How Einstein Became Einstein

But it was at the patent office that young Albert fleshed out his theories on relativity, and he’d eventually win a Nobel Prize. Later, when he traveled to the United States, he was welcomed as a rock star. All of this is recounted in Walter Isaacson’s new biography, Einstein: His Life and Universe, which John Updike reviewed in a recent New Yorker. The former managing editor at Time magazine and head of CNN, Isaacson writes biographies that are rich but approachable. To get a feel for his style, you can listen to him talk about Einstein during an appearance on Fresh Air (iTunes – Feed). And, just as an interesting aside, you can download Einstein’s Relativity: The Special and General Theory as a free audio book from Librivox (full zip file – individual mp3 files).

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