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E=mc2: A Biography of the World's Most Famous Equation | 
 enlarge | Author: David Bodanis
Publisher: Berkley Trade
Category: Book
List Price: $15.00
Buy New: $3.08
You Save: $11.92 (79%)
New (45) Used (56) Collectible (2) from $1.64
Avg. Customer Rating:  111 reviews
Sales Rank: 28423
Media: Paperback
Edition: 1st
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 352
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.6
Dimensions (in): 8.3 x 4.8 x 1
ISBN: 0425181642
Dewey Decimal Number: 530.11
EAN: 9780425181645
ASIN: 0425181642
Publication Date: October 9, 2001
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Amazon.com Review
E=mc2. Just about everyone has at least heard of Albert Einstein's formulation of 1905, which came into the world as something of an afterthought. But far fewer can explain his insightful linkage of energy to mass. David Bodanis offers an easily grasped gloss on the equation. Mass, he writes, "is simply the ultimate type of condensed or concentrated energy," whereas energy "is what billows out as an alternate form of mass under the right circumstances." Just what those circumstances are occupies much of Bodanis's book, which pays homage to Einstein and, just as important, to predecessors such as Maxwell, Faraday, and Lavoisier, who are not as well known as Einstein today. Balancing writerly energy and scholarly weight, Bodanis offers a primer in modern physics and cosmology, explaining that the universe today is an expression of mass that will, in some vastly distant future, one day slide back to the energy side of the equation, replacing the "dominion of matter" with "a great stillness"--a vision that is at once lovely and profoundly frightening. Without sliding into easy psychobiography, Bodanis explores other circumstances as well; namely, Einstein's background and character, which combined with a sterling intelligence to afford him an idiosyncratic view of the way things work--a view that would change the world. --Gregory McNamee
Product Description
Already climbing the bestseller lists-and garnering rave reviews-this "little masterpiece"* sheds brilliant light on the equation that changed the world.
"This is not a physics book. It is a history of where the equation [E=mc2] came from and how it has changed the world. After a short chapter on the equation's birth, Bodanis presents its five symbolic ancestors in sequence, each with its own chapter and each with rich human stories of achievement and failure, encouragement and duplicity, love and rivalry, politics and revenge. Readers meet not only famous scientists at their best and worst but also such famous and infamous characters as Voltaire and Marat...Bodanis includes detailed, lively and fascinating back matter...His acknowledgements end, 'I loved writing this book.' It shows."(The Cleveland Plain Dealer)
"E=mc2, focusing on the 1905 theory of special relativity, is just what its subtitle says it is: a biography of the world's most famous equation, and it succeeds beautifully. For the first time, I really feel that I understand the meaning and implications of that equation, as Bodanis takes us through each symbol separately, including the = sign...there is a great 'aha!' awaiting the lay reader." (St. Louis Post-Dispatch)
"'The equation that changed everything' is familiar to even the most physics-challenged, but it remains a fuzzy abstraction to most. Science writer Bodanis makes it a lot more clear." (Discover)
"Excellent...With wit and style, he explains every factor in the world's most famous and least understood equation....Every page is rich with surprising anecdotes about everything from Einstein's youth to the behind-the-scenes workings of the Roosevelt administration. Here's a prediction: E=mc2 is one of those odd, original, and handsomely written books that will prove more popular than even its publisher suspects." (Nashville Scene)
"You'll learn more in these 300 pages about folks like Faraday, Lavoisier, Davy and Rutherford than you will in many a science course...a clearly written, astonishingly understandable book that celebrates human achievement and provides some idea of the underlying scientific orderliness and logic that guides the stars and rules the universe." (Parade )
"Bodanis truly has a gift for bringing his subject matter to life." (Library Journal [starred review] )
"Entertaining...With anecdotes and illustrations, Bodanis effectively opens up E=mc2 to the widest audience." (Booklist )
"Accessible...he seeks, and deserves, many readers who know no physics. They'll learn a handful-more important, they'll enjoy it, and pick up a load of biographical and cultural curios along the way." (Publishers Weekly)
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| Customer Reviews: Read 106 more reviews...
