What you get with this fascinating look is not only at what each of the segments of the equation represents, but a biography on Albert Einstein, what led him up to his discovery and helpful stories of other physics pioneers such as Isaac Newton, Michael Faraday, Galileo, and others who led up to the formula that ushered in the nuclear age and changed our world forever. In addition, it had an intriguing section on the Nazi heavy water production in Norway in World War II and the Allies continuing efforts to destroy their plant in an impregnable location.

What’s also nice is that rather than bogging the book down with ancillary information that not every reader might want to slog through, it focuses on the basic story that most people might want to hear. Then at the end, it offers up an appendix, telling more about the physicists and other individuals that are talked about in the book, and what happened to them later on in their own stories. After that, it also includes an extensive notes section that fleshes out the information provided in the main part of the story for those who want more. A lot of it is fascinating reading.

I like science books so was eager to read E=mc2. This brief book follows the evolution of the equation E=mc2 from the germ of an idea that began in Einstein’s mind to the construction of the Atomic Bomb. Later on in the book the equation is used to explain such things as the scientific creation of earth, where stardust comes from and then on to black holes.

One drawback to the scope here is that the book unintentionally reads like a series of articles. Covering this much scientific ground is hard to get right in a 200 page book. So some of the threads felt like teasers leaving me with wanting to know more.

One sizable portion of the book was especially interesting. Perhaps one of the best reads that I have found describing the Nazi efforts to build the A-bomb and the Allied attempts to disrupt it. The book detailed the efforts of Heisenberg and the story of the British and Norwegian’s successive attempts to blow up the Nazi’s heavy water supplies.

In another case I thought the vignette of Hoyle’s use of E=mc2 to derive the origins of star dust from supernovas was excellent.

Where this book suffers is that the author is not a great storyteller and there are very few quotes in the book.

There is also no math on the book beyond the profound equation itself which was disappointing. In fact I learned in my relativistic physics class more than 20 years ago that E=mc2 is not technically the correct equation. Rather it is a shortened equation. Of course the gist is valid but it would have been nice to see a little more consideration here given to the origins of the equation.

I give this book 3.5 stars, rounding up to 4 stars because the subject matter is interesting and the book is pretty short.

For better books that cover the history of the A-bomb, although lengthy, I would recommend two that each won Pulitzer prizes. The first being Kai Bird’s American Prometheus: The Tragedy and Triumph of J. Robert Oppenheimer and Rhodes book on The Making of the Atomic Bomb.

I am having a hard time not being impressed with myself because this is the second book in the "hard" scientific realm that I have just adored (the first being "A Short History of Everything"). It had such an impressively daunting title that I couldn't have explained except that it has something to do with Einstein. However, I am confident that I could explain the basics of this equation after reading this book. In addition, it has motivated me to find out more of how this equation influenced history of World War II. The fact that Einstein could relate mass and energy through the speed of light squared just by thinking about it and not doing any experiments, mostly makes him an interesting person. What also makes him an interesting person is also quoted as saying that if he had known his equation would have been used for such destruction as the atomic bomb that he would not have lifted one finger to write it.

Quick Version:

This book is a well laid out explanation of each part of the equation, its history, and its role in our universe.

Long Version:

The genesis of David Bodanis’ book was an interview he read in which actress Cameron Diaz expressed the desire-serious or in jest-to know what E=mc² really meant. Bodanis realized that the truth is that very few people have even a rudimentary knowledge of the usefulness of the world’s most famous equation; this book is his attempt to rectify that.

The format chosen is an interesting one. Those who are true novices to physics-or lack interest in pursuing the equation beyond the basics-can read the front half of the book and walk away far more knowledgeable than they were when they picked it up. After a brief introduction to the time and place in which Einstein generated the paper which introduce the theory to the scientific world, Bodanis goes on to break down the equation and discuss each of its parts separately. What do they mean, and how do they interact with each other? The reader is then led on a quick trip through history with regards to how the scientific community used the theory-the race to be the first to build “The Bomb” during World War II. Finally, the author discusses the theory in our universe. Those not interested in a brain drain of a read would still likely read the Epilogue, which discusses what else Einstein did, and the interesting appendix, which gives closure regarding the other key participants.

Of particular interest with regards to the structure of the book are the notes. If you would like to know more details (and are not afraid of either the odd equation or in depth descriptions), Bodanis suggests that you read the notes, where he has taken things a bit further. It is here that I have a bone to pick. The format that was chosen was that of endnotes, as opposed to footnotes. When endnotes are used, there is absolutely no indication within the text that there is a back of the book furtherance of the topic-two members of our book club did not even realize they were there and thus missed the opportunity to add to their reading experience. For those readers that do choose to read the endnotes concurrent with the front half of the book, you are left constantly flipping between the text and the notes to see if you have reached the next note (they are listed by page number). This is extremely disruptive to the flow of a book which requires some level of concentration to read and annoyed me to no end. Footnotes within the text would have been grand. As a side note, a member of our group tried to read the e-reader version. Footnotes would have enabled her to flip from text to notes with ease. As it was, she quickly gave up on trying to maneuver between the two.

The final section, a guide to further reading, is one of the finest source guides I have ever seen. Books are divided into categories and are each given a paragraph of explanation designed to help the reader ascertain if they are a good fit for their reading list.

