einstein, his life and universe

I finally finished 'Einstein, His Life and Universe' by Walter Isaacson the other day and it was an engaging book I really enjoyed (partly because I have a slight obsession with the man, Einstein that is). It is an intriguing look at his history, his believes, his mind, and his social circle. I still believe the man was an extraordinary person among us, and not just because of his scientific studies, but the book also shows that Einstein was also very much human, that he could make mistakes, and with all his love of humanity at a distance had less of an aptitude for understanding and empathy of those close to him (was not a very "good" husband or father to his first wife or his children with her). Regardless he had an undeniable charm and wit about him and his strongest desire was to make sense of the world we find ourselves in as to an order and without a God that chalks things up to chance.

He called himself a "deeply religious nonbeliever", believed "striving for social justice is the most valuable thing to do in life", valued being able to speak ones opinion at all costs, was a magnet to women, loved to sail by himself without a life jacket even though he didn't know how to swim (He had a bought named Tinef, "which is Yiddish for piece of junk"), he worked extremely hard and never stopped, and all the while kept a sense of humor and lightness about him.
His willingness and secret love of being a rebel to popular thought and belief is what led to his most famous discoveries, and he never gave up that rebellion as he wouldn't stop trying to find a way to debunk quantum mechanics and replace it with a unifying theory for the universe.

And now through 551 pages of Einstein, I still admire him and take delight in his discoveries, thoughts, life, nonconformity and above all his humility that he always retained throughout it all.

"Great spirits have have always encountered violent opposition from mediocre minds..."

"I have no special talents. I am only passionately curious."

"Once you can accept the universe as matter expanding into nothing that is something, wearing stripes with plaid comes easy. "

"Imagination is more important than knowledge. For knowledge is limited, whereas imagination embraces the entire world, stimulating progress, giving birth to evolution."

"There are moments when one feels free from one's own identification with human limitations and inadequacies. At such moments one imagines that one stands on some spot of a small planet, gazing in amazement at the cold yet profoundly moving beauty of the eternal, the unfathomable; life and death flow into one, and there is neither evolution nor destiny; only Being."


photo credit: here