared. In fact, the author introduces the reader to the assortment of characters who contributed to the understanding of the equation’s single parts. Therewith Bodanis doesn’t only credit the contributions of forgotten scientist, he rather makes the previously confusing math to a descriptive and easy to handle tool, since we know its history from early on.

To get the feeling where the equation’s origins are and why Einstein did what he did helped me a lot to understand e=mc^2. Throughout the book i acquired a taste for this method of step by step history. In this way, every single part is associated with its role. Indeed, understanding each piece makes it easier to understand the entirety.

Nevertheless, I have to express criticism on this part, too. Unfortunately, the author enlarges upon the contributors too much, what creates the feeling of drifting away from Einstein’s equation and rather points to another topic. As a reader I wish Bodanis would have made more associations with the equation, which would have led to a clear and straight outline of the book. The drifting from the topic harms the reading flow and gave me a feeling of swaying; not really knowing where I am going and how to file the information.

The step by step explanation continues to take its course throughout the book. As the author begins to deal with the more tragically part of the book, the construction of a nuclear bomb, I really appreciated the granularity. Whereby Bodanis confuses in the first part of the book, the details are necessary and make the the topic “nuclear disaster” vivid. I really appreciate the fact that nothing is belittled and the truth of this cruelty is depicted. For this reason I realized for the first time, that e=mc^2 doesn’t only heat up my mac & cheese in the microwave, but it killed millions of people by the use in a nuclear bomb. I have to give the author a lot of credit for the six page long description of what happened in the seconds after the bomb was triggered over Japan: there, Bodanis slows down time, as a chemical chain reaction altered our world forever. This is my favorite part because of the clear description of the reaction; not only on chemistry level, but on a level of humanity, ethnicity and the meaning of life.

Unfortunately, the ending comes too early after the detonation and the book is chopped by two pages. Here, the book could use a clear conclusion, which fades the reading flow away more harmonically.

All things considered, this book is a very good pick for readers of every level of knowledge on the equation, who want to grasp the meaning of the equation beyond the characters of “e=mc^2”.

En biografi over en ligning. En absurd ide, men ret godt udført. Hvem er ligningens forældre og bedsteforældre? Hvornår fødtes den og hvordan blev den voksen? Meget lærerig og interessant. Jeg nød virkelig at læse den og lærte meget nyt undervejs (har ikke en baggrund indenfor kernefysik).

Når jeg kun giver tre stjerner skyldes det, at det simpelthen bliver for dunkelt indimellem. Som om forfatteren midt i det ellers levende og letlæste sprog selv er lidt i tvivl om hvordan et proton virkelig splitter en uran-kerne og så videre.

Nå, men en rigtig god bog, hvis man godt vil vide hvorfor det er så interessant at e=mc^2

Εξαιρετικό βιβλίο με κάθε κεφάλαιο να αποτελεί ένα διαφορετικό κεφάλαιο της ιστορίας της φυσικής, με κοινό άξονα ότι όλα σχετίζονται με την περιβόητη εξίσωση του τίτλου!

Πολύ έξυπνη ιδέα, και δεν περιλαμβάνει καθόλου μαθηματικά και σύνθετες περιγραφές, εξάλλου ο συγγραφέας είναι δημοσιογράφος, που έχει κάνει επισταμένη έρευνα. Ο τρόπος έκφρασής του είναι σωστός - για όσους είστε επιστήμονες και ψάχνετε προβλήματα - και αποτελεί μια πολύ καλή πρόταση για όσους ενδιαφέρονται για τα επιστημονικά ζητήματα.

Bonus: όσοι ενδιαφέρεστε για το 2ο Παγκόσμιο Πόλεμο, η ιστορία της πυρηνικής βόμβας νομίζω ότι είναι ένα από τα πιο ενδιαφέροντα κομμάτια του, με τη στρατηγική εκατέρωθεν να δίνει και να παίρνει.

The equation (E=mc2) is always fascinating to many of us. We often talk about this equation without understanding the significance of it. The book really helps us to understand the inner connotation of one of the most imperative equation of mankind. David Bodanis drafted the pre-existent thought, birth, early stage, complete development and post effect of the equation wonderfully. The equation played a pivotal role during Second World War and it’s well documented inside. The vivid imagination and intellect of Einstein produced this era redefined equation. He took merely eight months to develop it without having a laboratory or any special equipment to carry forward his research. Amazing books with full of information on different discoveries of science (along with E=mc2) and life of scientist. Must Read.

Some of this book was stuff I already knew/had read other places and other info was very new to me. It is definitely a “biography” in that it’s much more history than it is math or science. I thought maybe it would be a good math read for my high schoolers but it really wasn’t. I told my daughter who enjoys theoretical physics that she would probably enjoy it but I’m not going to require anyone to read it. He does have a section about how E=mc2 basically started the world so that could be skipped if desired.

Memories, it has been said, are what we all have. Especially, the old. The young also have hopes and dreams. In E=MC2, David Bodanis looks back hard at the lives of some of the greatest scientists to ever live. From the moments of their reckless youths, through the tragic and painful years of world war II, to the solitary decades after. Yes, it could be said that they lived their lives, if not to the full, at least almost to the brim. What more could we the living ask from them? Rare is the person whose life overflows. These scientists, from Einstein, Meitner, Fermi, Voltaire, Du Chatelet and Chandra have lived, travelled, and discovered greater things.

These people had very strong minds. Before this book, I had heard a lot about them from university challenge, a BBC quiz show. I never imagined that I would ever be interested in their childhood and life. Reading about their lives gave me a very pleasant feeling. I learned how they determined to fight the misconceptions of their time. They aimed and challenged those things that the society had accepted as facts.

Heel leuk. Is ook in Nederlands. Makkelijk leesbaar, begrijpelijk. 384 blz in drie dagen uit!

Third time reading this book. Easy read with nice overviews of the most important physicists (and their contributions) in modern human history, told via captivating stories.