Bodanis tops off his two leveled read with one final feat-he has a website to which he directs the serious student for further, more in depth, study. Whether you are interested in a basic explanation of a complicated theory, have a fascination with physics and would like to know more, or would like to go beyond your high school physics knowledge, this book is likely to fit your need.

A very engaging and hard to put down ride through the history of science, highlighting the people and their stories behind the names one might have heard of ...or - in the case of female scientists- had not. It is a great introduction to concepts and people around the formula. If you take it as that and not as an attempt to teach you the details relativity theory then it is a great read. The complexity of the subject matter cannot be covered in such a short book, but it serves as a great study guide with all the annotations and extensive bibliography. I came away wanting to read much more about everyone mentioned in that book.

Jos tämä kirja olisi loppunut sivulle 230/379, olisin antanut sille neljä tähteä epäröimättä. Idea oli loistava, kertoakin yhtälön elämäkerta lähtien esivanhemmista (E, =, m, c ja 2), nuoruudesta, kukoistuksesta jne.Lisäksi teoksessa oli mielestäni erittäin hyvin osattu selittää ko. yhtälön merkitys tällaiselle maallikollekin, jolla on vertailupohjana kuitenkin melko paljon alan popularisoituja teoksia. Oivalsin jotain uutta.

Kirjan ongelmana on kuitenkin rakenne. Ensin epilogi "Mitä Einstein myöhemmin teki", vaikkei tämän pitänyt olla hänen elämäkertansa. Se nyt olisi vielä jotenkuten menetellyt. Mutta sitten: "Miten kertomuksen muiden henkilöiden kävi". Ja 80 "Lisätietoja", eli käytännössä alaviitteitä, joita nyt oli mahdotonta mielekkäästi yhdistää aikaisemmin lukemaansa. Ja 20 sivua edelleen luvuittain kohdistuvia "Kirjasuosituksia", sama ongelma kuin edellä. Ja viisi sivua "Kiitoksia".

Kokonaisuus pysyi juuri ja juuri kolmen tähden kategoriassa.

I won’t lie, it took me three tries to get through this book and I can’t say I understood even half of it.

HOWEVER, with that said, I appreciated the story in itself and while most of the theoretical dialogue went right over my head, I loved learning about the lives of those involved in the equation, the impacts on history and it’s practical application to every day life. I don’t quite understand how the world will end, but it was terrifying and exhilarating to say the least. As a social worker, who took ONLY grade eleven biology in high school, this was a cool read. But I will never read it again.

I was going into this as an opportunity to improve my understanding of context around scientific discovery, and ended up reading a book that made me realize that I could enjoy learning history.

Bodanis describes the history of the science leading up to Einstein's research and the related work that came after it. Emphasis on the word history here. While Bodanis does try to give the reader an intuition of the science (probably in ways that would make a real scientist cringe on occasion), it is not really his focus. The real focus is the story of the equation and the people involved in its history. While Bodanis does take some liberties speculating on the feelings and motivations of some of the participants, the book is full of interesting things that I did not know about the scientists. Also, by focusing on the equation, the reader gets to see a scientific history sliced in a unique and intriguing way. Altogether, a good fluffy science book.

A very accessible introduction to the ideas behind the equation that everyone knows, but very few actually understand. I love reading science books like this: light on the math and heavy on the anecdotes. Even though I'm familiar with a good deal of the content, and have read about it in a great deal more depth elsewhere, it's great to review such a complicated set of ideas in a new way and the premise (a chapter for each component of the equation) is really fun. It won't do much for the hardcore physics fan, but the layperson or casual science fan will enjoy the read and may even make some surprising discoveries along the way.

I picked "A Biography of the World's Most Famous Equation" for my Goodreads project. I believe the Author's purpose in this novel was to present facts about the creation of Einstein's Equation, E=MC Squared, and the events leading to the making of the Atomic Bomb. The theme of this story was to give the reader information as to how Einstein's Famous Equation was created. This novel also presented knowledgeable facts as to why Einstein created this equation. The Author used the style of narration which means he put all of his events in chronological order. This novel took you step by step through Einstein's process of creating this equation. I thought that this book was a great book for anyone interested in Physics, Mathematics, and other Sciences. I liked this book because I am interested in being a Theoretical Physicist and this novel included a great deal of information about this career. If I were to change anything about the book, it would be not to cram so many years worth of information and facts into a 219 page book. This book is similar to the book that is called "Understanding Quantum Mechanics". Both novels are mainly about Physics and Mathematics.

If you're like me, you just like to know. This book explains the famous equation in a very understandable manner and gives such awesome background into s huge array of areas. It begins by explaining the history of each of the components of the equation which takes the reader into the lives of different scientists who were involved in determining the nature of mass or the speed of light for example. You'll learn about Einstein's role and then how the equation takes on a life of its own as Rutherford learns how to split the atom and later the race to build an atomic bomb impacts WWII. I enjoy learning of women who contribute. Emilee du Chatelet, a female scientist heavily influenced and involved;) with Voltaire plays a large role in establishing why velocity must be squared. While it's a science book, it's not a bore like you've read in any of your science classes. I found myself caught up in the lives of all the people who knowing,y or unknowingly will forever be connected to the equation.