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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 less well known than 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--and a view that would change the world.--Gregory McNamee

Average Customer Rating:

Accessible insight, for the rest of us...	Customer Rating:
Very interesting book. Fortunately for those of us who do not have any genuine matehematical / physics background, we are able to easily graps the basic concepts and key ideas that make this equation so fascinating. Well written and informative.

spot on

Customer Rating:

This is the kind of book that makes science interesting. Bodanis knows what the regular reader is wondering, and responds in an easy, accessible way. I started this book with no idea what the equation meant, and understood it pretty well by the end, but more importantly actually enjoyed reading it. I'm an editor and writer by profession, and found the writing really absorbing. And criticisms of the book's level from professional scientists are a little bizarre - why buy such a book if you understand the topic thoroughly? For me it hit the spot, entertained me, and frankly gave as much depth as I was looking for. I can't wait to read Bodanis' next book.

If you think the the cover is awful, try the content.

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If you want to understand e=mc2, and all it implies, there are many good books out there, this isn't one of them. You might expect that to write a book on this subject, the author would have to have a good grasp of it himself. If you read as far as page 117 you will see that this is clearly not the case. The explanation for why the speed of light should be so fundamental is, well, not actually an explanation of anything. It also seems that e=mv2 replaced e=mv simply because e=mv failed to produce the right answers. So why not e=mv3, or e=mv1/6? A truly badly written book full of inaccuracies and misunderstandings.

simple and clear

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This is one of the best science books i have ever read. It was fascinating to learn the history of each componant of the formula. Then, the author explains how einstein puts it all together and how this simple equation has transformed our world. It is easy to follow, examples and explanations refer to modern times and everyday life. If you are curious about how things work and history but don't know that much about either, this book is for you.

I did not undestand the equation after reading this book!

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Agree with frure's comments below. This book is so generalized and simplified that I didn't understand anything. I still don't understand why the speed of light is the factor required to balance energy and mass, why a body's mass increases when it approches the speed of light, why the speed of light is the universe's maximum speed, why velocity needs to be squared. In other words this book fails to do what it claims. I gave it two stars because it is interesting to read and because the guide to further reading in the appendix is very good.