E=mc²: A Biography of the World's Most Famous Equation

I'm not quite sure why I keep going back to these history of science books, but I enjoy them. E=mc2: A Biography of the World's Most Famous Equation is pretty much what it says. But if you're looking for just another Albert Einstein biography, author David Bodanis is mostly going to disappoint you here. It's more like a biography of the eponymous equation, examining each term (heck, even the equal sign) in great detail and giving a thorough accounts of the history of each piece and the impact it has had on modern living.

The book strikes just the right balance between physics lessons (don't worry, there's no math) and explaining the scientific achievements leading up to and following in the wake of the equation's discovery. I'm hard pressed to think of a subject that would include French aristocrats getting beheaded over the construction of a wall, Madam Curie's radioactive cookbooks, high-brow academic bickering, and detailed discussions of how make uranium atoms asplode real good. My favorite part was something that actually sounds more like the final level in some World War II video game than a physics textbook: a small group of Norwegian commandos (actually mostly former plumbers and machinists) creeping into a heavy water factory in order to sabotage it and derail the Nazis' 1942 atomic weapon program.

It's all very thorough and very readable and I had no idea that there was so much that went into and came out of the fact that mass and energy are the same thing in two different forms. The end of the book even looks forward billions of years to show how the equation predicts the Earth will end (in flames as the Sun gives one final cosmic belch) and how the universe itself will eventually sputter to a stop. But don't worry, you'll be long dead.

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.

A very well constructed story. Turned out to be of less scientific insight than I had hoped but was full of delightful historical factoids. Full review to follow.

This book includes the history behind the theory proposed by Albert Einstein in his miracle year, 1905. The different transcripts and citations help us to draw a conclusion that E=mc^2 came into existence due to thorough contributions from Einstein's predecessors. It was a team work spread over a period of two and half centuries. Sir Isaac Newton was the first one to initiate research in the domain, which was later carried forward by the Faradays and the Rutherfords. Albert Einstein was instrumental not only in proposing a strong logic behind E=mc^2, but was also the pioneer of Quantum Physics. David Bodanis puts forth the ideas behind each of the symbols; E, =, m, c, and square in this book. A very different kind of biography which lays emphasis on derivation of an equation. Of course, t h e y s a i d i r o n a g a i e n is the most interesting part of the book. An excellent Science manuscript which evolves by itself chapter by chapter to give rise to the most powerful equation ever discovered by mankind. E=mc^2 is indeed a revelation in itself. David Bodanis deserves a high five for this compilation.

We all have heard of the phrase "match made in heaven". But we limit its use mainly to couples. That very same phrase is applicable for this book too. Yes... Mr. Bodanis made a match out of 'History' and 'Science'.

History has always been a constant thorn in my life. There isn't any other subject that I have hated more than History (Civics is not too far away in the second spot). But I was relieved from the daily nightmares of History classes once I passed my secondary education. Phewww.... sigh of relief. Right? No... Then came another headache in the form of Physics in my junior college. I could say I have spent a considerable chunk of time on deciding which subject I hated most. Physics or History? I am still searching for an answer.

And then, years later (7 years to be precise), came a normal day in my PG course (a week or so back). My professor (who also happens to be my mentor) walked into the classroom and started talking about his struggles and how he hated thermodynamics and then the topic took a turn on to his PhD thesis. One thing lead to another which lead him to asking all of us if we have read the book E=mc2. Of the 13 students in my class, I can say I would be among the precious few who read books (mostly fiction, but a book is a book). No one raised their hands (not at all a surprise). Then he pointed at a few of us and made us sweat in shame by asking if we have ever gone through his library collection (which, btw, can be accessed by anyone of his students). I am not new to being shamed in class (for the right or the wrong reasons). But this hit me where it was supposed to hit not because he opened my eyes on how precious little I have read. But because there was a person of interest (for me) in the class and being mocked in front of that person was a dent in the mischievous plan that I am weaving. And that's how I took this book from his library at the very next week.