History and biography as much as physics. October 28, 2008
Bodanis has taken a creative and unique approach. He takes the equation E=MC^2 and looks at it from a historical approach, or as he says, A biography of the equation itself. He lives up to this goal. He discusses the history of "e"-- how humans have viewed the concept of energy over time. He does the same for "m", and with some effort "=" and "squared" as well. He then launches into Einstein's insights, the implications of the equation, how it led to nuclear weapons, and then later, into insights into astrophysics.
It is a wonderful quick read that has as much to do with personalities, history, and culture as it does with physics... and therein lies much of its charm. There are many tiny gems tossed in. When astrophysicist Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar is taking a boat across the Arabian Sea a missionary repeatedly tries to convert him, telling him that the "Gods of India" are demons (or some such). When someone remarked on how kind Subrahmanyan was when he did not respond in anger, the young scientist replied that the missionary was trying to be helpful and nice, so why should he be rude.
Such little touches add much delightful texture to the tale.
On the downside, this is a slim volume that covers many human biographies and much physics. The brevity leads, unavoidably, to oversimplification. His portrayal of Oppenheimer leaves out how incredibly unfair McCarthy's accusations of "communism" were as well as how incredibly sesnitive Oppenheimer was as a person (see the PBS series wherein "Oppenheimer" describes his life to an audience and then takes questions from a live audience (actor staying in character) after the monologue). Worse is his portrayal of physics. His descriptions of what happens when an object approaches the speed of light, science's depiction of the "end of the universe" (which is still much debated), and blackholes are three topics wherein Bodanis misleads or is partly inaccurate.
All of that said, this book is a most entertaining read, and if a specific area grabs your imagination (and some will), this book makes it easy to dig deeper.
Steven Mlodinow
 misses the point October 4, 2008
The point is that ALL energy has a mass equivalence, not just nuclear/subatomic energy. Einstein knew this, although he had trouble proving it (see Einstein's Miraculous Year). By repeatedly and incorrectly stating that only nuclear/subatomic energy has a mass equivalence, Bodanis misses the great universality and majesty of Einstein's equation. He should have shown his book to a physicist before sending it to the publisher. As for me, I'll stick to reading science books written by scientists.
 E=Excellent September 29, 2008
Amazing story of the discovery and then application of the most powerful equation the world has known. Beautifully written by David Bodanis the book provides very good scientific understanding to the educated layman but also presents in a way that makes it difficult to put down. The chapter on the microsecond by microsecond events when the first atomic bomb were dropped are truly frightening. The chapter on Lise Meitner and her nephew on holiday in Sweeden discovering nuclear fission was a true detective story. The final chapter (Where are they now) gave some happy and sad stories to the many characters of the book. Some who did so much but may not have received credit due to their unconventional education (Faraday), gender (Payne, Meitner) or skin color (Chandrasekhar) begin to get their deserved credit. Finally, the man at the center of it all who unwillingly became a popular icon spent much of his later years trying to live up to his earlier scientific fame from the special and general theories of relativity. The book has so much more in it but I believe I will need to read it again as it contains so much!
E=MC Squared August 6, 2008
Slim volume outlining at a popular level what E=MC2 means, how it came to be, and how its been applied in practical and theoretical physics.
Mildly fun, mildly informative. I now understand that energy equals mass, and just how simple and powerful the formula is.
The Hobo Philosopher July 4, 2008
I would say that this is a history book about science and scientists - not a science book. It is history "lite." The author found a cleaver and creative way to talk about science and scientists - to expose the novice reader of science to many people and historical situations that he may not have been aware of. I had previously read about most everyone who was mentioned in the book. As other reviewers have pointed out the author often oversimplifies an issue and many of his statements could be debated - and are debated. But for a lite read for a non-scientist this book is a reasonable first exposure. If you want to become more of an expert one would have to go a lot deeper. Even the history involved gets more complicated than this brief outline. But, it was fun.
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