Einstein's War

"The birth of a world-changing idea, relativity, and how it was shaped by the social upheaval and bloody horror of the First World War"-- "The birth of a world-changing idea in the middle of a bloodbath. Einstein's War is a riveting exploration of both the beauty of scientific creativity and the enduring horrors of human nature. These two great forces battle in a story that culminates with a victory now a century old: the mind-bending theory of general relativity. Few recognize how the Great War, the industrialized slaughter that bled Europe from 1914 to 1918, shaped Einstein's life and work. While Einstein never held a rifle, he formulated general relativity while blockaded in Berlin, literally starving. He lost 50 pounds in three months, unable to communicate with his most important colleagues. Some of those colleagues fought against rabid nationalism; others were busy inventing chemical warfare--being a scientist trapped a person in the power plays of empire. Meanwhile, Einstein struggled to craft relativity and persuade the world that it was correct. This was, after all, the first complete revision of our conception of the universe since Isaac Newton's, and its victory was far