Albert Einstein: The World As I See It

In "The World as I See It," Albert Einstein, one of the twentieth century's most brilliant scientific thinker shares his views on the meaning of life, governments, economics, disarmament, war, and Judaism. Written mostly in 1932, these short pieces are affecting mainly because they predate WWII, the Holocaust, Israeli-Palestinian wars (Albert Einstein thought they should get along), and the European Common Market. Albert Einstein's letter resigning from the Prussian Academy of Science because of the political climate in Germany (and Hitler had not yet even come to power) and the answer, suggesting that he is spreading false rumors of atrocities, are chilling in hindsight. To the majority of people Albert Einstein's theory of relativity is a complete mystery. We stand in proper awe of a man whose thoughts move on heights far beyond our range, whose achievements can be measured only by the few who are able to follow his reasoning and challenge his conclusions. There is, however, another side to Albert Einstein's personality. It is revealed in the addresses, letters, and occasional writings brought together in this book. These fragments form a mosaic portrait of Albert Einstein the man. Each one is, in a sense, complete in itself; it presents his views on some aspect of progress, education, peace, war, liberty, or other problems of universal interest. Their combined effect is to demonstrate that the Albert Einstein we can all understand is no less great than the Einstein we take on trust.