Going by the cover I was taken back to my nightmares during secondary education and junior college. History and Science? That too together? Double nightmare time. But I still wanted to see what was so special about this. I read one page...Hmm...Interesting. Read the second page...Hmm...looks good. Then I kept on reading and turning pages. Before long I read half of the book. I didn't want to finish the book in a day. So I kept it aside and did ration reading (a phrase coined by me which means reading only a particular number of pages per day). I finished it within three days and I was left wondering why the author had to bring the book to an end.

The word 'Biography' is truly made meaningful in this book. This books gives a detailed account on the birth, ancestry and adulthood of the equation. Are you wondering what BS am I talking? Why don't you find it out for yourself?

Another book which blended History with science was 'Cosmos'. But that dealt with astrophysics mainly. And that branch of physics is something that I wish that I majored in. So, even if the book would have been a drab (which is far from the truth) I would still have enjoyed it. That makes this one all the more spectacular. Bringing two different areas, which I hate from head till toe, together.

The only science book that I have read so far which didn't have any pictures and yet made sense to me what the author was saying. The way of writing followed in this book by linking scientists and different timelines together is something of a marvel.

P.S. I have to thank Cameroon Diaz from the bottom of my heart. Once you read the first paragraph from the book, you would understand why.

It may not seem strange that I include a history book in my top 20...until you consider that the history book is not about a person--or a civilization--or an era. It is about an equation. E=mc2.

There are lots of biographies of Einstein, and I think the best may have just been published(I am currently reading "Einstein: His Life and Universe" by Walter Isaacson.)

But rather than write about the professor, Bodanis discusses each of the five elements of the equation. He also talks about the people and mini-dramas of science that led to the famous discovery in 1905. It is easy on science and numbers--which is fine for me. The hard-core readers can find number-crunching equations on the book's website. It is bursting with stories that are seldom heard in the textbooks--making it easy and fun read.

While I don't agree with some of his conclusions in later chapters, he does make you think.

I recommend this to any of my friends with the slightest bit of interest in physics.

It looks like I cannot get enough of Historical Science books. This is yet another book that surprised me. In this book, the Author presents History and the impact of Einstein's famous equation. He initially tries to give a decent historical account of how the equation came about.

The book has its downsides. I really felt the equation could have been explained in much more exciting way than the Author did. But, I did like the fact that the Author focused in great detail about making of the Atomic Bomb (The Manhattan Project) and its destructive force that led to the surrender of Japan. Even though I was aware of most of the things described in this book from some of the other books I have read before, I still enjoyed going over them again thoroughly. Definitely a good read.

This book is not what's advertised. It's mostly (counting pages) about the building of the first nuclear bomb. If you're into war history, you may like this book. If you want to learn about the equation E=mc^2, try reading a real science book. Which this is not.

The author writes like an outsider looking in. I didn't feel like he had a firm grasp of the physics. He uses really poor analogies to try and describe the physics to the layperson instead of just explaining the physics like it is. Such half-wrong analogies are worse than useless because it later takes time to cure the lay reader of the resulting misconceptions. Why plant them in the first place?

The book even ends on an anti-intellectual tone, where it's claimed Einstein was a "profit" bringing down knowledge from "on high". This is the absolute opposite of the truth. Physics is accessible to anyone who is interested enough to spend the time and energy it takes to learn.

The author's apparent lack of expertise is also on display in the many subtle mistakes in the book. For example, he says that GPS satellites need a "relativistic fix" because the satellites are "traveling so fast". Sure, there's a 7 microsecond delay due to special relativity from their twice daily orbit around the Earth. But that's ignoring the larger, 45 microsecond delay due to general relativity from the Earth's gravity well! (source)

I would go so far as to say this book contains "scientism". I hate that word and it's almost exclusively used inaccurately by Creationists. But it happens to fit what this book has in it. It's claimed, over and over again, that the bombs dropped on Japan were somehow due to the equation. Which they weren't. The discoveries of radioactivity and the theory behind radioactive criticality had nothing to do with the equation. That equation explains where the energy comes from in terms of a conservation law (mass/energy). But it's ridiculous to say the equation "allowed", "enabled", or "caused" nuclear bombs to detonate over Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Since it's the thesis of the book, this poor philosophy is repeated throughout the book. Each time I read that the equation "made" something possible, or that something happened as "a result of" the equation, I wanted to stab out my eyes with an ice pick.