The Man Who Read God's Mind

One hesitates to complain that a book of 551 pages, plus 89 more of sources and notes, skimps on anything. But it would have benefited from a more in-depth treatment of Einstein's objections to quantum theory. In particular, his commitment to the idea that there exists an objective physical reality independent of observers, and that physics is about what really exists in nature rather than, as quantum mechanics insists, what we can perceive of nature. This debate still rages. Coincidentally, Spinoza—the 17th-century Dutch moral philosopher who was Einstein's touchstone on God—also championed realism. The book could also have used a little more analysis—a little more Isaacson—to break up the brisk march through Einstein's actions and accomplishments.

Not since Einstein has a scientist engaged so passionately with the world and left a humanitarian legacy to rival his scientific one. Too many scientists today disparage political and social involvement of the kind Einstein practiced, even blackballing those (such as the late astronomer Carl Sagan) with the temerity to undertake it. We are all the worse for it.

© 2007