Between March and September 1905, Einstein wrote five Annalen Physik papers that would greatly influence 20th-century physics...For each paper, Rigden discusses the background, underlying ideas, content, and organization before surveying its reception and impact. General readers who wish to understand the magnitude of what Einstein accomplished during his annus mirabilis will find this lucid, nonmathematical account ideal.
Rigden provides a fine account of the scientific importance of Einstein's five papers.
Mr. Rigden is very good at evoking the vehement debates that took place over Einstein's findings...The portrait of Einstein that emerges from Mr. Rigden's account is as compelling as his theories.
New York Sun - Eric Ormsby
[A] valuable addition to the Einstein canon.
A marvelous book...John Rigden not only summarizes accessibly [Einstein's] accomplishments of that year; he analyses the nature of scientific research...Einstein's papers are not accessible to a nonexpert by and large. But for those who feel the urge to at least try to go where they're not technically qualified with the accurate suspicion that it matters, this is the year for some physics, and John Rigden's provocative work is a place to start.
Boston Globe - Thomas Oliphant
A century ago, in 1905, Einstein proved that time, as it had been understood by scientist and layman alike, was a fiction. And this was scarcely his only achievement that year, which John S. Rigden skillfully chronicles, month by month, in Einstein 1905: The Standard of Greatness .
In Einstein 1905: The Standard of Greatness , John S. Rigden provides a lucid account of Einstein's astonishing outburst of creativity, explaining its scientific context and impact, which include, in the case of the relativity theory, the reconstruction of both space and time and the equivalence of mass and energy.
Times Literary Supplement - Daniel J. Kevles
A fine, slender introduction to Einstein's mind and science for the lay reader is John Rigden's Einstein 1905: The Standard of Greatness .
New York Sun - Leon Botstein
[Rigden] gives an excellent overview of each of the 1905 papers.
Financial Times - Alan Cane
To mark the centenary of the publication of Albert Einstein's first scientific papers, the year saw a flowering of books about the 20th century's greatest thinker. The best of the bunch is John S. Rigden's book Einstein 1905: The Standard of Greatness . Rigden provides an excellent no-frills overview of five papers that Einstein published within the space of six months, transforming our understanding of nature.
Financial Times - Clive Cookson
Between March and September 1905, Einstein wrote five Annalen Physik papers that would greatly influence 20th-century physics...For each paper, Rigden discusses the background, underlying ideas, content, and organization before surveying its reception and impact. General readers who wish to understand the magnitude of what Einstein accomplished during his annus mirabilis will find this lucid, nonmathematical account ideal.
Rigden provides a fine account of the scientific importance of Einstein's five papers.
Rigden provides a fine account of the scientific importance of Einstein's five papers.
The Guardian - P. D. Smith
Rigden provides a fine account of the scientific importance of Einstein's five papers.
To mark the centenary of the publication of Albert Einstein's first scientific papers, the year saw a flowering of books about the 20th century's greatest thinker. The best of the bunch is John S. Rigden's book Einstein 1905: The Standard of Greatness . Rigden provides an excellent no-frills overview of five papers that Einstein published within the space of six months, transforming our understanding of nature.
Mr. Rigden's book provides a clearly written account of these papers. It places each one in the context of the physics of the time, and explains the unique contribution Einstein made by his unerring vision for the key principles involved and his convincing solutions to the problems he tackled.
In Einstein 1905: The Standard of Greatness , John S. Rigden provides a lucid account of Einstein's astonishing outburst of creativity, explaining its scientific context and impact, which include, in the case of the relativity theory, the reconstruction of both space and time and the equivalence of mass and energy.
Times Literary Supplement
A fine, slender introduction to Einstein's mind and science for the lay reader is John Rigden's Einstein 1905: The Standard of Greatness .
A marvelous book...John Rigden not only summarizes accessibly [Einstein's] accomplishments of that year; he analyses the nature of scientific research...Einstein's papers are not accessible to a nonexpert by and large. But for those who feel the urge to at least try to go where they're not technically qualified with the accurate suspicion that it matters, this is the year for some physics, and John Rigden's provocative work is a place to start.
A century ago, in 1905, Einstein proved that time, as it had been understood by scientist and layman alike, was a fiction. And this was scarcely his only achievement that year, which John S. Rigden skillfully chronicles, month by month, in Einstein 1905: The Standard of Greatness .
[A] valuable addition to the Einstein canon.
The year 2005 will be the centenary of Einstein's annus mirabilis, when he published the five papers that marked him as one of the greatest scientists of all time. Washington University professor Rigden (Hydrogen: The Essential Element) sits readers down in front of his white board and explains what Einstein said in each of these papers, what was significant in them and how the scientific community reacted (not very well, in most cases-for a while). Einstein started off with a bang: in March he proposed that light was not a continuous wave, but was made up of particles. In April he finished what became his dissertation, on how to determine the size of molecules in a liquid (that may not sound very exciting, but this is one of Einstein's most cited papers). In May he wrote his paper on Brownian motion, and then in June came the summit of his achievements that year: the paper proposing his principles of relativity and the consistency of the speed of light (commonly known as the Special Theory of Relativity). Finally, almost as an afterthought, in September came the three-page paper that unleashed his now-famous equation, e=mc2, upon an unsuspecting world. Rigden writes with a rare felicity, free of jargon and with everyday metaphors that Einstein himself would no doubt have appreciated. 7 b&w illus, 5 line illus. (Jan.) Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.
Adult/High School-An accessible, even page-turning, account of Einstein's new insights and the turmoil that they created. Five research papers published in 1905 by an unknown physicist working in the patent office in Bern, Switzerland, revolutionized physics and provided knowledge that would transform the world. Readers will be particularly intrigued by the details of how the young man challenged, and then generally overcame, the scientific establishment, and how his ideas have themselves been challenged by others. Rigden shows that scientists have personal dimensions that are rarely mentioned in more formal textbooks. Significant insight is provided into the critical need for conflict in science, where advances are made when theories are tested by experiments that lead to new theories, and so on. Rich sources of information are given on Einstein's thoughts and those of his contemporaries on the nature of light, how atoms can be visualized in relatively simple experiments, the role of time as a fourth dimension, and, above all, how matter and energy are interrelated. Simple diagrams and reproductions of the front pages of the papers inform key aspects of the text. This book is strongly recommended for those wishing to understand the nature of the physical world, the creation of the universe, the origin of current scientific theories, and how simple experiments and concepts can successfully challenge long-held ideas.-Alexander Woodcock, George Mason University, Fairfax, VA Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.
