Albert Einstein: Out of My Later Years

This volume collects essays of the last fifteen years of his life. The work has sections on 'Convictions and Beliefs' 'Science and Life' ' Public Affairs' ' Personalities' and 'His own people: The Jews" The work features expositions of some of Einstein's major scientific work. Among the personalities written about are Gandhi who Einstein greatly admires, Newton, Kepler, Planck, Madame Curie, Langevin, and lesser known figures Paul Ehrenfest,Carl von Ossietsky. Einstein writes much about the terrible changes in Germany he saw in his own lifetime, the rise of Nazism and Anti- Semitism. He writes about the creation of a national homeland for the Jews, his own Zionism, and his own connection with the Jewish people. He writes too about his conception of world- peace, about the threat to the world brought about something he is no small part a contributor to, the harnessing of the atom. In writing about himself in the opening section of the work he says, "I do the thing which my own nature drives me to do. It is embarassing to earn so much love and respect for it." He celebrates the life of thought , of the solitary individual . Einstein is the greatest modern example of Keynes dictum of how it is 'ideas' that change the world. He is the example of how one man alone , thinking, transformed our understanding of nature, and our power to change it. In these essays the main interests of Einstein's life are touched upon. He writes with clarity and modesty. An invaluable opportunity to be in touch with ' the Mind that defined an Age'.

I bought this book in my early twenties still unsure of what to do with my life but at least certain of the fundamentals and morals with which one should follow. Einsteins prose on life, morality, religion, science, personalities are words which echo the wisdom of many years and the experiences which have shaped them. Now, 7 years later, I pick up this book, and am reminded of a man who knew that the future is uncertain, but with the the search for truth and compassion, it could be a great place.This book is a great read - I admire how a man who's thoughts were so complicated, yet simple at the same time. He did not forget where he came from , nor forgot that which is truly significant. And that which drives humanity is not in the theories of relativity, but in our simple acts of humanity.This book encompasses an era of 1934 - 1950, yet its prose is timeless - even now! Occum's razor wuld be proud.

Out of my Later Years is a collection of Einstein's speeches and articles covering not just physics but his thoughts on the social condition of man, of Jews, and of war as well as several speeches about the likes of Max Planck, Mahatma Gandhi, and Marie Curie.As letters and speeches, these are written as the ordinary man that Einstein once was - very easy to read and understand. Even some of the physics lectures are understandable. Each is relatively short making this perfect for when you want to read something of substance but don't have much time. The sections on Public Affairs are especially haunting as Einstein presents his arguments for the "global village" and advocated someting akin to the current U.N. - things that began to come into their own after his passing. In particular, there is an interchange between him and a group of Communist scientists that underlines the Cold War tension in its height and is a chilling read now in the Post Soviet Union age.

I found Einstein's desire to start a rock band at such an early age very surprising. A man before his time for sure. Singing about relativity while distancing himself from the groupies must have been difficult. The book reads like a good guitar riff, jolting one's mind from time to time. Excellent!

Einstein was not just a famous scientist. As this book reveals, he was also a profound and well-written author. The essays in this collection are enlightening, easily understood, and brief but to the point. I would recommend this book to everyone.